Today I would like to focus on preparing your dogs for your upcoming portrait session! When it comes to pet sessions, the presentation of your dog can oftentimes make or break your professional portraits. With a strong background in K9 handling I have compiled a few tips and tricks on how you can best prepare your dog both physically and mentally.
Basic Skills
Every dog is different; however, the best way to set yourself up for success is working on your dog’s basic skills- sit, stay and return. A few weeks prior to your pet session, I highly suggest taking your dog out for 15 minutes at a time and practicing their basic commands. Rewarding your dog for good behavior will familiarize them with poses I will ask of them the day of their session. Ensuring there are no surprises for your dog the day of your session will promote a successful session. I would also like to remind you that your dog’s safety is my number one priority and they will be on leashes a majority of the session, I will then photoshop leashes out of your final portraits!
Familiarizing Locations
When practicing your basic skills, whether your session is at home, a local park or the barn, I highly recommend familiarizing your dogs with locations they may not normally be exposed to. For example, I may want to have your dog standing in an open field where they normally are running through it. Practicing your basic commands in foreign locations will keep your dog’s attention and focus on you and your session! Throughout your portraits, I will always keep your dog’s safety as my number one priority, if at any point I feel they are uncomfortable we will take a break and move on.
Grooming
Grooming your dogs can come in different forms, whether you have a long haired dog or a short coat, grooming will come in handy for the final portraits. I recommend taking your long coated dogs to your groomer 1-2 days prior and keeping tabs on them to ensure we don’t have a muddy coat the day of! I highly suggest sticking to the groomer you trust, trying a new groomer before portraits can be extremely risky. Be sure their nails are clipped up and all eye boogers are wiped away! For short haired dogs, I still suggest a bath whether it is by your trusted groomer or yourself, a shiny coat is a happy coat! Keeping a few rags and brushes on hand for minor touch ups will also ensure a smooth session!
Toys & Treats
If you plan to bring toys and treats to your session to help keep your dog’s attention, I like to suggest paying close attention to the smells they react most to as well as their go to toys at home. I highly suggest avoiding switching up their treats the day of, they may have a bad reaction to the treats or even worse, get overly excited about something new. Using your tried and true methods will be more than enough to ensure we keep your dogs attention throughout their portraits!
I hope reading this quick guide has you feeling better prepared for you upcoming portraits, rest assured, being a certified dog trainer, I will be here to help every step of the way! Keeping these tips and tricks in mind when preparing your dog for your professional portrait session will help build the steps to success for the day of! Making your portraits an exciting experience will not only keep your dog happy, but also ensure that you are not stressed the day of. Professional portraits are meant to create joy and positive memories, not stress! If you have not scheduled your professional pet session yet, visit https://bit.ly/2TONzwB to begin your portrait journey today!
-Charlotte
