In the last few months, I have received many requests to include pups in family photos, the answer is always 100%…YES!!!

But like the kiddos, they can be uncooperative and unpredictable at a photo session. Here are my takeaways and suggestions to getting the perfect professional photo of your pouch.

1. Stay calm. A dog will react to its owners behavior and emotion. One problem with this is, although dogs are very smart and can understand commands, it is likely that your dog isn’t fluent in a language. You can’t explain to it the point of the session, why we are doing this, what you hope to accomplish, or what it means when when you keep yelling “look over there!” You can probably get your dog to sit and stay, but after it sits, it wants to look at you to make sure it is doing a good job and the dog won’t care if the crazy stranger standing 20 feet away is pleased. Your dog wants to please you, not me. My advice is this, get in the pose, tell the dog to sit and stay, remain clam, and see what happens. Fingers crossed, I can call the dogs name, and in a split second, get the perfect family photo.

2. One Person in Charge. It can be overwhelming for your dog if everyone is yelling commands at once, from all different directions, snapping there fingers, and leading it around. Discuss with the family before the session who the one person in charge is going to be. Then everyone else should let that person be the alpha for the entire session.

3. Snuggle the dog. Sure you want the picture of the dog posing with the entire family, while everyone is looking and smiling. I will do my best as a photographer to get you that shot, and sometimes I can do it very successfully. But, I promise you, your favorite pictures of your pup are going to be the ones were you are holding it like a baby or snuggling your face it its. Think…”that’s a good boy!”

4. Just let them be a dog. Some of my favorite photos of dogs that I have taken, come after the session is over, after everyone stops yelling commands at the dog, when everyone is just hanging out and the dog is just well…doing dog things. I don’t talk to the dog, I don’t distract the dog, I just quietly follow the dog around and take some candid pictures, here is what the results can look like.

Conclusion: Dogs are part of the family and I LOVE that you want them to be in your family photos. Just remember to have fun and remember that dogs are not people, they are dogs. And, I promise I will get pictures of them that will make you smile, make you laugh, and make you fall in love with them all over again.