you guys have spent almost three years chowing at me about using my amazing dogs who are perfectly
trained dog models to demonstrate things but one thing that you guys keep repeatedly asking
for is a video showing you how to get client dogs on a shoot so you're with them actually
on a shoot in real life to go up onto objects go up onto logs go up onto rocks to perform a
behaviour to get a better photo than you would have had on the floor so with the help of two
foster dogs who have stayed with us recently and with the help of some client clips as well
we're going to walk through this process in baby steps if you follow the steps inside of
this video there is genuinely no reason why you can't achieve this I usually can
get through this entire process in well under two minutes so that to me doesn't
disrupt my workflow and the dogs are having a great time we end up with amazing photographs
as a result so I want to share this with you and so yeah let's just get stuck in
I pulled my sleeves up because we're getting real now to start with you need to make sure
three things number one if the dog is on leash and has to remain on a leash that's fine do not do not
do not do not ever ever use the leash to pull the dog or yank the dog or move the dog in any
way shape or form during this process if the dog is very very small we're talking like a teeny dog
or like maybe a medium-sized dog and the object is a little bit larger and you think that they
may struggle to actually get onto that object when they have done this process then what I want you
to do is follow these steps for as long as you possibly can and then what I want you to do is
ask the owner to very carefully place the dog on the object and then I want you to continue
the steps so it's all the same stuff just the part where the dog takes itself onto the object you're
gonna have to owner do that for them okay if the dog at any point in any of this process shows
signs that they are uncomfortable we're talking licking lips yawning looking away from you or
from the situation or point blank refusing to move especially if the tail is tucked between the legs
abort mission abort abort abort just don't do it go do something else make sure that welfare is
your tip top top priority otherwise you shouldn't be a pet photographer I mean that's the long and
short of it and finally ensure that the object is stable you have to make sure that you cannot
manually move this object in any way shape or form it must not bounce it can't be slippy it can't be
sharp it must be a really really solid object and it has to be wide enough for a dog to easily stand
on it without feeling like they're going to lose their balance okay some objects are wide enough
and the dog still loses the balance we're going to talk about that a little bit later on but as a
mainstay make sure the object is freaking safe before you do this otherwise again maybe maybe
maybe this is not the career path for you safety is the top priority okay the top right so we're
going to get into dog training now dog training is a really really big concept I'm going to break it
down I'm going to say where you need to be where the dog needs to be where the owner needs to be when to
reward and everything you need to know so first thing is first you have to have something that the
dog truly loves like they have to love this thing so much that they will ignore the owner they will
ignore other things they will ignore the squirrels and so on and so forth they will ignore all of
these things so most of the time that is going to be high value food some doga just love any food so
you're gonna start near to the object not too far away within two to three meters of the object and
I'm gonna want to ask you to lure the dog close to the object so just even if it's one step towards
the object all you're going to do is put the food in your hand or the toy or whatever it is and just
ask the dog to take a couple of steps towards the object the second those feet move feed right it's
so important that you heavily reward that moment because you'll actually reinforcing nothing to
really to do with object but more to do with following the hand to get the food and that's
going to help for later so reward heavily for a movement towards the object you want to obviously
make sure that the dog is not afraid of the object so if you need to desensitize by feeding lots of
snacks or giving the dog lots of rewards in that area I'm going to use snacks all the way through
this because I usually find that snacks work best for most client dogs but you might be having to
interchange that with other rewards that's fine otherwise I'm just going to be spending ages going
snacks or toys or praise or snuggles or a good boy or you get what I mean okay so if you are sure
that the dog is happy what I want you to then do is stand at a 90 degree angle to the object so if
this desk was the object then I would go ahead and stand right up next to the object with my hip or
leg neck to the object and then I would be looking kind of that way and I would have the dog here
the same thing works in reverse it doesn't really matter you're standing very close to the object
you are at a 90 degree angle to it and you've got the dog in front of you facing towards the object
okay so this is positioning number one so you're going to put your reward in your left hand if
we're using this as our example where I'm going to be facing this way the dog's here and this is the
object my reward is in this hand and what I'm then going to do is just go ahead and ask the dog to
take another step or come up and over the object what I'm looking for in this situation is one paw
coming off of the ground for a nervous quiet dog or for one a dog to put one or both feet onto the
object if they are super energetic and love the reward that you've got right now so the second
that that contact is made with the object heavily reward and move back away from the object then
you're going to go ahead and repeat that a couple more times to make sure that the dog is really
really clear that interaction with the object is what gets them the reward now if you needed the
dog to just put two paws onto the object for like a tree stump or a rock then well you've already
got that right so you're kind of at the end go ahead and look at the handler transition back to
the owner to make sure that they're aware of what they need to do and then you can go ahead and take
your shot but theoretically you've just shaped well it's not even shaped really you've just lured
paws up on an object and the dog should be aware now that they only get the reward when their feet
are on that object so pause up is complete if you want to know how to shape this behaviour so that
you can ask a dog to stand on anything with two feet without this kind of beginning part then you
want to go ahead and watch Bryt Diaries from Bryt when she was a teeny tiny puppy learning
how to free shape a paws up on a box the next step is about upping the ante a little bit so
you're going to increase the stakes available in this game right what I like to look for especially
with dogs who are new to this is an object that has almost steps up it or it starts low and then
gets high or it has a natural dip in it and then lifts and we're going to start on the lowest area
and that's where you should have done the two pause up ideally but then what you want to do
is again still face that 90 degree angle is have the dog lure up with the two feet so the two feet
are now on the object and then you're gonna kind of just bring the lure around you you're not moving
backwards you're just going to bring the lure around you really really slowly and the dog should
just naturally put all four paws on the object there can be a moment of hesitancy between the dog
being on the floor with two paws and then getting all the way on that's fine the second all those
paws go on the heavily reward jackpot reward and remove the dog off of the object so then now we're
gonna work through the basically one of the final steps which is to get the dog really happy jumping
onto and jumping off of any object and in this case we're using this desk as an example so what
I want you to do is go ahead and stand the other way around so yeah it depends where the front of
your object is so where are you shooting from you want to go ahead and stand facing away from
that end so your position yourself so that you're facing the wrong way to basically have a picture
taken of you from your shooting position you're going to start with the dog at your leg on the
outside away from the object and your inside leg the one closest to the object should be touching
the object so there shouldn't be a gap between you and the object you're then going to go ahead
and essentially show the dog the reward or to encourage the dog to move forwards and you're
going to go ahead and start making a little circle around yourself so you're pivoting on
the spot and you bring the dog around the front of you and because you're going to complete that
circle eventually the dog will be faced with the object right so you're going to just basically
keep going on a circle keep being encouraging and the dog should based on the work that we've
already completed at this point should just hop straight up onto that object there usually is
no delay but if there is just go ahead and reset now a few things can happen at this point number
one if you are stood too far away from the object and there is a gap the dog is likely just to wrap
around your legs and basically be like what do you want me to do because you weren't close enough to
the object the second thing that can happen here is that your dog breaks the lure so if
you're using food and you move your hand too fast then the dog can break the lure and kind of look
away that's fine reset go again and move a little bit slower with the lure closer to the subject
the dog the model whatever you want to call them right the baby bear it doesn't matter if you are
stood facing the object straight on and you just ask the dog to hop up onto the object then what's
probably going to happen is that I was going to either jump straight over the object jump on and
jump off the object or jump on and completely lose their balance and then be worried about getting on
in the future so it's really important that you use the little semicircle technique because the
way that the dog actually gets onto the object in that method keeps them nice and straight on
so that they don't feel like they're going to lose their balance or if your dog does lose the balance
even though you've done the semicircle perfectly then that's fine if it's on leash make sure you
let that leash go slack and go with them so that it doesn't jab them in the neck that's really
really important but the second thing is to just let them figure it out let them figure it out when
they hit the floor it won't be hard they will be able to support themselves because you shouldn't
have put them in a dangerous situation from super high up so let them pick themselves up come around
give them a reward and go ahead and try again okay it's that simple keep pause positive keep
upbeat and everything will be fine if the dog is nervous then make sure that you add more rewards
in if the dog is over exuberant and just bouncing around to try and calm your energy down a little
bit more and time your rewards more effectively so that you're rewarding them for calm moments
in between if you've done the earlier steps then the dog should be more than happy to go around
you using the semi-circle method to get onto and off of the object and then all that's left to do
basically is to try and work with them to get them into the perfect position to shoot so if you've
done the steps perfectly then what you should end up with is a dog that is on the object next to you
do not take the photo don't do it don't take the photo you are not allowed at this point to just
abandon the dog on the object and pass it off to the owner whilst it's stood on there and then run
to go and take your photo get your setting sorted get yourself sorted get your composition sort
of get everything freaking sorted and then take the picture that is not fair and it's not a good
experience for the dog in the situation you've just kind of abandoned them on a log or a rock
something somewhere so what you want to do is the second that they're on there and they're in
the exact right place reward in that position and then move them off of the object before repeating
a few more times to make sure that they are 100 percent happy with the behavior next because the owner
has watched all of this happen you then need to pass the dog to the owner usually I say is it
all right for you to give it a try and they say yeah sure that's fine or I can try because they
might feel a little bit unconfident about the situation so what they're going to do they're
going to take the dog from you you're going to watch them close by so you're not going to
go and get ready to take the shot you're going to stay close by and if needed you're going to
coach them through it so usually they will stand too far away from the object they will face the
object and ask the dog to get straight on it you just need to reinforce the semi-circle method and
usually it's absolutely fine so you're going to watch them do it once or twice and then you're
going to go ahead and get into your position to take the shot when you get there you want to have
have the owner put the dog up on the object they usually are in most client cases especially in
the UK the dog remains on leash and so if the dog is on leash in this situation you want to
make sure that the handler stays close to the dog whilst you get yourself sorted and then
when you're ready they're going to take a little slight step to the side some dogs will glue stick
and stick to them and come with them that's fine reposition and go again if that happens then you
need to make sure your attention happens first so grab the dog's attention using your attention
items or your noises or your balls or your duck sounds whatever it is and when you have the dog's
attention the handler can usually just sneak away a couple of steps to give you a little
bit of a gap you hold your position ask them to remove the subject from the object and then go
ahead and take an empty shot of the scene in front of you ideally keeping the same focal
plane and then you can composite them together take everybody out apart from the subject and
it will look freaking epic and that's how you train a dog to get on an object and no none of
the dogs that you've seen during the clips of this video are trained they are they're
not not trained right but they're not sport dogs the normal pet family dogs who are happy little
things doing happy little things in their houses but they have never been asked to do this before
they've never been asked to get on an object before and they've definitely never been put
on an object by a weird person in a forest before this moment so yeah that's this video hopefully
it was helpful for you if it was let me know if you have any problems or questions drop them in
the comments below I'll go ahead and answer them and I'll see you guys again really really soon