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Strike a Pose!
Some of us are lucky enough to have a hambone-type dog who LOVES having their photo taken. The camera or cell phone held up near them doesn’t seem to be a concern, which is an essential first step to getting good photos. If you have a camera-shy dog, how might you help them feel more relaxed?
In many photo shoots, it’s helpful to have a dog who will remain still while we snap the pic. This could be accomplished by just capturing a moment of stillness or employing a STAY cue or perhaps popping the dog up on a raised surface to reduce movement.
We often want attentive or charming expressions too. You could get this by saying your dog’s name in an animated way, using a novel sound effect, or holding a toy or treat to gain their focus. I once had a dog named Gabriel who did a lot of TV commercial work. In one, the director wanted him to stay in place and repeatedly cock his head back and forth as if he was listening carefully to what an actor was saying. Thankfully, I was allowed to speak during that segment of filming and the phrase “where’s daddy?” was a guaranteed way to get Gabe to cock his head.
In another commercial, Gabe had to sit on a chair across from an actor and stare directly at him. I did a lot of prep work with people holding a piece of cheese in their mouths and then spitting it to him. Gabe quickly learned to pay very close attention to other people’s mouths, and all they had to do was make a subtle mouth movement to cement his stare. The actor was really good-natured and he agreed to practice some food-spitting with Gabe before filming and we ended up having quick success with that scene. I hope some of you will try this idea and then post a pic taken just before the spit!
What are some of your tricks for getting wonderful pics of your furry critters?
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4 Replies
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What a fun topic! And how cute is Gabe? ???? Lol I love that you used “where’s daddy?” ! ???? I love the idea of having Gabe look at the mouth . ???? That must’ve been a very fun trick to train! And snack samples for both right? ???? Win win!❤️ ????
What I like to do with Wai (and all my other animals) is to have a “warm up” session. This is where I’ll evaluate their emotional and willingness levels. Are they sleepy, anxious, excited, hungry, etc. Will this be overwhelming? Not exciting enough? Maybe up the treats value? Use lower value treats? ????
We do this by playing easy games/tricks like Sit, Down, Go Find It, Come, Boop, etc.
If they look interested in what I’m doing, then we move on to playing some sit-stays or down-stays depending on the photo that I want.
Once we have some “remember practice” on the stays THEN we take some shots. Sometimes if I am adding props to Wai, like a book for him to hold or a bag, I would add that on to my sit-stay/down-stay part of the practice. If they don’t like the prop (for example, scary umbrella), then I would remove and work with the umbrella alone, or use a different less scary prop. ????
Also LOTS of treats and breaks between shots. ???? Duration is something Wai and I are still working on, to keep that in mind too. Every dogs duration is different. Most importantly, make it fun for both Dog and human! ????
Whoa, lol, sorry for the long one! ???? Here is a photo from todays walk, practicing posing for pictures, as tax. ????
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@WaiThePuaPup , I love the way you handle this and it’s clearly working because you post so many excellent pics of Wai.
I wonder if he falls into the ‘hambone’ category!
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☺️ Thank you!
???? Lol, yes I think he would be!
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ooh – both of these posts are packed with great tips for photo shoots!
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