How I Approach Photographing Nervous and Shy Dogs
Four of my last five photo sessions have been with dogs that are nervous, shy or fearful.
I knew this going into each of these photo sessions.
When potential clients reach out to me about photographing their dogs, I pick up the phone and call them. Ideally I want to chat over the phone about their dog.
Here are 5 things I want to learn more about during this phone call:
The dog’s personality
The dog’s energy level
Why the client wants photos taken
Specific photos the client wants taken
If there’s a chance the dog may be afraid of my camera or me
At the top of the first page on my website I say I can “Uniquely Capture the Essence of your Dog’s Personality.”
This is why I need to understand your dog’s behavior. I need to know a little about his background. Having this information before the photo shoot helps me prepare.
I started a dog walking and pet sitting business in 2009. For 14 years, I’ve worked full time with dogs. This experience has helped me understand so much about dog behavior.
When I meet your dog for the first time, how is he going to act? How is he going to approach me? How is going to feel about having a large camera pointed at him?
I do photograph a lot of happy-go-lucky dogs. Your typical happy golden retriever or lovable lab. But not all of us have those kinds of dogs.
Putting you and your nervous dog at ease is my job. The photo session should be fun for your dog. And for you.
This is 12 year old Baby. His mom and dad won a photo session I donated to the Charlotte chapter of the American Heart Association. In my conversation prior to the photo session, I learned that Baby is fearful and has lashed out and bitten someone when he was startled. Baby was on a leash the entire photo session and I edited it out of the final photos. We chose to do the session at his house where he would be most comfortable. He barked when I arrived but before long he did this.
This is 7 month old Emmy. She was adopted from our local shelter. She is leery of strangers and other dogs. We met up early in the morning at a location where I knew it was unlikely we’d see other people or dogs. She was on a very long lead the entire time.
When we first met, I knelt down, never made eye contact with her, and she walked right up to me and sniffed me. Because I talked to her dad before the photo session, I knew this was the best way to meet her. I knew that she wouldn’t be aggressive towards me and that was very important information to have. Our initial meeting was a great first step and she was rewarded with treats for her bravery.
She was very stoic during our session. After spending some time with her, I knew this was how she was going to be. At the end of the session, we did a few running shots and I captured a few photos of her like this. Photographing a dog running while on a long lead isn’t ideal but we made it work and she looks happy.
Emmy was stoic during out photo session.
Fearful, shy Emmy enjoying herself at our photo session.
This is 10 year old jack russell terrier mix Adelaide. She was adopted when she was around 6 years old. She was surrendered to a shelter after she was found living in a car. Her mom describes her as cooky. She is very sweet but wasn’t trusting.
Her mom wanted to make sure that her ears were “up” in her photos which took some work to make happen!
Because I have worked with a lot of different dogs over the years, I can tell when a dog is stressed. When dogs “smile,” it can be a sign of stress. The ears pinned back can be a stress signal too. Adelaide gave me both at the photo session. Having patience with shy dogs during a session is really important and communicating that to the pet parent during the photo session is equally important.
Here is one unedited photo so you can see the leash and then another photo where she is smiling and her ears are up. Do you think she looks stressed?
Unedited photo of Maddie looking pretty comfortable at our photo session.
Another “ears up” photo of shy, nervous Addie.
If you’re a dog photographer and you’re reading this, how do you handle photographing dogs that are nervous?
If you’re the owner of a dog that gets stressed easily, hiring a dog photographer who knows how to handle your furry family member is critical to capturing photos you will treasure forever.
This is a blog circle and the topic this week can be anything. Make your way around the circle to see what the other dog photographers have to say.