I met Stephanie Hart of Independence Poodles located in Arlington, Texas in 2018 when she contacted me about photographing her fist litter of puppies. She had seen my work on Instagram and Facebook and wanted to capture professional images of her first litter. She came to my studio in Carrollton and that, as they say, was the start of a beautiful friendship.
As a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, I was impressed with Stephanie's dedication to the health and well-being of not only the puppies, but also of the breeding adults. Some are Hart family pets and others live in guardian homes which allows Independence Poodles to responsibly breed a larger gene pool and have each adult dog receive the benefit of living in a family home and being challenged to earn the American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen certification as well as at least two sport or performance titles.
Every adult dog I met to photograph was confident and well-mannered, even in strange and new circumstances. The puppies were the same; outgoing, curious and self-assured. So much of behavior is hereditary so starting with good breeding stock is imperative. I never saw myself as a poodle person, but I can't help shaking the feeling that sooner or later I'm going to end up with one of her puppies, they're that awesome.
Since 2018 I've photographed all the breeding adults as well as most of the litters. Stephanie believes in supporting her breeding program with quality images that uphold the time, effort and investment she puts into it. Below are some of the hundreds of images I've taken over the past three years.
(click on any image to view full screen)
A Little Cutie Pie From One Of Independence Poodle's Red Litters
Stephanie names her litters with themes so when possible, I'll match the background to that. This little guy was born around Easter and the litter was named "Ellie's Famous Rabbits" so we went with a springtime, pastel look.
Stephanie's first dog was a poodle and she's never been without a dog in her life. Her grandmother always had mini poodles and when she got married, she and her new husband made a family of three with the addition of a labradoodle. It was then that she remembered all the traits that she loved about poodles and decided that their next canine addition would be a standard poodle - and here's where she ran into a roadblock. There were very limited local resources for health-tested standard poodles in the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex.
Seeing a need, in 2016 Stephanie threw herself into the educational process of what it means to be a responsible breeder from breeding not only for color, but more importantly for key traits wanted for family dogs, conformation, companionship, service and performance sports such as dock diving, competitive obedience, conformation showing and more. All her adults are tested beyond what is recommended by the breed club (including genetic panel, eye / cardiac / hips / elbow and thyroid certifications) and are also listed with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, which is a voluntary data base of health-tested animals.
Independence Poodles And Penny Whistle Photography, A Match Made In Heaven
Apart from being a stellar breeder, Stephanie has also become a friend. She's always up for my crazy ideas like "lets do a maternity session" (and mine to hers as well, like..."let's put little crochet bonnets on puppies" - been there, done that). As I've entered print competition this year in pursuit of my Master of Photography degree, she's willingly brought dogs to the studio for me to create unique, fine art images.
I've come to know her family as well; her three sons adopted from Ethiopia (you can read that story here) and her ever-patient husband, Justin. I've photographed her oldest son for his high school graduation and the younger two in the studio with their dogs. Independence Poodles really is a family affair, from the Hart family, to their guardian homes, to the puppy adopters; it's a wonderful, tight-knit group.
Who Doesn't Love A Dog In A Flower Crown?
Beautiful Stella Nova, a black and white parti poodle (that's not a typo, a parti poodle has white as the primary color with irregular patches of other acceptable solid colors such as black, red, silver, beige, cream, apricot, etc.) knows how to work the camera so when she popped into the studio for her glam portraits, we had to do something befitting the princess that she is!
Independence Poodles Gives Back
The Independence Poodle Breeding Program has become so successful that their puppies are actively sought out for service work. A recent client needed a diabetic alert dog, but because Stephanie does not place puppies on a first-come-first-served basis, but rather matches puppies with their new owners based on temperament evaluations which are done at seven and half weeks of age, it was unknown which puppy would be matched with this client. Stephanie scent imprinted saliva samples with the entire litter throughout their 8 weeks with her so that every puppy would be a potential candidate for this owner and the best match was made at eight weeks old based on the individual dog's strengths for a life as a service animal.
Producing service dogs has become a passion for Stephanie and she gives back too, donating puppies to Aggie Guide Dogs for their intensive training program and eventual placement as service animals benefiting the lives of their owners.