I love all dogs, but I often find that the majority of the dogs I photograph are mixed breed (aka mutts).  All of my dogs have been mutts and the dominant breed we photograph in the rescue dog world is "mutt".  Why are we all so in love with our mutts?  Is it because they are unique?  No other dog looks like them right?  Or is it because of the variety?  Or maybe it's because we ourselves could be considered "mutts"? My DNA from Ancestry says I a mix of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh along with some heritage.

Often the large dogs have a harder time finding a home.  Larger dogs eat more, cost more for vet care in some cases and sadly don't live as long. If you allow the dogs on your furniture, they might need their own couch!  But, then perhaps they are more likely to be gentle giants.  I remember when we first got Jimbo - I thought, wow he is a big dog!  Jimbo is the largest dog I ever had topping out at about 70 pounds.  At first, I will admit that his size alone was a little scary to me.  But once we got to know each other, we became fast buddies and spent a lot of time together! 

The largest mutt I have photographed is Flash.  He was a large mix breed mutt who lived with one of our friends once he was rescued.  Flash was among those I considered to be a 'gentle giant'.  I suspect that Flash had some mastiff mixed in with some other dog breeds creating a wonderful combination of mutt.

Course, when you see just his face portrait, it's hard to see how big a boy Flash is - so his little buddy Jackson decided he would pose with him to help get some perspective.  Jackson is probably around 20 pounds just in case you're curious.

The most important point for photographing large dogs is to ensure they look comfortable in the space - whether it's outside or inside.

Blogging with Pet Photographers

This is a personal project that I try to participate in each week (as much as possible).  This post is part of a 'blog circle' which is with several other Professional Pet Photographers around the world.  Each week a different theme is provided to the group and we, as pet photographers, interpret the theme in our own way.  Follow the link provided at the end of each of my blogs to the next pet photographer's blog - and when you arrive back at my blog - you've completed the entire circle of blogs for this theme.  For more pet photographers sharing their take on this theme, head over to Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography just photographed what might be the biggest dog in Coppell, meet Navy the Great Dane

Interested in a Pet Photography Session?

If you would like to discuss or book a custom pet portrait session, send an email to [email protected] or give us a call/text Linda at 813-610-2671 in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough/Pinellas/Pasco/Polk counties in Florida).  We have flexible rates and packages to fit most everyone’s budget as we believe that having wonderful photographs of your pet is important to so many people.