South African comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout and his rescue dog Otis

This shoot was a hoot! I met Schalk for the first time briefly at the end of 2019 when he was MC at the TEDx Pretoria event where I was presenting. At the time he didn’t have a dog because of his crazy busy schedule. Fast forward a few months and as we went into lockdown in April 2020, he adopted Otis from Dogtown South Africa.

When I shot these images and as the magazine went to print, Otis was an only dog, however, Schalk and his fianceé Mica have since adopted a second pup from Dogtown called Finn. Schalk helped out by MC-ing at one of their adoption events and came home with another dog. I know all too well from my own experience that ‘helping’ out at doggy charities can lead to extra dog children….

Schalk and Otis got into the swing of the Pet Prints shoot nicely with a Sound of Music inspired field run.

Fabulous matching smiles.

Fun on the jungle gym, although Otis wasn’t quite sure about what was happening here.

And, of course, lots of chats about dog parenting, rescue dogs and how once you’ve adopted a dog, you’re not quite sure how you managed without one for so long.

You can read all about Schalk and Otis in the latest issue of Pet Prints Magazine, available in vet and pet shops as well as a digital download from their website.
