Newborn Puppies by Traer Scott, Chronicle Books, 127 pages, $21.95 THERE is something about a puppy that warms your heart.
Their comical sense of balance, the play-until-you-drop attitude and the way they will happily fall asleep on your lap make them completely adorable.
Before they are ready to meet new people there is a very special time that most pet owners never get to see. In the first week of their lives puppies are deaf and blind, relying on their sense of smell to find their mother, then over the next two weeks they gain those senses and begin to explore their surroundings.
Photographer Traer Scott has focused on that one to 21 day period for this stunning collection of images. She has included a wide variety of puppies for her subjects with no preference shown to purebreds over mixed breeds. In this helpless period she captures their beauty and character with her uncluttered approach and subtle lighting.
Beyond the gorgeous photos, what makes this book truly special is the passionate words from Scott speaking out against the puppy mills and irresponsible breeders who continue to produce massive numbers of puppies in horrible conditions, only to ship them off to pet stores or sell them online in the quest for profit. She urges anyone considering
getting a dog to look at rescuing one from a local shelter, or if they are committed to getting a purebred, then to meet the breeder first and inspect the environment the dogs are raised in.
