We love our pets and want them to live forever. It’s easy to forget about your pets age when they’re young. Even up to 5 or 6 years old. Then one day you realize your pet is slowing down.
Hopefully you have a great series of photos of your dog or cat as they age. Hopefully at least one of them is a professionally done portrait that you could hang on a wall. It’s difficult to lose a pet—I know, I’ve been through it a few time with dogs. Each time I was grateful I got a great portrait of them. I have a few hanging in my bedroom that I can see every day and remember all the great times I’ve had with my dogs over the years.
If you don’t have a great portrait of your dog or cat now is the time to do it. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Several clients have let us know how grateful they are to have a good portrait of their pet who died suddenly or developed a terminal illness and had to be put down. Others were not so fortunate. They wanted to do it but never found the time.
You should have your pet’s portrait taken while they can still walk so they’re not all hunched over. It’s helpful if they can still see well—and not have cataracts or milky white eyes. And hearing helps so they can respond to commands in front of the camera. It’s very difficult for pet and people to try to take the portrait the day before you put the pet down. It can be done—we’ve done it several times but it’s hard.
When’s the best time to take your dog’s portrait? Maybe 5 years ago—the second best time is now.