3 Tips to Successfully Include Your Dog in Newborn Photos

A young mother holds her newborn baby while her large dog has a paw resting on the baby during Greenville newborn portraits.

A large black dog poses by a newborn baby's crib.

Let me begin by saying, I LOVE dogs. Many couples’ first “child” is a furry one. Dogs are truly a part of the family, so it’s natural to include them in your Greenville in home newborn session.

I want to give a somewhat obvious caveat…you must make sure your photographer is comfortable having your dog involved. I’m very comfortable with pets and have a very calm and soothing vibe about me, so including dogs in portraits has always been an easy addition for me.

While no photographer can guarantee perfect pup photos, I do have over 10 years of experience of including dogs in family portraits. I’m sharing my top three tips for how to successfully include your dog in newborn photos.

A young couple holds their newborn daughter during a photography session and their dog joins them for portraits.

1. Keep Your Expectations Low

The goal of your newborn session is to document the sweet newborn phase of your brand new baby. The focus of the session is always on baby! If you want to include your dog, don’t go into the session expecting a perfected posed shot where your dog is looking at the camera. Instead, just expect to have the dog around and in the room. Then we can see what happens! Anything else is just icing on the cake. Plus, dogs and children can always pick up on the emotions of parents. If you are relaxed, they will be more relaxed.

A family poses in front of a crib holding a toddler and newborn daughter while two dogs sit at their feet.

2. Give Your Dog Time to Warm Up

When we are ready to include your pet, I always recommend that clients start by simply allowing their dogs freedom to roam around the room while I’m working. The dogs may investigate me a bit, but they always gravitate towards their owners. This results in your dog naturally laying near your feet or sitting close by as I photograph you with your baby. This is amazing because I get natural interactions between your whole family! From this point, I can typically just direct you to look up at me and make a sound that causes your dog to gaze in my directions and *voila* we get a more posed family portrait!

A large black dog licks his owners face during newborn photos in Greenville SC.

3. Attempt a Dog and Baby Shot at the Very End

This is a shot that is never worth forcing and always dependent on the personality of your pet. Is your dog calm and relaxed around your baby? The safety of your child is always the most important component of every photography session. Pursing a shot of just your dog and baby is always up to you as the parent. One safe way to secure a shot like this is to have your baby in the crib while your dog lays on the floor nearby. If you want to try for a shot of your pup and newborn side by side, it’s always done with a parent standing right by them and we only try this at the end of the session so it’s not stressful.

A dog poses beside a newborn baby girl during a Greenville SC newborn photography session.

Interested in an In Home Newborn Session with a Dog Friendly Photographer?

If you live in the Greenville or Upstate South Carolina area, I would love to help you photograph your newborn…without or without your dog involved! You can contact me about a session here. To see more of my work and behind the scenes, come follow along on Instagram!