When people find out that I photograph the cover stars for Dogs Today and Dogs Monthly magazines every month, the question I’m most often asked, is how do we choose the dogs who are featured?
So here’s how! Lots of the cover stars have a story that we’re covering in the magazine. Take Finn for example, I’m sure most of you know who he is. Finn is a now ex police dog, who was stabbed in the chest and head back in October 2016. Luckily for Finn he survived thanks to the quick actions of his owner Dave and the wonderful vets who took care of him. Finn was one of my most memorable shoots, he is way more than a cover star, Finn and his people are going to change the law, to help protect our service dogs and police dogs. You can read more about him here on his website.
Last summer, I did a wonderful shoot with Karen Clifton (one of the Strictly dancers) and her gorgeous Romanian rescue dog Betty. It’s always good to feature celebs who adore their dogs, and Karen is devoted to hers. Karen was such a pro cover star, and Betty acted like she’d been doing this all her life! Since we did the shoot, Karen’s added another gorgeous rescue dog to her family. You can follow them here on Instagram!
Then there was Marcel LeCorgi, the Royal Cover Star! Those of you on Instagram will no doubt know him, he has a huge following! Marcel’s cover was for the Queen’s Birthday so that’s why we chose him for that month, including his Union Jack bandana! Instagram is a big thing nowadays isn’t it, lots of dogs have their own Instagram accounts and we’ve had a few of the Insta famous dogs here for shoots including Anuko the notoriously grumpy Husky!
Last year a couple of the covers were extra special for me, as my own little English setter puppy Hobson was a double cover star, well there has to be some job perks doesn’t there?! firstly he was featured on Dogs Monthly when he was only 9 weeks old, and then later on in the year on Dogs Today when he was about 10 months old. I’m immensely proud of him, he’s a wonderful dog in so many ways, super handsome of course, and such a kind gentle boy, as well as being ridiculously amusing!
and the fully grown version!
We do like to feature more unusual breeds as cover stars, especially on Dogs Monthly, recently there’s been a Curly Coated Retriever, and an Italian Greyhound puppy. I searched for the Curly puppy as I’d met some adults at Crufts and they really are amazing, and luckily through various doggy contacts I found someone with a puppy who was willing to come up to my studio in Surrey for a shoot. The Italian Greyhound puppy Cora, belongs to a dog trainer friend. Puppies are often featured of course due to the cute factor! and oldies too, we do love a grey whiskery face!
So as you can see, it’s pretty random. They are all special, and everyone has their favourite cover stars! I’m excited to see what we come up with each time, where they come from and what their story is! If you have a really unusual dog, or an amazing story, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at info@penelopemalbyphotography.co.uk.