T H E G O O D M U T T P H O T O G R A P H Y

Yourto guide for posing dogs

create impactful & natural portraits

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This guide is for

you if....
You're a professional dog photographer
looking to spice up your poses

You're an amateur dog photographer

looking for posing ideas

You are a pet owner that enjoys

capturing images of their dog

In this guide, you will discover common positions

and prompts I use during my sessions

...But first!
This walkthrough serves merely as a visual aid and
guide to showcase some of my favourite poses
(both stationary and in motion) and how I execute
them during sessions.

The safety and comfort of my client dogs are my

number 1 priority. I will only attempt to execute
certain positions as long as the dog is confident
and comfortable doing so.

It is important to remember that it is the dog that

leads the shoot, not you. If at any point the dog
exhibits nervous behaviour to a prompt/position, I
abort immediately.

Nowhere in this guide will you receive training tips

or advice as I am not a dog trainer. I work solely off
of the abilities that the client dog already has.

We're going to start off easy-peasy...

"Sit" is arguably one of the most common
commands that a dog knows. There's always that
one dog that will use "sit" as their go-to for
everything! A lot of our senior pups will sit
automatically solely because it's easier and more
comfortable for them. But we can make this
work!
One of my favourite ways to make the most out of this
command is to incorporate foreground. While the
command may seem "simple", having a dog sit in an area
such as a flower field, on a rocky beach, deep into the
brush of a forest, you can create a sense of depth in the
image. This is also a great position to capture a nice
simple head shot too!

But what if the dog can't "sit & stay"?

This is where things get fun!

We've all come across those dogs who are so

excited they struggle to stand or sit still longer
than 5 seconds! And that's okay, it's exciting
being a model and being in a brand new
environment around a brand new person. But we
can actually use this to our advantage to capture
some great moving shots.

Not every image with movement needs to be

super fast and speedy. Even just capturing your
subject trotting down the beach or wading into
the water for a drink is enough to capture a
sense of motion. This is a perfect setup for a pup
that likes to be on the move.

A few more examples of dogs just

walking around enjoying themselves
For dogs that aren’t big on posing and enjoy walking around
doing their own thing, one of the easiest ways to capture this is if
they’re off leash just having fun. If being off leash isn’t possible,
you can still achieve these shots by using a long line (the
Frenchie in the bottom right was actually leashed for that shot!).
Most times images of dogs walking down the beach or playing in
the snow, etc turn out to be some of my clients favourites! So
don’t stress too much if you have a wiggly subject.

And remember, you DON’T need an off-leash

dog to capture images that tell a story...
One of the most common questions I hear from
inquiring clients is: "my dog can't be off leash, is that
going to impact my shoot?" The answer is so simple -
NO! Over half of my client dogs are on leash during their
photoshoot. Surprised? Thanks to editing software,
removing leashes from images has never been easier.
Safety is always number 1 and I will never compromise
that for a photo.
And you know what, sometimes having a dog on leash
makes positioning easier even if they ARE good off
leash! You have precise control over where they'll stand
and luring them with treats while on leash makes a
world of difference. By having the owner or assistant
correctly position a leash will make removal in post-
processing easier!

All of the poses in this guide (except action

shots at the end) can be achieved ON leash!

A quick tip to
consider...
I LOVE capturing the soulful look of the dog as they
gaze directly into my lens. But have you ever
thought about the impact it makes when the dog
isn't looking at the camera? To me, it gives a sense
of story-telling and curiosity as they survey the
world around them instead of turning their
attention directly to you.

Try this in your next session!

Once you have the dog in your desired position, throw a small
rock or stick in the direction you'd like them to glance in. You can
even do a "fake toss" and sometimes that's enough for them to
look in that direction! You'll need to be prepared with a fast
shutter as sometimes this will make your subject extra curious to
go investigate the object you've just thrown.

Now let's talk about incorporating our

natural enviornment!
Rocks, logs or basically anything the
dog can hop up onto is the easiest way
to level-up your portraits. There's
something so simple yet effective with
having your subject elevated out in
nature. Pretty much every session of
mine will include a dog leaping up onto
something!

IMPORTANT: Always, always, always

understand and respect your subjects
limitations and boundaries when it
comes to standing on new surfaces
(wood, rocks, moss, etc). This can be
super weird for a lot of dogs so only
proceed with these types of
commands if the dog is comfortable
and confident.

This position (mantled on rocks,

logs, etc) makes an impact from
any angle. I primarily try to shoot
from the side of the dog as a
profile shot when I have them
elevated like this. If the dog is
super confident, you can even
incorporate tricks or have them in
motion.

Using treats or toys can help

make this experience fun and
exciting for them. I do my best to
make these shots very quick as
they hangout on the rocks or logs
to limit their time on them.

Lets get into some more technical

posing and prompting..

Now that we've had our dogs mantled up on natural pedestals like
rocks and logs, I'm going to share one of my favourite poses! As I
mentioned before, there's something very "story-telling" about a
dog glancing away from the camera. If you're like me and prefer the
dog looking away from you, then you need to give this one a try!

This pose can virtually work in any scenario! Whether

standing on the ground, in water or mantled up on a rock or
log. You'll want to shoot this one from the side as a profile
shot and here are the steps I take and prompts I've used:

1) Have the owner lure the dog so that the dog is facing them
directly (in this case, the owner has lured the dog up onto the
rock and is facing them).

2) On my cue, the owner will toss a treat or small rock directly

over the dog so that their natural reaction will be to watch the
object overhead and fall behind them. You can even try the
"fake toss" with no object and sometimes that works too! It is at
this point you will be rapid firing for that split second they turn 2) Toss a treat or small rock overhead
their head to glance over their shoulder.

3) Now some dogs will naturally turn their entire body around to
see what has been thrown. If you have two people, you can
attempt to avoid this full-body-turn by having 1 person stand in
front of the dog and 1 person stand behind the dog. On your
cue, have the person behind the dog call their name or entice
(owner this way)
them so they quickly glance over their shoulder.

p
gu
Having a leash for this one can also do
ure
1) l
help avoid a full-body-turn!

Get out there and give this one a shot! If you've used
this method, please tag me so I can see your results!

@thegoodmuttphotography
#tgmposingguide

More examples of
using this technique

Now onto the "look back"..

This pose is pretty much the exact same as the previous one
just at a different angle and executed in a slightly different
way. I LOVE capturing that brief moment where a dog looks
over their shoulder at me, usually caught off guard
There's a few ways to achieve this:

1) Have the owner and their dog
position themselves with their
back to the camera. When you’re
ready, call their name loudly or use
a crazy noise (we all have them
LOL!) to catch the attention of the
dog. 8/10 times they’ll look
back at me!
2) Another way to catch this one is if
the dog is already off leash doing their
own thing. Sometimes you can catch
them at the perfect angle (with their
back to you) and call their name at the
right time to capture that look-back! I
will also have owners call them as well,
since they usually respond better to
them than me (a new person!)
3) If the name-calling isn’t
successful, you can try and get
their attention by making weird
sounds, squeaking toys, tapping
rocks or sticks, etc. I find “novel”
sounds work the best as it piques
their curiosity! I will also use an app
called iTrainer which has a few
different squeak sounds.

The end goal: having the dog face away from you but glancing
back over their shoulder towards the camera

Let’s level up
these poses
even more…

This is the “Stand Up!”

This next posing prompt is another favourite of mine and
one I try to do every session. This is a very easy command to
try on location to add some variety into your shots. Plus, the
dog doesn’t need to know any fancy tricks for this one! Keep
in mind that not all dogs will be able to perform this one,
such as older dogs with arthritis. I have the most success
with this pose when I follow the steps below:

1) I prefer to capture this pose from
the side. I like being able to see all
features of the dog clearly, such as
their paws out in front of them, the
side of their face, their tail behind
them, etc. I find this more appealing to
the eye as opposed to a “head-on”
shot of the dog standing up!
2) Have the owner or an assistant hold
a stick, treat or toy above the dogs
head. This will HOPEFULLY entice them
to jump up for it. You only need a few
seconds to snap that perfect “Stand
Up” shot! This is also a fun one to try
repeatedly. It’s even more fun when
all of their legs leave the ground in a
hop!
3) Extra tip - one of the simplest
ways to level this one up even
more is to try it in the water!
There’s nothing quite like water to
add some dynamics and
movement to your image. With
their paws leaving the water,
you’re sure to capture some fun
water trails!

Next, let’s talk head shots

Truth be told, I don’t capture a ton of head
shots during my sessions. I’m usually too
distracted by our beautiful locations and want
to do my best to capture all of that! However,
classic head shots are just another easy way to
add variety into your sessions. This entire
guide is all about variety and helping you
achieve that in your images and galleries! Here
are a few ways to capture those classic head
shots while also spicing them up a bit…

Foreground, foreground, foreground

When I’m capturing head shots of my client dogs, I am immediately looking for
an area to create depth around them and that usually means a nice foreground!
I will typically use a longer lens for shots such as these to really focus the
attention on the dog themselves and really encapsulate them in that
environment. Because I’m obsessed with side shots, I will have the owner speak
to their dog so the dog glances up at them. I just love delivering shots such as
these knowing the owner is who the dog is looking at lovingly!

If you’re familiar with

my work, you know that
I LOVE shooting in and
around water!#

(yes, IN the water )

"

I get asked SO often: “How do you get

shots in the water?” or “Are you in the
water when taking these photos?”.
Well, I’m here to answer those very
questions and reveal my secrets!
(They’re not actually secrets ).

Photographing in and around water is

probably one of my favourite ways to
level up my photos and create truly
captivating portraits. I am constantly
drawn to water locations for my
subjects and more often than not,
these images turn out to be some of
my favourites. Water can transform a
portrait into both a serene, tranquil
image as well as an action shot with
explosion of movement.

Disclaimer:
I am at a very comfortable level of being in the water with my camera and equipment. If
you’re not comfortable being in and around water with your camera, please do not push that
discomfort for a photo. Do what feels best for you and your gear!

Here is what I do when I’m shooting in

and around water:

• Shoot LOW! I basically hold my

camera right on the surface of the
water to create a smooth foreground.
Sometimes this even creates an
illusion that the camera is IN the water!

• In the summer months I just wear

shorts and really secure sandals/shoes
(think water shoes or anything with
good grip!). In the colder months I will
wear high rubber boots. This usually
only allows me to get into the water
about shin-deep but that’s all I need!

• Take advantage of all that movement!

Water is what makes portraits so dynamic,
especially when it comes to action shots.
Another one of my favourite environments
to shoot action in! Don’t be afraid to
capture that spray.

Examples of poses executed in the water

Owners tossed something over the dog so the dog
would follow the object above or beside them

The classic look over the shoulder

Owners were standing near their dog while I positioned
myself and called out their name to look back at me

Standing up in the water!

Owners were standing near their dog enticing them to jump up with
a toy or stick while I captured the splash-filled moment

And of course, the incredible water-filled action shots

Before we get into action shots, I’m going to share

some of the commands I LOVE to capture!

“Sit Pretty” “Shake a Paw” “Down”

Easily one of the cutest tricks around!
And surprisingly quite a few of my client
dogs have known this trick. This is a fun
one to capture from the side, but can
also be done in the water, on rocks, in
shrubs (think foregrounds). There are so
many ways to capture this adorable trick!
Another fairly common trick that most
dogs know! Even if your dog throws their
paw out for 2 seconds, that’s really all you
need to capture that 1 shot! This can be a
fun one to capture from above the dog if
you have a wide angle lens (like the
image above).
Now you may be thinking this is such a
basic command, but believe it or not, a
lot of dogs do not like laying down
outside! Pair this command with a “head
down” trick or even a cute head tilt and
you just captured one of the sweetest
pictures around!

Action shots!
Basically everybody loves action
!
shots. There’s something so fun and
carefree capturing a dog running full
sprint or frolicking around.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I love capturing dogs

from the side. Even more-so when they’re in
action! You can capture their full stride and their
body completely stretched out! I find I have the
most luck capturing action shots this way (in
regards to focus), but head-on action shots are
another classic way to capture your dog in
motion.

Photographing moving dogs from the side is

actually quite simple. It requires an assistant!
While I’m positioned off to the side, I have the
owners toss a toy or stick straight out in front of
them. I then track the dog through the camera as
best I can as they sprint after their toy. I typically
shoot low down to the ground as well to get more
on their level and capture potential foreground
too.

** An easy way to get head-on shots is to have the

owner throw the toy right in the direction of the
camera. Prepare to dodge a bullet quickly
though! **

And again, by adding elements such as water, snow, sand,

rain (the list goes on), you instantly create a sense of
movement that you can truly feel in the photo!

A final tip
Worried you may not remember all
of this information when you’re out
shooting on location?
Screenshot any of the slides from this guide to save
$
them to your phone so you have them with you during
your next photo session!

WWW.THEGOODMUTT.COM
@THEGOODMUTTPHOTOGRAPHY

If you referenced this posing guide to

help you in your sessions, I’d
absolutely love to see the results! Feel
free to tag me on Instagram or DM
me directly.

If you made it to the end —

wow, thank you. I hope you
enjoyed this free guide!
I love free resources and want this to be something you
can refer back to and be inspired by with different ideas.
I hope to help other dog photographers in all levels of
abilities, from beginner to professional, and am happy to
assist in any way. This is something I’ve created on my
own time for the sole purpose of inspiring and offering
my knowledge to others.
Have more questions that didn’t get
answered here? Feel free to reach out to
me on my Instagram account below and
I’d be more than happy to chat!

— Andrea
@thegoodmuttphotography

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