When families ask if they can bring their dog to their Denver family photo session, I immediately say, ‘Heck Yes! ‘ As a Denver family photographer, I love capturing families as they are with an organic, lifestyle approach. With that in mind, I always want families to bring the WHOLE family, so if that includes a furry four-legged friend, hooray! These photos will hold a lot of love and memories of our adventures together, and including your fur babies is a great way to bring the whole bunch together. I adore animals and love including them in the photo fun. Over the years, I’ve learned a few things to help make the entire experience easier with your pets, so let’s dive in!

Ask Your Photographer About Location

The location is the first thing to consider when planning your Denver family photo session and wanting to include your dog. Chat with your photographer to ensure the location allows pets, especially if you plan to let your dog off-leash. If your photographer is planning to take your photos in a local park, consider the possibility of other people at the park, and other dogs, during your session. Many areas throughout Denver do allow pets to visit, so ensure that your photographer chooses one of those spots, as it would be a bummer to get to your session and be presented with a no dogs allowed sign!

Consider Bringing a Friend

While preparing your pet for your upcoming photo session, consider asking a friend or extra family member, who won’t be photographed, to tag along. Throughout the session, we’ll take lots of photos with your pet. But ultimately there will be some moments we want to capture without Rover in the shot, and some other the activities I love to incorporate into every session are just hard to do while holding onto a leash! Plus, some locations are too far to walk them back to the car between photos and depending on time of year, we wouldn’t want to put a dog back in a too-hot or cold vehicle without us! So having a friend, aunt, uncle or grandparent on hand who doesn’t mind playing dog-sitter for an hour is a huge bonus!

My top concern is your family and overall experience. I also want to ensure everyone stays safe and happy—including your pets!

Will Your Dog Wear an Outfit During Denver Family Photo Session?

Lastly, consider your dog’s outfit too! After all, you’ll likely have gone to some effort planning your families outfits, so don’t forget your pup! While you certainly don’t need to dress your dog up in a bowtie (though you totally could), you may think about his or her leash, harness, and other accessories. These items will be visible in your photos. If you usually have your dog in a neon yellow harness, it may not translate well in your pictures with otherwise neutral-colored outfits and a beautiful backdrop. Consider switching to a nice leather collar and leash for their photo debut! This will give your photos that extra polish and eliminate the stress and hassle of trying to hide it in posing.

As always, I love being able to capture your growing families year after year, and I can’t wait to add your furry babies into the mix as well. If you want more inspiration for your family outfits, check out my blog about planning family outfits here.

Are you ready to meet your dream Denver family photographer? Let’s chat today!