I recently asked folks on my email list and social media followers to give me the one thing that’s holding them back from scheduling a photo session. The “problem” I heard the most was some variation of their pet not being trained well enough to do a session. Wanna know a secret? Your pet doesn’t have to be perfect to be a model.

Why the background of your photographer matters

When you choose a pet photographer to do your session, you are choosing a professional who (hopefully) has a vast array of knowledge about animal behavior. Could a great family photographer also incorporate animals into their session? Sure, if the pet is friendly with strangers and a rock star with commands like sit and stay. But if you are like me and have “particular” pets, you might want to consider someone specializing in photographing animals who’s trained on topics of animal behavior.

For me personally, I’ve worked or volunteered in animal welfare since 2017, which means I’ve seen a whole lot of behaviors. I’ve also had “difficult” animals that I’ve shared my life with, including those with touch sensitivities, stranger danger, and reactivity. As a result, I’ve been through enough positive reinforcement training classes that I could probably become a trainer myself. And, through the course of my work at the Cleveland Animal Protective League, I’ve also been Fear Free Certified, which means I have the training needed to ensure that we put your pet’s welfare above all else.

So how do I interact with animals who have plans other than getting their pictures taken? Keep reading…

Leash ’em up!

I’m a big proponent of leash laws so if I’m meeting you for an outdoor session, it’s pretty rare that I’m going to encourage you to take your dog off leash. In fact, if we are in an area where it’s imperative that they be on a leash, I’m going to insist that they stay on it. Sometimes, we’ll leave the leash on in the final image because it works for the scene. Other times I’ll make sure to remove it when I edit your photos.

Before editing:

After editing:

No sit? No stay? No problem!

If your pet doesn’t know any commands, great! You have seen that I’ve photographed cats, right? Of course it’s helpful if your rambunctious dog has a solid sit and stay command, but that doesn’t necessarily capture their personality anyway. So I’m going to do my best to work with whatever your model wants to give me. I have a number of tricks up my sleeve to capture this. From cookies, to toys, to noises, I can usually get the attention of most pets when I need it. But also, the candid images between pets and their guardians are actually some of my most favorite images. I mean, take a look at these images and tell me you aren’t smiling at them!

Stranger Danger!

Does your pet react to strangers as if they are pet-eating aliens here to destroy all animal-kind? Cool, my pitbull Blanche is one of those. Of the fight-flight-freeze categorizations, she’s a fighter (or at least she pretends to be). Hackles up, loud barking, but also tail tucked and backing away. I’ve also had foster dogs who aligned more with the freeze and flight categories. And remember the whole Fear Free Certification training mentioned earlier? That included a lot of training on canine and feline body language and what to do when an animal is in one of these modes.

So little Scrappy wants to do a lot of posturing at me to keep me at a distance? I’ll turn my body and not look at him while I throw cookies his way. If Fluffy starts yawning a lot and cowering, we’ll take a break and play her favorite game. Spike doesn’t want me anywhere near him? I’ll pull out my long lens and make sure I get to a distance that he is comfortable with. Remember: the whole goal of a session with me is to have FUN! I do my best to make sure even the most fickle pet has a great time. Additionally, my aim is that you walk away with the session feeling an even tighter bond to your best friend AND end up with incredible images to look back on for years to come.

So what’s holding you back from getting beautiful images of your loved one? Let me know below and I’ll let you know if I can help you overcome the objection!

Ready to inquire about your own session? Head over to my contact page and let’s chat!