5 Tips for a Carefree Photoshoot with your Dogs

Your dogs are part of the family, so it absolutely makes sense to want to include them in your family photos, engagement photos or anything else you're celebrating. I do, however, have a handful of little tips and tricks that will help make a photoshoot with the pups a much smoother and more carefree experience. Whether your dog is perfectly trained or not, a photoshoot is out of their norm and can always lead to some unexpected behavior since there can be distractions like new smells, your photographer being a new person, or a new environment they're interested in exploring. Let's go over the tips I've picked up for a smooth photoshoot that captures your pup's unique role in your family!

5 Tips for a Carefree Photoshoot with your Dog

1. Bring a wrangler

In any photoshoot, we usually love to capture different pairings of family members. This is no different when it comes to a photoshoot with your dog! While we'll absolutely prioritize photos with the whole family unit, odds are you'll want some of just you and your spouse, you and individual kiddos or other unique pairings. For this reason, I always recommend bringing an additional person to be your dog wrangler. This is usually a family friend and their role is to be available to take the leash and hang out with the pups while we get all the different poses and groupings of photos. They don't need to take the dogs back to the car or even far from where the photos are happening, but having a wrangler gives the family, the photographer and the dogs a break from trying to sit and pose a perfect moment. These little breaks make the experience more flexible for the whole crew!

2. Training, Training, Training

This one kind of goes without saying, but if your pup has lenient training, a photoshoot can be a very chaotic experience. Like I mentioned above, a photoshoot is a very new and distracting environment for even the best trained dogs. If you know you've booked a photoshoot that includes your furry family member, make sure to take time each day leading up to the photoshoot to practice essential training cues: sit and stay. Your dog's behavior is, of course, your responsibility, not the photographers. So brushing up on basic training can save you stress of "not getting the shot". It can also be helpful to loop in your photographer on how their behavior and actions can rile up your pup in a certain way and help your photographer be on the same page with your training preferences.

3. T.R.E.A.T.S

Oh, the T word! Bringing along treats to further reinforce listening skills and to help your photographer capture the attention of your pups is the oldest trick in the book. Depending on the pup, some dogs will lose interest in the treat reward after 10-15 minutes. But if your pup is especially treat motivated, this can be a really helpful way to keep them engaged during the photoshoot.

4. Aesthetic Leashes and Collars

It's a rare day that dogs can be off-leash during a photoshoot. This, again, goes back to the fact that photoshoots are usually in new places and have lots of fun smells and distractions for them to turn their attention to. For this reason, I recommend looking into buying a cute, aesthetic leash and collar set for the photoshoot. Finding something that matches your family's outfits or blends into the backdrop of the environment is key! A simple rope leash is a great place to start.

5. Photos with Movement

My final tip is to lean into photos with motion. In a new environment, it's hard for your pup to sit still. They want to explore! Walking and playing with your pup is a great way to get photos that are candid and show off the relationship that your family has with you dog. It also gives your photographer some of the easiest opportunities to get photos of the dog looking right into the camera.

Bonus Tip: Have Patience

As with any photoshoot, things usually won't go perfectly, but they will be a perfect reflection of your experience. Choosing to have patience, laugh off the imperfection and trust your photographer will ensure your photoshoot with your dogs is a more carefree experience. Give those fur kids lots of love and enjoy a one-of-a-kind photoshoot with them as key members of your family.

Ready to book your photoshoot with your pups? Click here!