Tips for Including Your Dog in your Engagement Session
So often I have couples ask if they can bring their dogs to their session. My answer? UM YES 100%! I love when couples bring their pets to sessions because I know how important they are to you!
Often times my couples worry about bringing their dogs to their session, and I understand that! I have two crazy dogs of my own, and well..here’s a little sneak peek on what REALLY went down the last time I did a session with them! The image on the left was posted on my Instagram and site, while the image on the right is pretty true to what happened the first few minutes..haha. Couples are usually worried about including their dog in their engagement session since they’re not sure how the dog(s) will act. I’ve wrote out a few tips below to help prep you for whatever happens during the session, and how to insure that you’ll get photos you’ll love and want to post allll over your dog’s Instagram account!
To prep you for including your dog in your engagement session, here’s a few tips!
- Bring a cute collar or leash! For an extra little touch, you can do fake greenery along the leash and collar. In the image below, my couple color coordinated their outfits with their dog’s collar–so cute!
- Arrive a little early. This gives your dog(s) time to sniff around, get comfortable, and use the restroom so they’re more relaxed during the sesh. If you have extra energetic pups, you can also take them on a short walk when you arrive!
- When thinking of a location, consider your backyard, inside your home, or a local dog park if you’re wanting some photos with your dog off-leash! Keeping your dog in familiar locations helps them stay comfortable, which in return will keep you and your family relaxed!
- Try and have fun! Your dogs can sense your stress, so remember: them staying comfortable and relaxed and you being comfortable and relaxed go hand in hand!
- Practice sit and stay at home and at the session location beforehand as a little refresher! Just remember that dogs’ memory often relates to locations. So if they refuse to sit and stay at the beginning of the session, no need to worry. Just keep being patient and they’ll come around!
- Bring them some extra good treats! This helps get their attention toward the camera or you!
- Ask a friend to come with you to hold the dog’s leash when you’re done with their photos. This helps keep the dog comfortable since they’ll be with someone they know! During this time we’ll get some photos of just the two of you!
- And just have fun! I know it feels crazy at first, but my couples always love the photos with their dogs the most! P.S., I take more photos than normal when working with pets to make sure we get lots of options!
That was just a few tips, but I hope it helps create a fun photo experience for you and your dogs! All of my couples receive my engagement session prep guide before each session, which includes an entire three pages on bringing your dogs to your session!
Thinking about including your dog in your engagement session? Head to the link below and we can look over some open dates!
Let’s Book my Dog’s Glamour Shots!
Need cute dog collars and leashes? Here are a few cute shops!
