Photo of dog standing by his buddy goes viral

NORWALK – In trouble for breaking the rules? Maybe you need a dog. Norwalk photographer Jillian Smith says modestly that she's "just a beginner" as a photographer, but her impromptu photo of her dog providing support for her young son has become famous around the world. Smith has a photography business, Jillian Smith Photography, but she didn't have her professional camera handy when her son, Peyton, 3, got into trouble for hitting his sister, Ryleigh, 5. Hitting has become a problem when Peyton doesn't get his way, Smith said. "It's something we're working on." Mom ordered Peyton to go to his room, then sentenced him to a compromise punishment of time out after Peyton appealed. Peyton's loyal friend Dash, a 5-month-old English mastiff, went to join Peyton. "Dash is always on Peyton's side," she said. Smith, sitting on the couch, grabbed her cell phone and captured an image of Dash and Peyton. And she couldn't stay angry anymore and ended the time out. When she showed the photo to her husband, Cheyenne Smith, he liked it, too, so Smith posted the photo on her Facebook page. She was taken by surprise when her post immediately got 500 shares. "Usually, my posts don't get shared at all," Smith said. But that was just the beginning. Soon her post got thousands of shares, and other posts of the photo were shared, too. Then Internet sites such as The Dodo began sharing the photo. The Epoch Times, a newspaper published in Chinese, also weighed in. (According to Google translate, the headline says, "The righteous dog accompanies the little owner to make a warm stand to let the parents breathe away instantly.") Smith says she has no idea how many people have seen the photo by now. "It just spiraled off," she said. "We honestly can't even count. It's showing up everywhere. It's been talked about on radio shows down in Oklahoma. It's all around the world. It is so crazy." Smith says she is "just a beginner" as a photographer and has put her photography business on hold. "I've taken pictures on my nice camera, really really good pictures. It's crazy that the one I took at home, on my phone, is the one that goes viral." The photo was taken on a Galaxy Android phone, a couple of years old. And if Smith revives her photography business, she can say, "You know that photo of the little boy doing timeout and the big dog?..."