Dogs of the Suburbs

Have you seen comments like this before? This sentiment was popularised with really good intentions. It was brought out as an argument against harsh breed stereotyping in the face of calls for things like breed specific legislation. As someone who owns “scary” breeds, I totally understand that those discussions can get incredibly frustrating.

“It’s all in how you raise them” was meant to be a shorthand for “all breeds are capable of dangerous behaviour, so punishing all dogs of a single breed or type for the actions of one is ineffective and unfair”. In practice, it has oversimplified a nuanced and interesting topic— behaviour, whilst also shaming people.

This belief, that dogs only develop behavioural challenges because of something their guardian has done is far from the truth. Dogs are a product of their genetics, past experiences, environment, and individual personalities. They are constantly learning and unlearning, adapting their behaviour just as we are.

We don’t know all of the experiences a dog has had and the associations they have made before they come to us. We never will. But we can observe their responses to the world and use that information to build our relationship and help them navigate the highs and lows.

So next time you see a muzzled dog lunging at the end of a lead, or skittishly jumping away from a stranger who got too close—be kind. You don’t know where their journey started, and you don’t know how far they might go.

Percy is a 2 year old English Cocker Spaniel.

He loves stealing socks, chasing his ball, and swimming in the ocean.

Percy has a Cocker Spaniel cousin named Dorothy and they love to wrestle and chase one another.

With the antics and joy that he brings, Percy earned the new name Percy Party Pants because he’s always up for adventures, being an accomplice in creating mischief, and he’s the life of the party.

Isn’t he cute?

It’s Appa, a 3 year old Samoyed.

Samoyeds are known for the “Samoyed smile”, the extremely cute upwardly curling lips, even when their mouths are closed. But did you know it serves a functional purpose? It’s designed to prevent drool from freezing into icicles in the cold weather they were bred to exist in.

Appa is such a sweet boy.

If you like this kind of shot, there will be more Sandstone Sessions on the road in Perth, Canberra, and Melbourne in May. Will I see you there? Send us a message to book your spot. They’re going quickly.

Western Australia, Canberra, Melbourne— Let's play!

I've got a limited number of shoots available on the dates below.

There will be a mix of built environment sessions, park, and beach sessions available.

We will also make a stop on the Sapphire Coast on the way to Melbourne, and at this stage Shepparton, so if you’re interested, get in touch.

Here's what you can expect from the photoshoot:
📷 A relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
🐶 Plenty of movement and fun keep your dog happy and engaged.
🌳 Natural light.

As always, leads will be photoshopped out. We will not photograph dogs in check chains, prong collars or e-collars.

Have another question? Check out some of our FAQs here: https://dogsofthesuburbs.com/faqs/ or send us a message

Tag a friend that might be interested!

Maple is an 8 year old Border Collie.

She is sassy and feisty, a massive personality. Maple is her human’s first ever dog. She was initially bought as a pet but ended up doing so much more.

Maple is a talented sports dog and performer. She has high level titles in Obedience, Rally Obedience, Heelwork to Music, Freestyle, Tricks, Scent Work, and Tracking, as well as Agility and Herding! Their favourite sport amongst it all is the dancing.

Last year Maple starred in a Hollywood movie called “Anyone But You”.

Maple is such a sweet and talented girl, it was a delight to photograph her and witness the incredible bond she has with her person.

Milla is an Australian Shepherd. I’m told she’s a “typical tomboy”, always the dirtiest dog to leave the park. She loves swimming and will wallow in any puddle she can find.

Milla is vocal and not afraid to let you know if she wants food, the ball to be thrown, or if you’re taking too long at the coffee shop! 

She’s an exceptional soccer player and will dribble the ball to place it right between your feet.

Milla loves having a job to do and has recently been enjoying an introduction to nose work course.

She’s a beloved member of her family and goes with them most places.

Gaia is an almost 5 year old Cocker Spaniel x Miniature Poodle.

She’s a soft hearted clown who loves to run, chase, and be near her people.

Gaia loves meeting new people, new dogs and experiencing new things. She never fails to bring enthusiasm to any occasion other than bath time!

It’s Sol!

He’s a 1 year old German Shepherd with a lovely nature who enjoys working with his human to learn new things.

Isn’t he handsome?

This beauty is Magni, and yes he is magnificent. He’s a big boy, but he’s still a baby.

Magni is an 8 month old Tibetan Mastiff. He is not your usual Tibetan Mastiff who spends most their day laying around, or protecting the farm.

His favourite activities include play biting and wrestling with his dad, and training. He’s had lots of early success in the show ring and is training to compete in obedience, tricks, dancing and scent work.

Magni is the first Tibetan Mastiff in Australia who has qualified competitively in scent work.

In his short 8 months Magni has befriended everyone he meets and is a wonderful representation of his breed for all to see.

I can’t wait to catch up with him again and show you how he matures.

It’s my buddy Max!

Max is an almost 14 year old rescue mix. He was adopted at 6 months old after his human saw him on Pet Rescue. 

I’m told he was such a sweet good little puppy. Never barked, learned quickly, aced his obedience training and was the only pup in his group allowed to go straight up to the next level. He was, and still is, a snuggle bug.

Max was adopted after his person was forced to give up work, being diagnosed with Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Max was her lifesaver. At one point 5 years ago, she had a flare that left her housebound for over 2 years. Max would go with a dog walker during the week, but otherwise stay there, laying on the bed being the best company.

Max loves chasing his ball, and will dive into water for it. He loves his nose work classes, and unsurprisingly— he’s great at it.

I photographed Max last year and he made me feel very special this time around, always offering me his paw (definitely because he loves me and not because I had a giant pouch full of treats 😂)

This adorable little lady is Lilac.

She is a two year old miniature Schnauzer. Lilac is a spunky and confident dog and she isn’t afraid to show it.

Lilac is the ring leader of her friend group, leading them into all sorts of mischief. Her favourite thing to do is roll in the worst smells she can possibly find. Her greatest find was a rotting old fish in a mangrove.

She is a clever girl and a wonderful model. Look at that perfect prance!

Happy 2nd birthday to my pal Kove!

I first photographed this boy when he was just 12 weeks old and I’ve been lucky enough to photograph him a few times as he’s grown up.

He’s a goofy, sweet, and clever Australian Shepherd and I’m excited to see how he goes trying his paw at dog sports.

This is our little friend Lamington the Australian Terrier. She’s grown up quite a bit since the first time I photographed her.

Isn’t she cute?

This is the first in a series of posts where we examine popular sentiments found in the comments of dog related posts.

Have you ever felt judged because someone picked up their dog or crossed the road when they saw you and your dog walking?

Lots of us, especially those of us with big dogs or breeds considered “scary” have had this experience. And while it can feel like this is a personal judgement on our training or on our breed of choice, it’s probably not about us!

There are many good reasons that people will create more space on walks.

We can choose to take these choices personally and ruin an otherwise lovely walk, or we can interpret it generously— glad to have avoided a potentially negative interaction. And sure, there are some people who will judge dogs of a particular size or breed. They’re probably not people that you want interacting with your dog!

Do you cross the road with your dogs when you’re on a walk? Let us know why in the comments 👇

We were done with the shoot, so Pepper got her harness back on when I realised how perfectly colour coordinated they were! Had to grab another shot.

I get asked all the time about tricks and poses that are useful for a photoshoot. Middle is one of them! It’s a great, straightforward trick to have in the bag for a shoot. There are lots of ways we can set up shots with a dog comfortable in a middle position.

That’s not a hovercraft, it’s Ivy.

Ivy is an almost 2 year old Miniature Poodle. She is equally at home working at learning new tricks, doing dog things or lazing in bed, so long as her people are close by! I’m told Ivy loves the sound of her own voice and ensures everyone around her knows she has arrived with her high pitched hello.

Ivy is the youngest in a home full of cats and dogs and takes this role too seriously sometimes.

As you can see, she has quite the spring in her step!

The beautiful Bella flanked by gorgeous black swans, in WA of course.

Bella is a Great Dane/Golden Retriever mix, with a few other breeds thrown in for good measure.

She is a lovely girl who enjoys dry land sledding, bikejoring, and lure coursing.

Bella is a massive softy and makes friends easily.

I’ve got just a few Sandstone Session shoot times available.

There are 2 left on Saturday April 6 and just 1 slot left on Sunday April 7 for the University of Sydney shoots.

There are new shoot locations around the Uni for those who have been photographed at one of my Usyd sandstone sessions before.

These slots will go quickly! Flick me an email or a message to reserve your place. Return customers and rescue dogs get $20 off.

Classic shoot $379 | 1 hour | 2 dogs | 25 digital photos
Mini shoot $199 | 30 minutes | 1 dog | 10 digital photos

Additional dogs $50.

Such a lovely family, these 3!

One of my favourite things is capturing the relationship between people and their dogs. Though I don’t post many photos with the humans, almost every shoot I do has family shots.

Thank you to Appa’s humans for letting me share this sweet moment with you all!

This handsome fella is Appa. He’s a 2 year old confident and fearless Samoyed. He has a super high pitched bark that Sammies are known for, but I only heard it once during our shoot.

Isn’t he adorable?

I love taking family photos, here’s one of the gorgeous senior brothers Chancho and Tito. They’re very sweet boys 🥰

My lovely boy is 4 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Bernard 🥰

This lovely lady is Pepper! She’s a 4 year old Beagle. Those of you familiar with the breed are probably unsurprised that Pepper will do pretty much anything for cheese, the only thing better than cheese is sniffing.

Pepper loves to roll in anything she finds and tries to steal things but she’s always caught because her happy little ‘I’ve stolen something’ trot gives her away. 

Isn’t she a beauty?

This little guy is Benedict—you can call him Bennie.

Yesterday, I introduced you to his hairless half brother Mako. You may not believe me be but he is also a Xoloitzcuintle! A smooth, short coated variety of the breed is accepted in the show ring but his curly coat caused by a recessive gene is not standard.

Ancient Aztecs worshiped the breed for the dogs’ fierce loyalty. Though not many people have seen them in person, it’s possible you’ve spotted them in art. Artists like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera adored these dogs and frequently featured them in their paintings. You may have even spotted Dante the heroic Xolo in the Disney Pixar movie Coco.

Bennie is a giant character, an absolute clown who made me laugh the entire shoot. Isn’t he cute?

Mako is a 1.5 year old Xoloitzcuintle (pronounced show-low-eatz-queent-lee)

A primitive breed that was around in the time of the Aztecs, over 3 thousand years ago. The name comes from ‘Xolotl’ an Aztec god and ‘Itzcuitli’ the Aztec word for dog. They were companions, believed to ward off illness and sometimes used as food. It was also believed that they would es**rt the dead to the afterlife.

They come in three sizes and they can be coated or hairless. The hairless is the dominant gene and coated is recessive. Sometimes the hairless Xolos have a little Mohawk of hair on their heads.

Mako is an active boy who has been learning Flyball and is just beginning agility. His half brother Benedict, who I will properly introduce tomorrow, is doing the same.

Xolos are very affectionate and bond to their humans. They are a fascinating breed, and I was so glad to finally photograph a couple!

26/12/2014-22/2/2024

My beautiful Jed crossed the rainbow bridge today whilst we sat there destroying a soft toy. I haven’t got the words. She deserved so much more time.

Those of you who were lucky to meet her won’t find it surprising that Jed never met a human she didn’t love. When house repairs were being done, I would often find her playing tug with a tradie who resigned to working one handed for the day, with a play growl backing track.

Demo dog, stooge dog, puppy raising assistant. The sweetest, most resilient dog I’ve ever known. She taught me much more than I ever taught her.

Rest easy, little dog, we’ll miss you so much 💔

Another of the beautiful Sol.

He tries hard and wants to please, he’s bold and brave, a happy boy who lives his best life everyday.

One of Sol’s favourite activities is chasing flies, and despite being harassed by one during our shoot, he still managed to be an amazing model.

I’m excited to introduce these boys to you properly but I couldn’t resist posting the most epic photobomb I’ve ever captured. So much can happen in a thousandth of a second!

I hope it makes you smile as much as I did.

This athletic fella is Sol, which means ‘sun’ or ‘bright star’ in Spanish. It suits him perfectly. He’s a German Shepherd who just celebrated his 1st birthday. 

Sol has a sweet nature and enjoys working with his human to learn new things. They have a wonderful bond and love to train together.

Sol will do anything for his ball, so I needed to make sure we got some sprint to the ball photos. As you can see, he was very happy to oblige.

The gorgeous Sparx, a young Border Collie.

Sparx is cuddly and friendly to all, but switches gears on a dime and can train for as long as you want to with fantastic focus.

Sparx is currently in the show world. She’s also starting to train for sports such as rally-o, obedience, and herding as she shows great promise in these! She’ll give lure coursing a go this year too.