5. Train them. Teach them the rules.  Become the leader of the pack.  Be consistent in your messages so they are clear on what’s expected of them.  When the same behavior leads to the same consequence (whether good or bad) the message will be received.  Just think of them as speaking a different language.  You still have to communicate in order to live peacefully.

4. Do at least one “dog thing” a day with them. Get silly.  It will make you smile.  Have fun with it.  You need to play too.  Throw the ball, get down on your hands and knees and play with them, go for a walk, whatever it takes for him to just be a dog.  In my house we do this funny thing.  Greyhounds make this great howling noise called a “roo”.  Maybe you’ve heard of it.  It basically sounds like you would think only they hold it out at the end, “roooooooooooo…”  Very cute!  So we all do a group roo each night lead by yours truly.  It’s funny to watch them.  Each dog has its own voice.  They get to let pure instinct take over for a moment.  It’s really helped bring my super shy old girl out of her shell.

3.  Feed them. Have one person at a time feed them for a little while (say two weeks or so), then switch it up.  That person should feed them around the same time and in the same location for every meal.  When your dog has to rely on that person for their food, he starts to pay attention to them more.  It’s like earning respect in the dog world.

2.  Snuggle with them. Feel their energy.  Let them feel yours.  Touch them.  Take a moment to stop what you are doing and just pay attention to them.  It will bring your stress level down.  I swear.  You can actually notice a difference.  In addition to that, as alpha it is important to acknowledge them.  Perhaps in the past they’ve had to resort to doing negative things to get your attention?

1. Show them that they make you happy. Get that high pitched, over-excited-cheerleading-tryouts voice.  Clap your hands.  Say their names… you get the idea.  Let them dance around in that glory for a few seconds.  Really stress the fact that they are the best dog you have ever known.   Then when you’re done, give them each a treat.  Making the alpha happy is what they live for.

I know that there are a million things in each day that we have to do and sometimes things like this get lost in the shuffle.  What has happened in the past is over.  Your dog lives in the moment.  It’s never too late to start.  He is very adaptable and with positive motivation and lots of love and support, your home can be a calm and peaceful place once again.  Just be patient… and consistent.

~Laura

Meet Lacy!  She is one of our Poodle Models and is owned by Lou Murphy, President of the AZ Poodle Rescue.  She was such a cutie to work with!  Very food motivated!  If you have a dog like that, you are really in luck!  You can teach them anything.  See how well she does “sit”?  She’s also ready for “shake”.  She’s adorable.

Here are some pics from a senior portrait session that was recently done for a friend’s daugther. Many thanks to my good friend and fellow photographer Danielle Daigle for sharing her top secret cool and grungy photo spots in downtown Phoenix with me. Check out her site at www.danielledaigle.com. She is an AMAZING photographer of humans (and she does weddings, too)

 Senior portrait sessions come with a free video slideshow set to your favoite song. Here is an example:

A. Some absolutely gorgeous offspring!

These are my friends and neighbors, Liz and Gianno and their boys. Yes, as you can see… I don’t only photograph dogs. I shoot people, too! Click here to see my human photography. If you’re looking to get photos done in time for the holidays, call NOW. I only have a few days available.

This is my brand spanking new, one and only grandson. His name is Remy Etienne Richey and he was born last Saturday, August 29th.

My husband and I went to Houston to meet him and to see my son and his girlfriend Jessica over the weekend. It was a great visit and it was wonderful to see them. We had the pleasure of meeting Jessica’s parents and they such wonderful people!  They welcomed us into their family with open arms. My heart feels very full!

I took these photos in our hotel room the first night we were there. I was under the dull yellow hotel room lights with very little light coming through the windows. Since I couldn’t exactly pack up all of my studio lighting equipment and take it with me, I had to resort to harsh on camera flash! Yuck. Luckily, I had a flash diffuser with me.

I just love tiny little feet and hands! They just fascinate me..

I was all psyched up to take a million photos over the weekend. Since I knew I was going to run into this issue of being out of my element without my studio strobes, I picked the brain of my friend and fellow photographer Danielle Daigle about photographing babies using only natural lighting. Danielle is incredible with natural light and she rarely uses any type of flash. check out her awesome work here.

I was excited to put all of her tips and tricks into play. Then, this happened……….

That, my friends, is a 3 week old 24-70 Canon 2.8 L lens…. or at least it used to be.  I was rushing around and didn’t zip up my backpack all the way and my camera fell out and came crashing to the ground, landing on the top of my lens. My only saving grace was that I had a UV filter on it that took the brunt of the damage. It is now in the intensive care unit at Tempe Camera. Please send warm wishes for its speedy recovery.

Well, I guess that’s all the more reason to book my next trip to Houston to see Remy again and get some more photos. For my friends and family that are itching to see the rest of the pics, go to my “people photography” website at www.susanricheyphoto.com, click on Clients and enter the password = remy.

Oh, one last thing… the name is Gigi, not Grandma!

Basset Hounds

Featuring the dogs…

By A Dog’s Life Photo…

Book Preview

It didn’t sound that great either when I was checking out at Target and asked the cashier if she thought that a 9 month old baby would fit in the big cooking pot I was buying. She was almost going to call for security until I explained to her that it was just a photo prop.

I was just at a Pictage users group gathering last night and the topic was about branding your image and figuring out what type of business you want to run without running off into a million different directions.  The speaker was Rachael Earl of “My Camera Loves You“. She did a great job. It got me thinking about not doing any more marketing of services besides dog photography. Then I started editing these photos of this ADORABLE little boy named Etai and my heart just melted.

So, I decided that there’s not way I can stop “shooting humans”. I get so much joy out of creating something fun and unique with baby photos. (See the “How to make a bubble bath in Photoshop” post for a quick tutorial).

Etai is the son of my dentist, Dr. Berger from Dental Specialty Associates and his beautiful wife, Christy….

Etai was a  “real angel” during his session and he laughed a lot..

It was a lot of fun. Hope to see you guys again soon.