I love dog smiles. Dogs that smile when I point my camera at them.

It’s not a natural reaction for many dogs. I’m sure they’re wondering what I’m doing and what this big black thing is that’s pointed at them.

But do you know what I mean when I say a dog that smiles?

When I’m looking for dogs for commercial pet photography shoots, most of the time I need to find dogs that smile.

I’ve had clients ask me, what do you mean by a dog smile?

This… this is what I mean:

This is Tucker the pit bull. Many pit bulls have smiles like this.

Is he really panting? Maybe. It was hot and humid the morning we did his photo shoot. But if you just saw this photo, it looks like he’s smiling right?

He looks happy. He looks relaxed. He doesn’t look stressed. He doesn’t look nervous.

Some dogs smile a lot. These dogs did:

When we are at the photo shoot, patience is the key. Ensuring that your dog is having fun is key. That’s how we get these smiles.