Puppy Love
Is there anything more adorable than a wriggly puppy, full of innocent wide eyed wonder? Their playful spirits melt our human hearts. As a pet photographer here in Minneapolis I often get to take adorable custom portraits of these cozy mini dogs. It’s one of the best parts of my job, and every time I fall hopelessly in love with the puppies. I can’t help myself.
A professional puppy photo shoot is a great way to preserve precious memories. Like human babies, puppies change breathtakingly fast. They are only little puppies for a short while, and soon grow into their equally adorable gangly teenage years.
A young puppy poses in a basket in my cozy photo studio in Hopkins.
A quick primer on Puppy Development
Puppy Development Stages
0-8 weeks. Newborn
Though your puppy is likely still living with their littermates, the first eight weeks are some of a puppy’s most impressionable. Puppies’ brains undergo a huge developmental change during this newborn stage. It leaves a small but critical window for them to learn everything they need to shape their personality and create the foundation for future behaviors with humans and other dogs.
An energetic puppy sits still long enough for a portrait during a photo shoot in Minneapolis
To start your puppy on the right track, give them plenty of playtime with their littermates and shower them with human attention when they’re ready. If you are working with a breeder, be sure they are also following this advice.
This is also the ideal time to start giving puppies positive experiences with people. Whenever you can, try to introduce them to people and let them get familiar with the touch, smell and sound of humans.
Your puppy’s first socialization experiences are the single most important part of their upbringing. This is where they begin to understand the world around them.
During their first weeks of life puppies learn by playing, especially things like how to play like a dog, bite inhibition, discipline, and social skills. Puppies learn these important lessons by interacting with other puppies. Make sure they spend plenty of time with their mom and littermates to reinforce education.
8-16 weeks. Learning how to Dog.
At about 8 weeks old, your puppy is likely settled in your home, and you can look forward to witnessing a lot of changes. Your puppy’s brain will continue developing and they’ll begin to better acclimate to the human world. This phase focuses entirely on you and your puppy. Get ready to form a strong bond and take an active role in molding them into a well-behaved, well-adjusted dog.
Puppy Development & Health: Training & Shots
Puppy training starts the minute you bring them home. You might not always be actively teaching your puppy, but their minds are young and constantly learning both good and potentially undesirable behaviors.
The best thing you can do is begin formal training as soon as possible. Teach them everything from where to go potty to walking with a leash to understanding basic commands like “sit.”
You will likely take them for their first visit to your vet and start their vaccination schedule.
Puppy Behavior Milestone: Human Bonding
Puppies tend to bond with their littermates as their first socialization stage. That’s where they primarily spend time with their littermates learning about being a puppy. But human socialization—your puppy’s second socialization stage—should start early, so they get used to people and feel confident about interacting with them.
By now they should have had lots of human interactions, but most of their socialization will have come from time spent with their littermates learning about being a puppy.
This time, it’s about increased human interaction, bonding and how to be a dog in the human world. Spend as much time as you can teaching and playing with your puppy during this period.
It’s key to helping them learn acceptable behaviors. With enough support, your dog will grow into a socially confident and well-bonded dog. This is both an important and fun time, so enjoy forming this new relationship.
If you’ve noticed your puppy biting a lot, that’s normal, but you must address it. Along with tail wagging and yipping, nipping is one of a puppy’s primary methods of communication.
Usually, puppies will nip to get you to play. It’s an opportunity to teach them the limits of what they’re capable of and how their actions affect those around them.
A Corgi puppy and his brother pose for their professional pet photography session in Hopkins MN
During this socialization stage, they began to learn bite inhibition. If the lessons didn’t fully sink in, it’s up to you to teach boundaries and stop your puppy from biting.
At this time, you should begin to lay the groundwork for your puppy’s future training routine. It’s probably too soon to teach them commands, but it’s not too soon to teach them proper socialization, clear communication, good manners and boundaries.
From 8 to 16 weeks, puppies should be safely exposed to as many people, places and experiences as possible. Learning that the world around them is a positive and fun place and their human family is there to help them explore it will likely make it easier to train them as they grow older.
Be sure to go at a pace that works for your specific dog. By about six months puppies should be able to interact well with people and other dogs and understand when you say, “No biting.” They should also have made good progress when it comes to housetraining, coming when they’re called and can wait before their meals are served if you are teaching them to do so.
They may not yet know “sit” or “stay,” but they should be learning to mind their manners. If all goes well, they’ll have a solid foundation of training from about six months to one year of age, making it easier to hone their training skills. At that point commands like “Sit,” “Stay,” and “Leave it” should be familiar to your puppy.
Making sure your puppy is reaching their training milestones will help your puppy learn what is expected from them and get them on the right track to becoming a confident, happy and well-behaved dog.
4 – 6 Months. The “Adolescent Years”
Think of these few months like your puppy is in elementary school. Sometimes they’ll be a perfect angel, while other times, they may completely fall apart. Like sleep regression, only with more attitude.
Be patient. Your puppy is figuring out their place in the world, and is acting like the dog they were created to be. Keep calm and keep your puppy on a consistent daily routine so they know what you expect. With your guidance, your puppy will follow the guidelines eventually. And mind your own expectations. Dogs are not humans.
6 to 12 Months. The “Teen Years”
At six months, your puppy is getting closer to adulthood. If your dog is a smaller breed, they’ll hit adulthood around the age of one. Larger breeds will reach full maturity closer to age two. The last 6 to 18 months (about one and a half years) will mix in a lot of fun with a new set of challenges.
Your puppy will become more mature and gain some independence, which will let you get out and do more with them. But don’t forget—your dog is still a puppy and will act like one. Keep your expectations in check.
Puppy Development & Health: Final Growth
By now, there’s a good chance your puppy has grown close to their full height. Over the next 6 to 18 months, they’ll finish filling out their frame. And don’t be fooled; while they might look fully grown, inside, your puppy still has lots of growing up to do.
You will want to document those tiny paws, baby (sharp!!) teeth and wide eyed face so you can keep those emotions close to your heart forever. Professional puppy portraits not only capture adorable moments, but also encapsulate the deep bond between puppies and their human family.
Magical Moments
Puppies have a way of drawing out the playful side of their human families. They are nothing short of enchanting. Playing is learning for these literal young pups, and play they will. In fact, play is a common language among all dogs no matter their age. According to a veterinary study at the University of Edinburgh, playing helps puppies gain important motor skills. Rolling, pouncing, jumping, biting and shaking are all play behaviors that increase a puppy’s coordination, balance and self-awareness. When playing, puppies learn how hard they can bite and how to communicate play behaviors with other dogs.
Any doggie play session requires puppies to be alert and nimble. Puppies who learn to play with other dogs are better equipped to stabilize themselves when they are knocked off balance. During play, dogs’ hormones oxytocin and cortisol are released, helping dogs manage stress and contentment. It’s great practice for navigating a world filled with human stressors and other dogs.
Play also helps dogs establish their social hierarchy. It even strengthens social bonds with dogs and humans. Just like humans, dogs display dominant and submissive personalities, both of which are expressed naturally during playtime. Puppy playtime helps determine a loose social rank for littermates. Understanding when to express dominant and submissive traits is a key part of socialization for dogs, and also self-preservation. Dogs of all ages enjoy playing with humans, especially those closest to them. Playing with your new puppy - or dog of any age- is a way to communicate and understand their body language and unique personality. They will learn from you, too.
Once your puppy has played their heart out, it’s a good time for some quiet time bonding like cuddles, petting and relaxing together. These are often the moments that you will want to remember - their sweet smell, their roly poly belly, their curiosity. Those eyes…. This time when they can sit in your lap or fit in the palm of your hand is fleeting.
Photography is a great way to document those moments so you can keep them close to your heart forever.
The Art of Puppy Portraits
As a professional dog photographer, I often work with adult dogs with varying degrees of training and myriad personalities. Some dogs are more cooperative than others, some know what is expected and readily sit or stay on command. Some need a leash, extra patience and a mini training session to coax them into a picture perfect pose. Working with young puppies takes even more patience. My team and I are well versed in handling all of these situations and we approach each session with relaxed energy and a good dose of fun.
Framed portrait of an American Bully puppy hangs in a Minneapolis living room above the sofa.
Puppies’ attention spans are short, they are not yet fully trained (and we don’t expect them to be) and they love to be their rambunctious playful selves. We leverage this curious playful spirit in our photo sessions by keeping the photo shoots short and fun with plenty of praise and playtime. It also keeps your puppy engaged so we can capture those adorable innocent baby faces.
How to Prepare for you Professional Puppy Photo Shoot
Here are 5 tips to prepare for your puppy photo session.
1. Make a plan. If you know you are welcoming a new puppy into your home, schedule your session early. We can work with any age puppy, just bear in mind that the younger the pup the more sleep they need and the less likely they are to follow commands. Eight -sixteen weeks is the ideal time for puppy photos. But really, any age dog is welcome for dog portraits. I still refer to my 12 year old dog as my puppy.
2. Start working on training. Whether or not you enroll your new puppy in training class, it’s a good idea to work on simple commands before your photo session, like sit, down and stay. And remember to keep it positive, fun and rewarding for you and your puppy. When you work with Pawsh Photography for your puppy photos session, you will enjoy personalized attention. My team is used to dogs at all levels of training and we utilize positive reinforcement, leashes and playtime to keep the session low key and fun for all involved.
3. Bring toys. Part of the fun of having a puppy is learning what toys they enjoy. Fetch with a ball? A chew toy? Here are a few toys we recommend: Kong Puppy Chew Toy and Hol-le Roller Fetch Toy. Bring favorite treats and toys to your photo session to keep your puppy happy and engaged.
4. Include the family. This is a great opportunity to photograph the rest of your family. Include the humans and other dogs for a group photo. My team knows that I treat dogs as the valued family members they are, and that means we will never consider them an accessory. They will all get their own time in front of the camera, just like the humans. We know how to engage dogs and humans so everyone looks their best.
5. Extra energy. On session day, arrive a little early so you can walk or jog with your puppy. This gives an opportunity for a potty stop and also helps wear off some of that endless puppy energy. We want them tired enough to pay attention but not dog tired so they want to fall asleep.
A few other things to consider:
Most puppies have adorable fuzzy fur and do not need to be groomed before their pet photo session. Puppyhood is the ideal time to get your puppy comfortable with the people and appointments they will encounter throughout their life: vet visits, nail trimming, ear cleaning, brushing their coat and teeth. Though no grooming is required at this age, you can practice a visit to the groomer too – the groomer will love a visit from a puppy!
To keep everyone safe I require all animals to be up to date on their vaccinations. For puppies, this includes the core vaccinations DHLPP (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvo, and parainfluenza). Your pup will also need a rabies vaccination. If you are in puppy class or will board your puppy, I encourage you to get the Bordetella vaccine.
Though I do not require it, when your puppy is around 12-to-16 weeks, I recommend you talk to your vet about starting a heartworm preventive medication. Though there is no vaccine for heartworm in dogs, it is preventable with regularly administered heartworm medication that your veterinarian can prescribe.
Heartworm can be devastating to dogs. As the name suggests, worms lodge in the right side of the heart and the pulmonary arteries (that send blood to the lungs), though they can travel through the rest of the body and sometimes invade the liver and kidneys. The worms can grow to 14 inches long and block and injure organs. Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes.
This is Keira, a 14 week old border collie. She and her moms brought her to my studio in Hopkins for puppy portraits. I recommend the studio for puppy portraits over outdoor locations because it’s warm, cozy and a safe environment for puppy to explore.
Notice that we were able to capture a variety of backgrounds with Keira. It takes 5-10 minutes to change the background and it’s the perfect amount of time for your puppy to take a break. If you need to take your puppy outside for a potty break, there are spots of grass nearby. As with all sessions, we take our time and go at the pace of your pet. There is no rush, and always time for play, treats and praise.
Irreplaceable Keepsakes
Once your puppy photo shoot is complete, you’ll return to my studio in about a week to view the images and select your favorites. Most puppy guardians have a hard time choosing their favorites, which is why I highly encourage families with puppies to create an album. It’s a wonderful way to commemorate the puppy stage! As your puppy grows, you will have the precious photographs from their tiny puppy stage as a keepsake. Those images will remind you how far your now older dog has come, how much you’ve grown together, and why you fell in love with them. Puppy photos are magical reminders of all that is good in the world.
In addition to an album, most clients opt to purchase artwork for their walls. Imagine your happy adorable puppy’s face greeting you every morning as you get ready for work. Personalized artwork that is meaningful to you is a surefire way make your house or apartment feel like home. There are myriad styles to choose, and part of my service as a professional pet photographer is to help you choose the best artwork for your home. And if you are lucky enough to have kids AND a puppy, well… let the cuteness overload begin. Kids and puppy portraits look Ah Mazing in a child’s’ bedroom.
No interior decorator degree needed!
In Sum
Raising a puppy (not unlike raising a human) is an emotional journey, and capturing those special moments along the journey is important. A professional pet photo shoot is a wonderful way to preserve those fleeting memories of puppyhood. You can create timeless keepsakes from your photo session and display them in your home. It will bring you joy for years.
