Awkward Family Pet Photos

We all have them: those photos that are stuffed in boxes that remind us that we’ve made our pet sit through what is most likely to them a compromising situation.

We have two very awkward (but adorable) photos of our first Dachshund, Hershey. She was our first rescue, truly a spoiled only child. The first year we had her, we took her to the local national pet supply chain store to have her photo professionally done with Santa Paws. Six months into coming to our home, she was still a bit anxious and the terror is evident in her eyes as Santa tries to keep the wiggling miniature wiener dog from flying off of his lap.

By the next year, we decided she would look great in the photo wearing her new green sweater. Hershey was calmer and a perfect lady by this time. The only problem for that shoot was that Santa was too – a lady that is – and her ill-fitting suit on her skinny frame and oversized beard doesn’t hide that fact.

Truly, we all have some sort of awkward family photo featuring our pet. And a new book on the market, “Awkward Family Pet Photos” by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, focuses on just that theme.

“Awkward Family Pet Photos” highlights those types of photos we’ve all had with our pets and is broken down into sections for dogs, cats, birds, farm animals, exotics, holidays and the truly awkward.

Some of the photos are funny, like the family that looks as if they just stepped off the farm with their pet opossum. Some are a bit shocking, such as the photo captioned, “It’s never too late to capture that perfect moment” (we’ll let your mind run wild with that one). And some are just bizarre, like the one captioned, “Some mysteries will just never be solved,” which shows a shirtless man holding his little dog to his chest. 

The photos featured in the book are all truly entertaining, though, and if you’ve ever had a pet that you’ve wanted to capture on film, they’re relatable, too.