It's ALL about the dog!

I'm sitting here, at 8:30 pm thinking to myself, "I need a new blog post", but then of course, writers block. Because I am not an author and sometimes I can think of topics and have no idea how to put it to words. Until now. This topic is very important to myself and I can assume a LOT of other loving pet owners who, maybe want to get professional portraits done, of their dog(s) but are afraid or unsure of how their reactive dog will be. I'm here to put your mind at ease, because I don't want you to miss out on the experience of getting beautiful keepsakes of your pet, just because they have specific needs!

If you have read my other blog post titled "Meet my Dogs" you will know my first dog, Emma, the one that started my photography journey, is a reactive dog. She has always been very cautious of other dogs and new people. So through the years I had to learn how to help her overcome her reactivity and how to work with her in a public setting, safely.

With this came learning how to get people to approch her, act with her, and grow her confidence.

While learning all this on my own dog, as well as the training I had when I worked as a groomer, has helped with my photography and how I work with the different dogs and personalities.

You NEED a photographer that understands how to read your dogs body language and knows how to treat them to help them be confident and comfortable.

One of the first things I ask during a consultation is "Is your dog reactive?" this can be towards people, dogs, cars, bikers, etc. This is because I want to know how I need to approch them and what the ideal location needs to be in order for you to have your goal session while keeping your pet safe.

The next thing, if your pet is reactive to people, perhaps they are more avoidant vs approching, I will request you come up to me with your dog on a leash. I do not look, reach for, or attempt at greeting the dog first. Strange I know, dog photographer won't look at the dog, but it works! I will chat with you, let the dog(s) sniff me, my equipment, and do what they need too. All around the process takes about 10 minutes of time from the start until we head to our first spot at the location of your choice for the dog to get more comfortable with me being around.

The best part about this little trick, and "ignoring" the dog for the first bit, works with reactive dogs but also easily exciteable dogs! The reactive dogs will learn my equipment and I are not intimidating or anything to worry about, and easily excitable dogs learn that I am quite boring and that jumping around is not worth it!