7 Top Ideas to Include Your Dog in the Next Photo Session

Any dog owner will tell you, your dog is as close to family as it gets. It is for this reason that it is unimaginable not to have them as a part of your next photo shoot. There is, however, a slight problem. Dogs typically have the attention span of a goldfish, they get distracted rather easily, and getting them to sit still for 3 minutes at a time is nothing if not daunting. 

So how do get around this? According to pupped.com, there are several ways to desensitize your dog to the sound of the camera shutter, and to keep it still just long enough to get that perfect photo. Yes, it can be done. Here are a few cool tips.

Location! Location! Location!

Dogs, like humans, have emotive responses to places they don’t feel comfortable. This is why it is crucial to ensure you pick a place that your dog is familiar with. Your dog needs to feel free, to be at ease. It is far easier to control it when it is in a place it likes, and is surrounded by familiar faces. The success of your next shoot will largely be determined by location, so keep that in mind the next time you’re planning one. 

Rehearse Before the Session

Dogs thrive on routine. It takes some positive consequence to get your dog to learn how to act around kids, to know where to potty, and to learn what is acceptable and what is not. For this reason, it is important to have a few mock sessions, to have some doggy treats, and to keep a strict schedule to ensure it knows where to be and how to act. Routine is the best way to get your dog ready, and to guarantee compliance when the time actually comes. 

Crucial Commands

Your dog won’t comply unless it’s trained sufficiently on a few key commands. A photoshoot takes a while before you blend perfect photos. This means subjecting your dog to hours of torturous shutter sounds, flashing lights and sitting still. This is where active commands come in handy. Ensure your dog is well trained in “sit”, “stay”, “down” or any of the various commands that require little to no movement. This will allow you to have control of your dog at all times, and to ensure it doesn’t get all fidgety and ruin and the shoot.

Grooming Session

No one wants to be preoccupied worrying about dog hair all the way through the entire session, so it is important to ensure you groom your dog at least a week before you do the shoot. Doing it too close to the actual day is never a good idea, as you will most likely have a ton of dog hair in and around the entire photoshoot area. 

Patience

Dogs aren’t like humans, you can’t just force them into submission. You need to ease your dog into the session by fostering positive consequence. This means that you need to reward your dog with treats when it complies in order to get it accustomed to what is required of it. The success of your photoshoot also largely depends on how comfortable your dog is throughout the entire duration of the shoot. 

Try not to get impatient if your dog doesn’t toe the line right away. It may take some time, but it will be worth it in the end. 

Act Natural

Dogs are very intelligent creatures, they tend to notice even the slightest change in your behaviour. This is why it advisable to keep it simple, try not to overdo the posing, or even throw in some unnatural gymnastics. The more you do things you usually do around your dog, the more responsive your dog will be. 

Do it in stages

Dogs aren’t the most patient animals, which is why it is recommended that you do the shoot in stages, giving your dog a few minutes of rest in between.

Bottom Line

Having your dog in the next photoshoot is a big step towards making great memories, which is why getting the best photos will require a lot of patience.