I'm looking for some tips on training my cocker to work better with the camera, my previous dog Jake seemed to pick up the knack for the camera himself - he knew to sit still and pose until he heard the shutter release at which point he would look at me to see if he was done and if not keep sitting until I signalled him he could go. He would then come racing over to me with the tail wagging feeling quite pleased with himself.
Alfie who's the new boy is approaching eight months old and so far is not bad with his training, he knows his name and a few other words (walkies, treatball etc.), he will sit, give paws, lie down and occasionally roll over. However I've made little progress with him and the camera, initially he was very aware of even the quieter focal plane shutter on the mirrorless cameras but over time he seems to have learnt to just ignore the shutter noise and the camera itself. Rewarding him with treats is not really working because it seems to be encouraging him to come over to me when I step back to line up the camera.
Before anyone says it I realise it's not fair to expect a little pup to be as skilled as an adult dog in this regard but I would like to try and improve his camera posing skills so any pointers would be welcome. I never did anything with Jake get him to work with the camera and people were surprised at how good he was with it but he was five by the time I bought my first camera and a few years old by the time he was a 'pro' and I was working with SLRs.
Thanks,
John