With small breed dogs and puppies, you can certainly take them outside for the photograph (see tips article for large breed dogs) but with a few simple techniques, you also have an alternative.  Normally, the indoor lighting found in most animal shelters is not very good for photography purposes.  Also, kennels, cages and other interior surroundings in a shelter make for unattractive backgrounds and settings.  However, I have developed a means by which small dogs and puppies can be photographed indoors, with good lighting and attractive backgrounds.  Taking a cue from the storage bin kitten studio (see kitten tips article) I modified the idea and created the puppy studio.  Instead of a plastic storage bin, I use a baby’s playpen.  Most shelters are open to donations from the public, and so a donated playpen should not be difficult to obtain.  It must be one with a metal frame, however, and a sturdy pressed wood bottom.  This is so it will hold up well under the antics of playful pups.   Once you have your playpen, drape your fleece into it the same way you would with the storage bin studio.  You may have to buy a longer piece of fleece, and you may need two pieces if your first piece isn’t wide enough.  With two pieces, you can drape them in crossed, so as to have complete fleece coverage of the playpen interior. 

Once you have the playpen lined with fleece, clamp your shop lights on at the front two corners (aimed inward), and viola!  Instant puppy studio.  From this point, the photo instructions are identical to the instructions for the kitten studio.  Shoot with the lights away from you, and shoot from the rim to get the more straight-on angles.  This is even more important with the playpen studio, as it is deeper, making the straight-on shots even more difficult. 

The animal handling tips, however, are completely different.  For small dogs and puppies, the very first thing you want to do is to make sure someone takes them out so they can use the bathroom.  Dogs are not like cats.  Cats will hold their business until they get to a litter box.  Dogs will go wherever they happen to be…including on your nice fleece!  Let them do their business before you get down to your business.  Once they have gone, the procedures are basically the same for both small dogs and puppies.  There is one tip for photographing puppies, however, that is not normally applicable to small breed dogs.  Before placing the puppy into the playpen studio, clean its feet thoroughly with a wet cloth.  This is because most puppies kept in kennels will walk around in their own feces.  To avoid stinky brown footie-prints on your nice white fleece, wash those tootsies!

For both, however, you will have to judge the individual’s ability to be photographed in the studio.  When you place them in, they may remain calm and sit or lie right down.  This is the best candidate for the studio, and will include naturally timid dogs, such as puppy mill rescues.  Other small dogs and puppies will go for the sides or jump and bounce around, pulling the fleece in with them and otherwise destroying the studio.  This is a dog you’ll want to take outside for the photograph.  The final dog is one that falls somewhere between, and with a little work, could do a fine job in the studio.

That all being said, if you have you small breed dog or puppy moderately active in the playpen studio, the first thing to try is ignoring it.  Just as with the large breed dogs outside, a small breed dog or puppy may become bored and sit down to wait for some action.  This is the time to sneak your photo.  You may also try whining like a puppy.  This may get their attention immediately.  This dog will sit right down, cock its head and look at you with great interest.  This is another time to get a great photo. 

For other dogs, this may not be enough.  There is one more thing that can be tried before resorting to more invasive measures.   Physically handle the dog/puppy.  Place it against the back wall of the playpen, and press it into a sitting or lying position.  It may take several repetitions, and you may find yourself pushing the dog gently back into place, but some dogs do respond to this and will get the idea and stay put.  Still other dogs may simply want to walk around the interior of the playpen for a little while before settling down of their own accord.  This dog is easily identified, as it will keep to the bottom of the playpen, instead of jumping for the sides.  For this dog, just be patient and ignore it.  Once it has found its comfy spot, simply get the photo at your leisure.  

If your dog does not respond to the whining or placement techniques, you will then have no choice but to introduce negative reinforcement.  To calm a rambunctious dog, you will have to learn to speak its language.  Dogs, unless extensively trained, do not understand human speech.  No amount of saying “no” or trying to reason with it will result in its calming down and sitting still.  Also, offering treats or toys will not work, unless they have been extensively trained to sit still in order to receive the reward.  Trained dogs in shelters are very rare, and so you cannot rely on it.  Instead, you can rely on the instinctual cues a dog understands simply through the grace of being a dog.  Dogs understand pack rules, pack discipline and a pack mentality.  A dog learns to behave appropriately through being disciplined by those higher in the pack order then they, and they learn this through negative reinforcement.  I would like to begin by saying right up front that I do not condone the abuse of any animal.  No animal in a shelter should be struck or terrorized.  However, though the methods I use may seem harsh to some, they are perfectly natural to the dog.  It’s their own language.  A language they understand and can work with better and more quickly than any other on the planet.  After training, it’s a different story.  But a ten minute photo session in an animal shelter does not, unfortunately, allow for this kind of training.  “No kill” shelters are very rare, so for many, you may find yourself faced with a 72 hour deadline…quite literally.  Far better to administer a small, momentary dose of negative reinforcement to get a great photo that could get them adopted within that 72 hours than a soft and timid hand that might not get the photo that will catch the eye of someone looking for the perfect pet.  These dogs’ lives are on the line.  It’s no time to be squeamish about a few moments’ intimidation.  Coddle them after the great photo.

The first method you may employ is to bark at the dog.  It cannot be a playful bark, but must be a sharp, commanding bark.  For many dogs, you may see a slight cringe, but this is only a reaction of surprise, and the dog may calm down and behave right away.  Further barks may not be necessary.  For puppies, you may also want to use the cat technique of blowing sharply in the face.  Many puppies will sit back and be still simply out of confusion.  If it is a particularly willful dog, it is one that will feel like it still belongs higher in the pack, and will not heed your warning bark.  This dog will continue to misbehave.  For this dog, bark again, but this time, bend your body forward quickly while barking.  This is not only a verbal warning, but a visual one, as well.  In a pack, this is the equivalent of firing a warning shot across the bow.  This is the non-contact “bite” aimed at a lesser dog by a higher one.  Most of us have seen this, and most of us see how well it works between dogs.  At this point, you will have most dogs under control using the language of dogs.  This is naturally how they would treat one another.   Lady here is a perfect example of what kind of photograph can be achieved.  Though she was calmed using a sharp bark, her ears are up and her expression is one of interest, not fear.  She was adopted almost immediately. 

 If even after the bark-with-forward-motion the dog is still not calm, you do have one more option before taking him outside for the photo.  For this option, we are stepping out of the language of dogs and stepping into the language that exists between dogs and humans. 

One more thing you may try for these small dogs is thumping your hand firmly against the interior rail of the playpen while barking.  This not only provides the bark and the quick forward movement, but the dog’s surrounding will shake and there will be another loud noise involved.  This may finally get your point across that you want it to stop what it’s doing and be still.  Again, keep in mind that you are acting in the best interest of the dog.  You are fighting to save its life and find it a loving home through your magnificent photograph.  There isn’t time to be timid and proceed with soft hands.  After this thump, if the dog is still too rowdy, take him outside for the photo.   

After you have managed to calm the dog so it will sit or lie in one place, the next trick is to get it to look at the camera with a great expression.   This can be achieved through whining like a puppy, or with a soft, steady whistle.  Another good noise to make is to blow in and out heavily while keeping your upper teeth against you bottom lip, like making the sound of the letter F.  Blow out: “FFFFFFF”, then suck in “FFFFFFF” and repeat.   This makes the sound of sniffing.  You want to be gentle in your encouragement for the expression, however.  After all you’ve done to calm the dog, you do not want to stimulate him again into action.  This sends mixed messages to the dog, which isn’t fair and confuses him.  Also, be sure and keep other people away from the playpen.  They will distract the dog after all the work you’ve done to calm him.    You really want the photo to be a moment of personal interaction between you and the dog.  The dog’s expression will convey that moment of personal interaction, and when the photo shows them looking directly at the camera, they will be making eye contact with anyone who views the photo.  Also, the moment of personal interaction will translate into the photo, and has a very good chance of coming across as a personal moment for the person searching online. 

 If you find you must take your small dog or puppy outside, follow most of the same procedures outlined in the large breed dog article.  For smaller dogs, however, you may want to eliminate large areas of empty background by zooming in to fill the frame mostly with the dog.  The more background there is, the more chance your photo will have to look cluttered.   Don’t be afraid to use your zoom to fill the full frame with the dog.

 He may even remain still while you get very close.  If you do find you have a large area of background with the dog appearing very small in the finished photo, don’t be afraid to crop for a better image.  Also, because the smaller dogs and puppies will be closer to the ground than the large ones, you will need to bend lower for the more straight-on shots.