How to take part in the National Dog Photography Day Competition

National Dog Photography Day is almost here and this year I’ve teamed up with some fantastic partners to celebrate!

Up for grabs is a £250 Lenses for Hire voucher, plus a prize from The Innocent Hound, giving a total prize value of £500.

How to enter: 

• Download the Official Entry Sticker below
• Add it to your favourite dog photo (it’s quick and easy in Instagram Posts – select ‘overlay’, Canva or Adobe Express).
• Share your photo on Instagram (make sure it’s public) or the Fur & Fables Facebook Event on 26th July and start the post ‘I’m celebrating National Dog Photography Day – then tell us why you chose the photo.
• Tag Fur & Fables, Lenses for Hire & The Innocent Hound

Official Entry Ribbon

Your photo must include the Official National Dog Photography Day Entry Sticker to be eligible for the competition.

If you’d like some tips on how to make your images stand out on National Dog Photography Day – pop over to this blog post: National Dog Photography Day Tips

A little bit about the official partners of National Dog Photography Day

A HUGE thank you to both Lenses for Hire and The Innocent Hound for taking part and being the very first official partners for National Dog Photograph Day!

When I first started photography nearly 20 years ago, I had no idea what kit I wanted. Lenses, camera bodies… it all felt a bit overwhelming, and I certainly couldn’t afford to buy everything.

Then I discovered Lenses for Hire. It was such a brilliant idea – I could hire different lenses, they’d arrive via courier, I’d use them for a few days and then send them back using the prepaid return label. It meant I could figure out what suited the way I liked to shoot before investing in my own kit. (My 70–200mm f/2.8 is still my go to lens all these years later!)

There was a young whippersnapper there called Richie, who always patiently answered my questions, including the technical ones that completely baffled me. (To be fair… they still do. 😂)

That same whippersnapper is now the Director of Lenses for Hire.

So when I started thinking about a partner for this year’s competition, Richie was the very first person who came to mind. It just felt right to bring things full circle.

I’ve worked with The Innocent Hound as their photographer for a few years now, but I was a customer many many years before I started working with them, and still am!

Way back then, probably over a decade ago, there was much less choice in high quality, natural meat treats. I remember buying them at the local pet shop and I started buying them as gifts for my clients because I wanted the best, and the rest, as they say is history! I’m super chuffed to have them on board as one of the partners for this year.

National Dog Photography Day Official Stickers

If you don’t want to take part in the competition but want to show you are taking part in National Dog Photography Day then here are a couple of graphics you can use on your posts or your stories!

National Dog Photography Day Logo

I’m Taking Part In National Dog Photography Day Sticker

Make sure you use the #NationalDogPhotographyDay tag too!

If you’d like to get a copy of my free PDF of top tips, just click here!

If you have ever wondered about creating an awareness day for your own business you can check out my blog post with tips and how to make it work here: How to create your own awareness day

26th July – Celebrating the love of photographing our dogs

Back in 2018 I created a national awareness day “National Dog Photography Day” and I had no idea how much it would take off! We all love taking photo’s of our dogs don’t we? This day not only celebrates that, but it’s a chance to legitimately flood the internet with dog photos and revel in our national obsession with dogs.

There are so many photo’s shared on National Dog Photography Day that it makes sense to try and make yours stand out! Westminster Abbey, The Queen, Toyota and Andrew Lloyd Webber sharing their images – if you want to get your photo noticed, I have a few tips for you.

How to take part on National Dog Photography Day

• Use the official National Dog Photography Day stickers – new for 2026!! Pop over to download them here: NDPD Graphics
• Make sure the actual image of your dog is clear – no cluttered backgrounds which can be distracting, the simpler the better!
• Use an instantly recognisable landmark – Have you got any photographs of your dog next to a distinguishing landmark like the London Eye or Angel of the North. Or anything that’s a bit more local to you, you can then tag your local newspapers to see if they will feature it.
• Use props – Do you have any cute props like a stuffed camera toy, or an actual camera which you can pose your dog next to, anything to make your image a little different from all the rest (maybe you can set it up so your dog looks like it’s taking the photo!)
• Use graphics on your image – I’m creating stickers for 2026, or just simply overlay the #nationaldogphotographyday hashtag to make it stand out (still use the hashtag in the post too though so it can be found when people search it).
• Tag local relevant businesses – see if they will share and collaborate –  if you get your dog groomed, tag your local groomers or vets!
• For businesses – make sure that you mention your product or service too, you never know when your post will go viral. Tag brands who you love and/or who you have collaborated with before. (Make sure they are relevant though, and don’t spam them!).
• Make it FUN! Have a funny caption that people can relate to, or a funny story or quote.
• Behind the scenes – Do a behind the scenes shot and then the finished product too, show the chaos and reality of creating an image.
• Does your dog do a cool trick? Try and get a shot of the doing that! Who doesn’t love to see a photo of a dog doing a high five?
• Help out others – Reshare other posts from the hashtag, they may be kind enough to share yours back!

Most of all, make sure you use the #NationalDogPhotographyDay tag!

If you’d like to get a copy of my free PDF of top tips, just click here!

If you have ever wondered about creating an awareness day for your own business you can check out my blog post with tips and how to make it work here: How to create your own awareness day