Personal Photo Project 2019: Louie's On Guard | New England Photographer

Louie has been living with us for about a year and a half at this point and he’s really coming into his own.

The first time he saw us at the adoption agency, he looked at us, trotted over, and sat immediately between me and James, as though he knew that he belonged with us.

He quickly made himself comfortable in our home, understanding straight away that our corgi, Kona, is the boss.

Louie is the most mellow dog I’ve ever met 95% of the time, but he is terribly afraid of storms. He’s even afraid of the possibility of a storm. If he feels a barometric drop in pressure at night, he’s immediately trying to sleep on our heads.

Our vet recommended that I begin running with him to ease his anxiety, so last summer I did Couch to 5k with him. Three mornings a week, we braved the bugs and the heat, setting off along the nearby rail trail.

But now it’s just a little too cold for us, so Louie spends his time staring out the window, waiting for his daily opportunity to protect me from the mailman (i.e. bark incessantly at the low hum of any truck), despite the fact that I explain to him over and over that I really love snail mail.

He’s also recently begun making friends at the dog park, which is amazing to see because he used to sit next to me the entire time, observing.

Louie loves resting his heavy head on arm rests, ledges, windowsills, and our knees. In fact, he’s usually resting his chin right on this windowsill while I journal and drink coffee in the morning. But on the morning of this photo, the snow was falling and it perked him up. Like me, he still finds snow novel and exciting.

We feel so lucky that Louie came into our lives, and that he gives us all his love in his sweet, old man ways every day. He reminds me to slow down, and to show people how much I like them when I do.

At least in our case, it feels as though we’ve rescued each other.

Love, Joy