Photographer’s portraits capture character and beauty of older dogs

WATCH: A world class photographer captures the character and beauty of older dogs. Jennifer Palma has the story.

Photographer Pete Thorne spent the weekend in Vancouver shooting portraits of old dogs for his Old Faithful project.

“I’ve seen a lot of puppy pictures online and in print and I guess I just wanted to focus on the old guys,” says the Toronto-based photographer. “I just feel they have so much character to their appearance…I find them fascinating to photograph.”

Thorne says these dogs are giving back to him too, teaching him the value of patience and showing him the special bond between humans and canines. He even photographs senior rescue dogs and tries to find them a loving home. He regularly posts photos of dogs looking for a home to his Facebook page.

One of the dogs photographed by Thorne was 12-year-old Miles, who visited Vancouver from Seattle on Super Bowl Sunday because his family wanted to document their love for him.

“He is the best non-human friend I’ve ever had,” says owner Kevin Roessger of the chocolate lab. “I didn’t even know you could be that closely attached to a non-human.”

Eleven-year-old Lulu also took part in the photo shoot. Her owners have seen her through cancer and serious infections and they wanted to immortalize her spirit with a portrait.

Thorne was pleased with how the photo shoot was received and says he is thinking of returning to Vancouver. But first he has to pick a few of his subjects to include in his upcoming coffee table book about the lives of senior dogs.

-with files from Jennifer Palma