At the Bryn Mawr Kennel Club Dog Show I saw this girl sitting in a chair with her Vizsla on her lap.  It was just the cutest thing – especially when the dog rested his head against hers while they watched the other Vizsla’s in the ring.   This is exactly the reason why I photograph pets!  Seeing their relationship and having a chance to photograph them just made my day!   It’s this type of image that I look for when I am out photographing dogs at a show or just pets in public.   Below is another image where you can see the sweet dog’s face.

While at a recent dog show I saw this scene and had to snap a photo.  While it is cute, I would have to ask the driver, “What are you thinking?”   This can’t possibly be safe for the dog.  First of all the driver should be wearing a helmet [in my opinion] and the dog should be at least wearing “doggles” to protect his eyes.  {Never mind that I don’t think the dog should be a passenger on a motorcycle at all!}  I’m sure the dog enjoyed the ride, though.  I couldn’t help but think back to my drive to the show when I suddenly had to slam on the brakes because 2 deer ran in front of my car.  Everything that was sitting on the front seat of the car slid forward and onto the floor.  I’m a big believer that dogs should be in a carrier or wearing a pet seat belt while traveling in a car for just that reason.  In the event you have to stop suddenly, they could be seriously injured if thrown about.  Keep that in mind the next time you take your pet out for a ride!  My cats only travel inside a pet carrier…no matter what.

This Corgi absolutely feels his owner’s love….can’t you just see it in his eyes?  It’s a feeling of contentment, trust and security.  Our pets can read our feelings and respond to them…don’t you agree?  I know that my cats seem to sense when I’ve had a lousy day and that’s when they come and sit beside me on the couch at night.  I try really hard not to show my nervousness when I’m worried about them – especially when they are sick.  I don’t want to transfer that anxiety and fear to them when they already aren’t feeling well.  So just as with people, it’s important to show our pets that we care about them!  A kiss on the nose, scratch behind the ears, a new toy from the pet store, or an extra treat go a long way in letting them know how much you love them!

Imagine being a dog or cat and your view of the world is from ground level or just a little above [unless you are a Great Dane, of course!]!  It must be terribly frustrating to constantly be looking up!  I think this adorable little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was enjoying his or her view from up high in dad’s arms!  I’ve found with pet photography that I need to spend more time cropping images than ever before.  Typically I like to compose in-camera and rarely ever crop my macro, landscape, still life, or other non-pet images.  However, when dogs and cats are involved, you can never predict what will happen so you need to be ready to grab a shot on the spur of the moment.  There often is no time for setting up a shot, repositioning yourself to improve the composition, etc., so cropping becomes a necessity.  This image had a lot of distractions on the left and right of the subjects as people were milling around in the background.  I believe that if something doesn’t add to the image, you should remove it, so cropping has become something I’ve gotten more used to doing in pet photography.  I love this little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel…so cute!