It would have been my dog, Bertie’s, birthday this week. I adopted him from a rescue shelter when he was 2 and one of the reasons I chose him was that he was born on my Nanna’s birthday and I took it as a sign he was meant to be mine. I’m big on signs and this one changed my life 🐾

Bertie is the reason I am typing this blog post. In fact he’s the reason this website exists, because until he came into my life I had no interest in photography – didn’t even own a camera. After I adopted him I decided to buy a 3rd hand little Olympus off Ebay, just to take some photos of my new dog……….. and the rest, as they say, is history.

My business name is BAMimages and the BAM stands for Bertie And Me. I owe it all to him.

We had many challenges during our first year together. He turned out to have severe separation anxiety and a shed load of emotional issues. He cocked his leg everywhere, and I mean everywhere, and wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I couldn’t even use the loo in peace and when I took a bath he used to come and sit next to the tub, occasionally licking the water!

Due to his separation anxiety he couldn’t be left alone so any time I needed to go out I had to find a sitter, usually my parents or my elderly next door neighbours. My Mum and Dad doted on him and Mum would always have a Dentastix waiting for him on the coffee table, which he’d snatch on his way past.

He’d never been trained to walk on a lead and was terrified of other dogs, which meant he attacked them at every available opportunity. I spent a whole year, every single day, teaching him to sit, lie, wait!, and walk on a lead without pulling me so hard he dislocated my shoulder and I’d say it was 5 years, really, for him to be well behaved around other dogs. I never did stop him chasing rabbits across half of Cumbria!

Miniature Schnauzers are incredibly affectionate and he loved to cuddle and just be in contact with me. When I first adopted him I thought he’d sleep downstairs in the Utility room, but after a month of insomnia as he howled all night in distress he ended up on the bed with me where he slept for the next 13 years. I don’t half miss his little furry body, even though he hogged the duvet and I often ended up sleeping hanging off the edge 😂 I miss the ticks I sometimes found crawling on the bed, and the occasional slug brought in on his coat, less!

He may have been tiny but he was utterly fearless. On one of our early walks he took off and, after what felt like an eternity of frantic calling and searching, I found him clinging to a log in the middle of the river, having bounded in there after 2 ducks then discovered he couldn’t actually swim! He was scared of water ever after bless his heart.

He ate everything that wasn’t nailed down, including one December 1½lbs of fudge I’d made as Christmas presents. He vomited for 6 hours afterwards and had eyes on stalks due to the amount of sugar he’d ingested 😂. On a more serious note, he once ate rat poison found in a neighbour’s shed and had to have his stomach pumped, and the vet also had to consult the poisons unit after he scoffed an entire packet of Jaffa cakes (chocolate is poisonous to dogs). I could write a book on his food escapades!

Bertie died in April 2023 after a very short illness, on the anniversary of my Mum’s death who I’d lost a year earlier. He was my best friend in the world and I can still see his velvety floppy ears bobbing as we walked our favourite paths, me with my camera slung round my neck and Bert stopping to sniff every fern and flower. What I wouldn’t give to have his furry chin resting on my leg as I type this.

“I love that face. That face is beautiful to me”. Miss you Bub ❤️