After returning from family obligations in Texas last summer, Janice Milhem felt the need to connect more with her neighbors. Her camera and her dog made the introductions–and led to Milhem’s new picture book, Dogs of Ann Arbor’s Old West Side.

A professional photographer and marketer, Milhem shot nearly seventy color portraits, including a self-portrait with her own schnauzer mix, Mike. Milhem recruited vets, pet supply stores, groomers, and others as sponsors, and had the $35 softcover book on sale at Downtown Home & Garden, Argus Farm Stop, Literati Bookstore, and other local shops by year-end. Milhem is donating one-third of the proceeds to the Humane Society of Huron Valley, and says she’d like to duplicate the dog-and-family format in Burns Park, Water Hill, and other Ann Arbor neighborhoods.