Taking Entertaining Pictures of Riley

My mom is really into photography and has and a super nice SLR. This camera is great at capture the moment, especially for a really fast moving dog like Riley.


Do you wish you could take pictures of your dog doing something awesome instead of just sitting there, or laying on the couch? Here are a few pictures of my dog posing and doing some cool things that make great pictures to impress your friends and family!

JUMPING THROUGH A HOOP. This one is fun to do because you can pretty much do this with any hooped object such as bike tire rims, or hula hoops. Start out with the hoop low to the ground, and then eventually raise it when your dog is feeling safer jumping through the hoop.

JUMPING THROUGH ARMS. Eventually, you can create a hoop with your arms and your dog can practice tucking in the legs to make it through such a narrow hoop.

POSING WITH GLASSES & BOOK. This one requires the basic command down and stay. Tell him to lay down on book, then stay, and put on the glasses, and stay again. If your dog cannot stay long enough, practice these commands without books or glasses until he can do it for long periods of time.

TAKING JUMPING PICTURE IN SYNC WITH YOU! This one was taught by having my dog catching a toy in the air. Everytime he'd jump, I would click and treat. Eventually, I would start jumping with him and reward him for jumping every time I jumped. Neat trick!

FRONT PAW UP. This is cute because he looks like he is begging without all the jumping and pawing at your legs.

TREAT ON NOSE. The treat on the nose is the classic dog trick. If your dog knows how to stay, simply place the treat for a short second, then give him a reward. Continue to do this until he can go for extended periods of time.

PAWS UP, TREAT ON NOSE. When your dog has mastered putting his front legs up and learning to tolerate a treat on his nose, he can combine both things and create a masterpiece trick for a picture or showing off to people.

BATH TIME SHAKES. Bath time is the best time to take pictures because a helix of water forms around them when they shake, which makes a pretty cool picture! By the way, if you have a dog with big drooly lips, it's fun to take these pictures because their lips flip up to their ears when they shake!

SHY. Like dog like master. Having your dog put his paws over his nose will take some work, but it's doable. Once he gets it, you can have him mirror you!

PLAY DEAD. If your dog already knows lay down, you can lure him with food to his side. Once he gets that, you can  pair a gesture with the command and he'll drop to his side once you make a gun-shaped hand gesture.

TEDDY BEAR PAWS. This doesn't take any work except for your dog tolerating you to handle his paws. Some dogs are uncomfortable with people touching their paws, mouth, and/or anus. So make sure you are rewarding him for letting you touch his paws. A sharpie is good for drawing this, and will wear off within a day.

Here is a video of my dog Riley doing most of the commands and tricks I've taught him. Many of these tricks can be turned into still images for an impressive picture!