Westminster Show Dog - Molly

Molly's parents contacted me in the middle of winter wanting to set up a commercial photography session because they needed some great photos for a promotional advertisement of their beloved dog in preparation for an upcoming dog show that Molly was going to compete in, you may have heard of it - it's called Westminster.  Oh yes, I am talking about the dog show of all dog shows - that one!  Molly's parents needed mainly conformation shots, sporting shots, portraits as well as action shots, and I was definitely up for the challenge.

Before our session, Molly's mom told me that she was quite the wild child!  I didn't know this before but she said that generally show dogs are actually encouraged to jump up and they aren't taught basic commands (like sit and down) because in the show ring the handlers want them to appear as energetic and lively as possible.  If you train a show dog to sit still and not to jump up then you might not get the lively response in the ring that you want.  Pretty interesting stuff.  And Molly didn't disappoint, she is a seriously hardcore girl and had all kinds of crazy energizer bunny energy, I seriously loved every minute of it!  It was amazing to watch her go, go, go!

We met on a freezing February day, there were still patches of snow on the ground (I ended up editing out the small bits of snow because it was distracting) and we were layered in all of our winter gear to keep warm.   I had just started photographing Molly and was kind of bewildered when she showed zero interest in my treats, that literally had never happened to me before!  It turned out that Molly's parents went to a steakhouse the night before and saved a large portion of their steak to give her as treats - they had cut the steak up into bite sized pieces and were giving them to her.  No wonder she wasn't interested in my treats -  steak always trumps dog treats!  It was pretty funny, she was ravenous about that steak!

Molly is currently the #1 ranking Brittany Spaniel in the US (WOW!!!), it's not hard to see why though - she is an amazing, gorgeous, intelligent and determined girl who is deeply loved and cherished by her parents!  I wish her all the success in the world, it was such an honor to capture her lively, bold and beautiful spirit!