We love your dogs and know they are your valued family members. That means safety is our number one priority. So, how do we keep your dog safe?

It Starts with Our Process

That’s right, it really starts from the beginning. Before our initial pre-session meeting, we send out a questionnaire, and a big part of it is about how to make your dog safe and comfortable during the session. Here are some some questions from our pre-session questionnaire that can provide us invaluable safety information:

• Does your pet have any food allergies?
• Does your pet have any medical issues that impact the way we run a photo session (for example, is your dog deaf, blind, or have painful areas we should avoid?
• Will your dog run off if let off the leash?
• Does your dog have a good stay, and will your dog come reliably when called?

Our process includes a pre-session meeting where we will meet your dogs if possible.  This allows us to gauge their temperament and how easily they are distracted (plus, who doesn’t love meeting new dogs?) It also gives them a chance to get comfortable with us, so they are less likely to be fazed by our actions at the photo session. During this meeting we also determine a location.  We strongly recommend locations we are familiar with, and the big reason is safety. We love locations that have few distractions. Many outdoor locations in our area are overrun with too many people and dogs.  This creates problems with easily distracted dogs who might be tempted to run off and play with other dogs or people, possibly putting their safety in jeopardy. We also try to avoid areas with lots of turkeys, geese, ducks, and squirrels, which our canine friends love to chase!  If we use a yard or some other enclosed area, we want to be assured it is properly secured.  All of these issues are addressed before the photo session.

The Photo Shoot

At the photo session we use what we’ve learned to make the session as safe as possible, and it all starts out with the use of the leash. If there is any doubt about your dog getting loose or being distracted, we keep them on the leash. Take a look at the photos below and guess which dogs were on a leash when the photo was taken:

If you guessed all of them, you are right! We don’t take chances.

We also take many other precautions including:

• Using high quality treats made with the best ingredients (and only with your permission}.
• Checking the area for common hazards like fox tails, broken glass, ticks etc.
• We don’t do anything that will make you uncomfortable.

As you can see, for us, safety is our #1 Priority.