The key to photographing dogs is to capture their eyes, something that should be easy to do but isn’t. In the dog world, eye contact means aggression.

Dogs don’t like to look people or other dogs in the eye.

Yet eyes are the key to capturing the spirit of a dog, I believe. I work hard at it.

To do this, I start when they first come into my life.

Very few dog photos I see capture the eyes well, so it’s hard to capture the essence of the dog that we know is there.

Zinnia is easy; she trusts everything with a biscuit, Fate is still complicated, Bud is getting close.

I hold food and treats up to my eyes; I put biscuits on my head, I give them treats when they look at me. Over time, they associate eye contact with something good, something other than aggression.

Bud was tough; given his tough life in Arkansas Fortunately, he is a food hound. I held treats up to my eyes and softly call out his name.

Over time, he would come up to me and look me in the eye, hoping for a treat.  He’s also excitable.

Then I had to acclimate him to the camera. One thing I did was to put the camera down next to his food while he was eating.

When he sees the camera, he looks up to my eyes, associating them with food. This morning, I saw him lying in a sunspot, as he loves to do, and I whispered his name while holding the camera up.

He met my eyes and lowered his ears, a sign of affection for him and comfort.

I loved this shot; it captures both his sweetness and his vulnerability. And it tells me he is trusting me more and more.