Have a puppy that you’re thinking of getting photographed? When is the right time? Well we’ve done puppies pretty early in life—think between 6 and 8 weeks old. They are cute little balls of fur at that age and they love to sleep. We did 9 bloodhound puppies for a breeder—18 pound puppies—and had to work pretty fast because like newborn babies they like to sleep a lot!
Ideally between 2-4 months is great for puppy pictures. You can do earlier and get some cute sleepy shots but to have a puppy “pose” you need a little older. And having some basic commands is very helpful. The couple above wanted a “family” portrait as well as individual shots of their new English Pointer puppy. This is great as I recommend at least at some point in a dogs life to get a great shot ofd family with their pet—whether it’s one person or the whole family. It’s a great way to remember all the great times you had with your furry friend.
But back to working with puppies—like little children you need to let them burn off some energy. The puppy in the video below had a wonderful time racing around the studio and sliding on the floors. But it helped to wear her out a bit for the portraits. The owners need to be patient with any kind of dog [portraits but especially puppy portraits. Like humans, dogs can sense tension and it makes them stressed out.So you want to keep calm and not worry about the puppy. Sure pee and poop happen but we don’t get stressed out about it—it’s part of working with dogs.
So if you have a new puppy you want a portrait of give us a call and we’d be glad to walk you through the process of preparing for a portrait session.
Check the behind the scenes video out below and see how funny a puppy can be to work with.