08/16/2022
I have hesitated posting this for a long time, but I feel that it is time now that Prime K9 has officially sold their dock. It has taken me a long time to process, and I wanted to make sure I was mentally able to make a post without my feelings affecting the tone of the post. I have many mutual friends with the owners of Prime K9, so I want to make it clear that this post is in no way being shared to defame Prime K9 or any of it's affiliates. I have also decided to post this once they were officially closed so it is not misunderstood and thought of as a way to direct business away from them. I am making this post to air my side of the story and to clear my reputation of any false information.
In the fall of 2018 I started this business. I reached out to Emily at Prime K9 looking to be their official event photographer at their next dock diving competition, and did my first competition with them in October of 2018. I loved being out there, and after that event I spoke with Emily and we both decided I would continue to photograph their events for the foreseeable future so long as I was available. I considered Emily and everyone at Prime K9 to be personal friends, and over the next two years I regularly sent potential customers their way, along with drawing in competitors who wanted photos taken by me. In 2020, I began working as a dog trainer, dock diving instructor, and hydrotherapist at another local facility, and during that time I continued sending clients their way, as I always encourage those training for dock diving to get their dogs in as many pools as possible. I even went so far as to decline one of my students who wanted me to provide her instruction at Prime K9, so as to not step on their trainers' toes. However, this facility was viewed as Prime K9's direct competition, though I personally think they offer very different services.
At the very last competition of 2020, a rumor was started about me. The rumor stated that I was going around Prime K9's competitions, while I was photographing, and telling competitors to come take lessons with me at the facility I worked at. Essentially, the rumor was saying I was stealing clients from Prime K9. I did not hear of the rumor until April of 2021, 6 months after it was spread. The only reason I found out about the rumor was because I approached Emily directly asking what changed after I noticed she announced a different photographer would be shooting their events that year. I was never told of this decision directly, and I of course had concerns, but I mainly wanted feedback on how I could avoid facilities dropping me in the future. It wasn't until this conversation that I finally learned of the rumor.
I want to make it clear that I hold myself to high moral standard, and I would never steal clients or convince others to leave one facility to come to another while at their event, and I would especially never do that to people I considered friends. Whether you believe that statement or not, it should also be noted that I no longer worked for the other facility at the time that this rumor was started. There would have been zero benefit for me to convince clients to go to another facility in which I no longer worked and that I no longer trusted to provide humane training and dog care, regardless of my moral and ethical standards.
Unfortunately, I have learned that this rumor is still being spread about me to this day. I have met numerous strangers at events who, when finding out the name of my business, say, "Oh, you're THAT photographer?" The slander is beyond hurtful to my business and reputation, but it's especially hurtful to my feelings. I not only considered Prime K9 a business partner, but good friends, and I apologize that our relationship ended in the way that it did. I want to make it clear to the public that I did not attempt to steal clients from Prime K9 and that the rumors that continue to be spread about me to this day are not true. The entire situation really hurt, and I have taken a large step back from photography since. I have even turned down photographing national championships, because I am genuinely afraid to create new professional relationships. This, coupled with my departure from the other facility, has also left a sour taste in my mouth and led to me taking a large step back from sport instruction, so the most I do in the dog industry now is interact and compete with my own dogs. I hope to be back to photographing events in 2023, but that may change. I hope that this post will be the first step to getting back in the swing of things.
