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Internationally-renowned, award-winning animal photographer Illona Haus created scruffy dog photography inc. as the province's premier pet photography business in 2007 ... the first of its kind in Canada ... and, still today, continues to serve clients across Ontario, the US and the world. Based in Kitchener, Ontario and photographing exclusively animals for almost 20 years - both commercially and for private clients - Illona is considered one of the world's leading and most influential pet photographers.

 

To learn more about scruffy dog photography, its creator, history, and the scruffy dog experience, feel free to browse through the menu above, and scroll over a decade's worth of blog entries below!

 

Please drop me a line! I'd love the opportunity to capture stunning, creative, one-of-a-kind photographic memories of your 4-legged loved ones to treasure in artwork for a lifetime, and show you just what makes the scruffy dog experience second to none.

sweet Minnie’s winter session ~ Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario pet photographer

Meet Minnie.  She had the winter segment of her scruffy Seasons session last weekend, and it was only by the skin of our teeth!  This winter has been the absolute worst in my 9 years of being a pet-exclusive photographer … no snow, then snow but temperatures too frigid for dogs, then rain … in fact, the snow we did manage to finally get for Minnie’s session came only a couple of days prior and was almost gone by the next day.  And now, less than a week later, I would wager to call it spring in these parts, with not even a small, nasty dirty pocket of snow left anywhere as a reminder of the winter that wasn’t.

01 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-46Normally, I am a good year or more behind in blogging but decided to share a few images from Minnie’s winter session just to show the kind of variety we can achieve in a short scruffy session.  In fact, the actual shooting time of Minnie’s session was under 40 minutes.  Sure, we spent more time in the woods … standing around talking, waiting for the sun to get a little softer, moving from one spot to the next, wading through the swamp to find this patch of dogwood…

02 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-511

… but the actual time shooting — according to the metadata on the images from both cameras — was just under 40 minutes.  I love showing clients the kind of variety that can be achieved with the right location and some creative approaches … and of course, a stellar model!

03 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-29004 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-8605 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-6306 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-451-edit (2)07 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-13908 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-25909 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-57010 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-9111 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-62712 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-233-edit13 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-42214 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-42715 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-63816 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-238…and a little fun with dad David, of course,

17 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-29318 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-49419 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-2020 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-27421 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-1222 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-38523 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-17324 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-19425 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-21026 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-479In this case I haven’t photoshopped out the long-line that I used for safety’s sake for Minnie’s running shots.  I have a lot of clients worry about their dogs’ safety when it comes to sessions, believing that their 4-legger isn’t a candidate for a scruffy session due to the fact that they can’t be allowed off leash, but in all cases in Minnie’s session (except one) she was on leash or on the long-line.

27 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-603

In fact, in this image you can see the slight pull on the collar from the line which I have already removed…28 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-634…and here is the image with the collar fixed.

28b waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-634Thank you, Stacey and David, for introducing me to your gorgeous girl, and for being so incredibly patient with this season’s weather.  I can only hope that this spring and fall treat us better for Minnie’s next two sessions!  I can’t wait to see you three again.

29 waterloo-ontario-pet-photographer-best-stock-dog-photos-minnie saunders-235

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    Chinook & George ~ {Kitchener-Waterloo pet photographer}

    i had fun with these two scruffies during their fall photo session here in Scruffyville.  this is Chinook, a 10-year-old collie cross adopted as a puppy from the KW Humane Society …01waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-475and this is little, 6-year-old George, also a KWHS alum.

    02waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-64703waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-168Chinook seemed to feel right at home on the scruffy dog settee.  in fact, i think she would have been quite happy to just lounge there while we continued the session without her.04waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-4005waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-8106waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-21one of Jennifer’s goals for this session — besides a canvas, prints, and an album for each George and Chinook — was that i capture images of Chinook with her ears up.  In Jennifer’s words: “the one must have shot is a picture of Chinook with her ears up (as in not flattened/back). I have been trying to get a good picture of this for almost 9 years.”  perhaps it was the magic of the forest, but fortunately we had no problem perking Chinook’s ears up.

    07waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-10908waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-13009waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-208with Chinook and George’s Big Picture session, we had lots of time for the settee, the forest, romping in the field, the meadow, and even down on the beach, giving us great variety for their individual albums!

    10waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-29111waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-32512waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-33013waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-37614waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-41315waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-43816waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-46817waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-51718waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-57819waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-65120waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-68021waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-69722waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-75323waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-811just how pretty is this sweet girl?

    24waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-785

    25waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-804thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your two beautiful scruffs with me, and allowing me to capture their spirits.

    26waterloo_ontario_pet_exclusive_photographer_chinook george beckett-446

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      Gulliver ~ {Waterloo professional dog photographer}

      meet young Gulliver … a mini-doodle whom i had the pleasure of shooting a fall Big Picture session in 2014 (yeah, yeah, yeah, i’m that behind with blogging!).  on Gulliver’s session application, when asked what feature of his was their favorite, his mom replied: “his expressive eyes” and it wasn’t long into the session before Gully showed me just how much he could work those peepers!

      01-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-13as i do with a lot of sessions that involve the home, we start indoors … while scruffy is still clean … because who knows what kinds of wild, crazy, messy stuff we can get into during a session!  and while at home, Gully was happy to show me his favorite pastimes …

      02-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-18… chillaxin’ with his family …

      03-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-58… and stealing his baby sister’s bassinet, of course.

      04-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-8705-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-94speaking of baby sister …

      06-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-109oh, she just can’t get enough of her big brother Gully …

      08-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-145but he manages to keep her at bay with a rather skilled tongue.

      09-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-15110-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-163soon, however, it was clear that Gully was ready for the outdoor segment of his scruffy session.

      11-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-450into the woods we headed …

      12-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-25313-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-21214-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-20015-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-305and the fields …

      16-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-345and always with that crazy little sister in tow …

      17-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-33318-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-34219-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-40320-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-37821-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-527Gully demonstrated his skills as a landshark ….

      22-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-746-Edit23-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-646bringing me not just the ball, but also leaves …

      24-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-660

      25-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-718

      26-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-63627-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-53428-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-513-Editand this is why we do home shots at the beginning of a session … down and dirty and wet Gully!

      29-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-76330-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-79731-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-78132-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-86933-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-80734-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-811thanks, Melissa and Bob for sharing your fabulous boy with me … and your amazing delightful daughter!  it was truly a pleasure!

      35-waterloo-ontario-dog-stock-photography-gulliver george-820

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