Ears and Pictures

Get some treats and act like an idiot to get his attention!
Hey! Works for Ida!

 

My shepherd does that. His sit/down stay he always puts his ears back like he is serious and concentrating. I make all kinds of squeaking, kissing, bird, kitty, elephant (etc.) noises just long enough to get his ears up. Of course, UP is the goal being a shepherd. The sheltie, forward folded, requires a low front camera angle and her watching something at a distance. Best is to snap her watching the goats out in pasture as she does the ear fold for that. Low camera angle though! Lots of crawling on the floor. I joke the whole reason the dogs have been to multiple obedience classes is "stay for photo". Melli totally sees a camera and poses now. I suspect her former family took pix with a phone-camera because she totally hams it up whenever the phone is held up in her direction! Keep at it.

 

Be thankful they will hold still mine can't manage that even

 

Mine have learned they get a cookie if they sit and pose for me. I make them sit - this has been worked on until they do. When I say, cookie, they look at me. What it took to get to this point is lots of work. In the beginning, they saw the treat in my head and watched it. Try setting the camera on a table (I picked up a cheap tiny tripod in a local dollar store, about 5" in height) and then holding up the treat.

 

all you have to say is "ice" in my house and coop and cars ears perk right up!!!

 

If you ever watch Westminsters, the handlers have treats secreted all over their body.....sometimes they even have the treats in their own mouths to get the dogs to look up, alert, and the right eye level!

Yes, its all about whatever physical or verbal cue you can give to motivate your dog to perk.

That being said, my Bacca was SO NOT treat motivated, it was really hard to ever get a good picture of him. He just mostly kept his Eeyore look! I only got good pictures of him when he wasn't posing

 

Part of it is also just getting the dogs used to the camera. Just like with kids, seeing a cyclops suddenly staring at them instead of their loving owner can leave them uncomfortable.

 

In order to get my dogs attention, as well as ears up, I hold the camera up and make a high pitched "wheeeeeeee!" noise. Works every time.