Dog days of summer

In the dog days of summer, a local journalism instructor is raising money for a canine cause through on-the-spot pooch portraits.  

Since early May, James Turner has been pounding the pavement for his project, called Winnipeg Tails, while he’s on his summer break from teaching at Red River College.

"This project started because I wanted to combine things that I really like: walking, photography and dogs," said Turner, a River Heights resident.

A friend had been teasing Turner for posting so many Instagram photos of his own dogs, a yellow lab named Finn and a black lab named Baker. He decided to ramp it up a notch, so he took to the streets to snap photos of dogs and collect short stories of these furry friends.

Since then, he has posted hundreds of dog photos on Instagram, gaining a following of more than 900 people after a few short weeks on the project.

For each photo, he is donating $1 towards dog welfare — and many pet owners have also been opting to contribute to the cause.

So far, Turner has raised about $900 by photographing more than 500 dogs, mainly in Winnipeg but also during a road trip to the West Coast. His goal is to raise at least $1,000 by mid-August when he returns to work.

"When the project comes to a conclusion, I’m going to count up all the money. At the same time, I’m going to investigate four or five different dog-related welfare projects," he said. "I’m going to put it up to a vote as to where the money should go to. I figured that was the most democratic and fair way to do it."

So far, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with only two people declining the portraits.

"The response has been amazing," he said. "It’s very lighthearted and it’s not meant to be anything serious. But some of the stories you get along the way are pretty interesting."

On a sadder note, he photographed a 15-year-old dog recently diagnosed with cancer.

"Because of his age, they weren’t going to treat him," Turner said. "They just wanted some nice pictures to commemorate his life. That was quite touching."

As another unexpected outcome, Turner discovered that some dog lovers have been viewing his Instagram posts as a way to unwind.

"I’ve had several people say that going to the feed and looking at the dogs has become like a mental health break for them because they work busy jobs or have issues in their lives that they’re dealing with, like anybody," he said. "They find that staring at these dogs helps them to relax a little bit, which is super gratifying."

After the Winnipeg Tails project wraps up, Turner hopes to showcase about 20 to 25 of the best photos at the Flash Photography Festival in October.

To check out a selection of pup portraits, visit www.instagram.com/winnipegtails/?hl=en

The photos are also posted on Facebook and Tumblr.