Grant the Guide Dog Pup – 8 July 2000

 

8 July 2000, Melbourne, Victoria

This is Grant and I in a rare Polaroid photobooth photo. He was one of my ‘respite care’ guide dog puppies. Being a black dog on a dark background, he isn’t too easy to see, but he was a very handsome boy.

Due to my failing health and the commitments of my business, I was no longer able to raise pups full-time. I took in trainees who had been injured, had had an operation or suffered from some other issue that meant they needed time to rest. Hopefully they would then be fit enough to return to their training.

The day after this photo was taken Grant was ‘decommissioned’ by Guide Dogs Victoria due to an unresolved issue which precluded him from completing his training. I believe he went back to his original puppy raising family.

I have no recollection of the location of this booth, not having made a note of it at the time. However, I suspect it was at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. There were four photos in the original set.

These come from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.