Quite often dogs in shelters are feeling shy or frightened which makes getting a good photograph difficult.  They don’t know why they are in the shelter, why their owner has not come for them or what will happen to them next.  Jeff was pretty nervous but responded well to human interaction. Sharron, one of my handlers (and my mother) is really good at calming nervous dogs by massaging their sides or chest in a circular motion and speaking to them softly.  She will then slowly move away from them so they can pose for their photograph. This can take several attempts and Jeff’s photos took about 10 minutes to get. He did smile for the camera and found out it can be really fun getting special attention, hugs and treats.  We did this series of photos with commentary to portray what Sharron was saying and what Jeff might be thinking. Click on the image to enlarge it to read the captions.