Photographing Untrained Dogs

Do you think most of the dogs I photograph are well trained, able to be off leash, and will hold a stay? I know that most of the photos you see on my website and on my social media make it look like they are.

Are you hesitant to schedule a photo shoot for your dog because you don’t feel like your dog has enough training?

Most of the dogs I photograph are untrained and by untrained, I mean they need to stay on leash and they may or may not hold a stay.

And that’s okay. Most of the dogs I photograph are like this.

If you’ve looked at my website or my Instagram page, I edit the leash out of the photos before I post them.

Most dogs have to be on a leash during the photo session to keep them safe unless we are in a fully fenced area. Unless the dog is really well trained and will stay, I find that having a dog on leash actually helps and makes it easier. Otherwise they tend to wander and I end up with photos of the dog looking anywhere but at me.

And do you want to know something?

I think photographing untrained dogs is fun. I never really know what to expect and I am always fairly certain I can get “the photo.”

If a client says to me “I can never get a decent picture of my dog because he won’t sit still,” I see that as a challenge. With over 15 years of experience working with dogs, I’m able to assess their personalities fairly quickly and that helps a lot when I’m photographing them.

I also have all of my clients fill out a questionnaire before the photo shoot called Your Dog’s Story. I ask a lot of questions about the dog so that I have any idea of how he’s going to act at the session.

When we meet up at the photo shoot, I tell all of my clients: “We are going to take our time and we are going to have fun. There is no pressure on your dog. There is no pressure on you. There is no right or wrong. My goal is to capture his personality whatever that is. If we try something and he’s not having it, we’ll move on to something else. I only need a split second for your dog to stand still in order for me to get the shot.”

I also give the client instructions on how to best hold the leash so that I can easily edit it out of the photo and I’ve included one photo below where you can see the person and how she’s holding the leash.

Below are examples of typical photos I take during a photo session. I try to get a variety of portraits, close up, full body, looking at the camera, looking away, sitting, standing, laying down, etc. This all depends on the dog’s behavior.

These two golden retrievers are 13 year old Gracie and 4 year old Brady.

I didn’t know these dogs. They were very friendly towards me and excited to be leashed up and taken out for a walk. I knew from talking with the client that they could not be trusted off leash.

When photographing 2 dogs, I always want to have 2 handlers at the photo session. Having an extra set of hands makes things so much easier especially when both dogs have to be on leash.

Next are two before and after photos. The picture on the left has the leash in it and the photo on the right is what the final edited image looks like after I’ve used Photoshop to remove the leash.

I knew this client wanted photos of the 2 dogs together but getting them posed next to each other wasn’t working. I purposefully took the photos below with the thought that I could combine the two during editing so it would look as though the dogs posed together.

I made certain the background was fairly similar, the lighting was the same and I didn’t change any of my camera settings. We posed the dogs in roughly the same spot and I didn’t change my position either.

Ideally I’d like to take the photos of the dogs together but some times this is the best option.

I combined the 2 photos above this one to create this image of both dogs side by side.

These are my typical results when I’m photographing untrained dogs. I find that patience and a few treats usually work well.

This is a blog circle and up next is Jessica Wasik with Bark & Gold Photography heads into the wildflowers during a summer dog photography session at Robin Hill Park. Our topic this week is Session Spotlight. Click the link at the bottom of each post to see what the other dog photographers say and I know you’ll see a lot of cute dogs too.