Babies are super cute and all, and I love all the tiny humans who visit me and my newborn studio, but this puppy session is seriously the cutest thing I have ever photographed!! I mean, come on, seven tiny little puppies inside a classic red wagon, it doesn’t get better than this!!
These little guys and gals are two-week old German Pointers (a mix of short-haired and wire-haired). They had just started opening their eyes a few days earlier and although they didn’t walk yet, they did wriggle around and launch themselves forward from time to time. But before we put them in that wagon, I got to put them on my posing ‘bag’ for a few newborn photos!! (I didn’t actually bring my bag as it was too big, but it was essentially the same thing)
I whipped up this little puppy-sized hairband the night before the session and I am so glad I did as it added just that much more cuteness to the photos (as if they weren’t already stuffed full of cuteness!)!
And of course we had to wrap these little ones up like little burritos! Turns out, puppies like to be swaddled just as much as babies and although the wrapping itself woke them up a little, once it was done they were nice and sleepy again!
I also learned that many of the same techniques I use to keep babies settled worked for these guys (aka lots of shushing, rocking, etc.).
And finally there was the wagon!!!
This was the most fun ever! If you have never gotten to sit in front of a wagon and just ask everyone around you for more puppies one after the other, you should try it because it is such a great feeling, haha! But seriously, it took three of us (aka six hands) to get all seven pups in the wagon and settled as a few of them just didn’t want to rest (especially the tiniest of the brew who was a real troublemaker). But eventually we got them in there and just kept taking a photo and then adjusting them until they were all facing forwards and we could see their wee faces!
The did just want to curl up on and around each other and there were a couple times where it was hard to figure out how they were wrapped around one another, but we managed to get them laid out straight (ish) for long enough to grab our photos before we put them back in their comfy regular place with their Mom.
Oh, and that launching forward move I mentioned before, they definitely tried to do that multiple times from this wagon – but fortunately the group of us were quick enough to catch any launched puppies before they even get fully out of the wagon – phew!
And the Pointers weren’t the only pups in the yard as there were also these five cuties!! These Australian Shepherds were four-weeks old which meant they were much, much more active and were basically impossible to get in one spot for more than a second. That being said, with the help of many hands, we did manage to get them in our picnic basket for a couple shots – or rather, we got them in for one shot and then put them back in again for another as they jumped out of that thing so quickly, haha!
I don’t know the boy to girl breakdown of these puppies, but I do know that there are two Merle pups (with beautiful blue eyes) and three classic tri-coloured pups. Also, look at their pretty Momma showing off her babies (although I think she just really wanted lots of pets from the many humans that were around this day).
If you have been following us online, or have spent even a second of time with us in person, then you already know this, but Dave and I completely fell in love with one of those Australian Shepherd pups and decided to add her to our family. In fact, we get to pick her up this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited!!
We didn’t make the decision on the spot (we made it on the drive home/to Toronto the next day) but I think although our brains hadn’t figured it out yet, our hearts definitely had as I grabbed an extra photo of our little puppers before we headed out.
A HUGE thanks to everyone who helped make this shoot possible, especially the breeder who is raising such lovely sweet pups (and their Mommas).
Also, I am just going to put this here: No animals (puppies or otherwise) were hurt or mistreated whatsoever during this shoot. In fact, they all got tons and tons of love all session long as there were multiple puppy snuggle breaks between photos!
