If you’re reading this, there’s a decent chance you’ve had a session on your mind for a while and haven’t booked it. Not because you forgot. Because your dog is older now, or slowing down, or something changed recently, and every time you go to type the words into an inquiry form, they get stuck.
You don’t have to say them. That’s what a Rainbow Session is for.
It’s a Session With One Difference
A Rainbow Session isn’t a separate, more complicated process. It’s the same outdoor, dog-led format, same $195 session fee, same relaxed pace you’d get booking any session with me. The only real difference is priority scheduling, because when a dog is older or declining, “let’s find a date a few weeks out” isn’t always something you have the luxury of saying.
You don’t need a diagnosis, a timeline, or a specific reason to request one. “My dog is getting older and I want to do this now” is a complete sentence. It’s the only one you need.
Why the Name?
I didn’t want to call these “end of life sessions” on a website, because for a lot of people, that phrase alone is enough to close the tab. Grief doesn’t wait politely for you to be ready to read about it, and I’d rather someone find their way here through a gentler name than not find their way here at all.
If you’ve lost a pet before, you’ve probably heard of the Rainbow Bridge, the idea that pets who’ve passed wait there, healthy and young again, until the people who loved them arrive too. It’s become shorthand in the pet-loss community for something people already understand without needing it explained. I borrowed the name on purpose, not to be cute, and not to soften what’s actually happening, but because it’s already a word a lot of grieving pet guardians have sat with. It felt less like inventing a new euphemism and more like meeting people where the language already exists.
What the Day Actually Feels Like
I’m not going to pretend this session feels like any other. It usually doesn’t, and that’s fine. What I can tell you is that the pace is entirely built around your dog: shorter if that’s what he needs, slower if he needs slower, and never pushed past what’s comfortable. This isn’t the day to worry about getting the “perfect” shot of your dog running full-speed if running isn’t something he does anymore. It’s the day to get what’s actually true right now.
Some clients cry. Some don’t, and just want to be present with their dog for an hour with a camera nearby. Both are the right way to do this.
You’re Allowed to Book This Before You’re Sure
You don’t need to wait for a vet appointment, a bad week, or total certainty about how much time is left. Nobody gets that certainty anyway. If the thought has crossed your mind more than once, that’s reason enough. I’d rather photograph a dog who has six more good years left in them than have someone wait until there’s no time left to wait. Waiting for the “right moment” usually just means waiting for a worse one.
If this is where you are right now, reach out. Not when you’re ready, not when you’re sure, just when the thought won’t leave you alone. That’s already enough.
If this is where you are right now, you can request a Rainbow Session whenever you’re ready. There’s no wrong time to reach out.