I’m in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a week

July 25, 2008 - 8:22 pm Jane Allison - Your photos of dogs are stunning. If I were nearer to you I'd bring my two dogs for a shoot! I recently had photos taken of them, but we were never able to get them to close their mouths long enough for a nice photo. All the photos came out with their tongues hanging out a mile. Do you have any tips for this? Someone suggested lemon juice, but that doesn't seem to work. I'd love to know if there is a trick to get them to quit panting -- it's not their natural expression.

August 2, 2008 - 5:05 pm admin - Hi Jane, thanks for your comment. I've never heard about lemon juice and have never tried it. Here are a few methods I use to get dogs to close their mouths: 1. If it's hot out or they've been exerting themselves, dogs are going to pant. Expecting them not to pant is like expecting a human not to sweat - you can't really control that. If it's a very hot day, you may want to bump up the air conditioning so it's a little cooler than normal. And, even if they are in air conditioning, you need to give their bodies time to cool down after being outside. 2. If a dog is anxious, they are likely to pant. The more comfortable you can make a dog, the better. If you are taking a dog to a studio, their anxiety levels may increase. Give them time to check out the location and get comfortable there. 3. Sometimes a dog will stop panting if they are trying to hear better. So, if you make a quiet noise that's interesting, they may stop panting to see if they can figure out want it was. 4. Alternatively, sometimes a loud, startling noise may cause the dog to stop panting for a second. Be careful with this, though, as you don't want to cause extra anxiety in an already anxious dog. 5. If there is someone near the dog that's being photographed, have the person touch the dogs tongue. The dog will usually put the tongue back in it's mouth for a split second as if to "wash away" the touch. 6. Have the owner leave the studio. The dog may wonder where the owner is going and close his/her mouth while they are thinking about that. All dogs are different and each will respond differently. These are just a few of the things I might suggest. Best to you, Robin