Sit, stay, smile: Photographer helps pound dogs get adopted

DETROIT — Jill Andra Young has a soft spot in her heart for dogs and a photographic eye. Combine the two and you get photos of captivating, charismatic canines ready for adoption.

The Plymouth, Mich.,-based photographer loves dogs, but volunteering in an animal shelter upset her too much. But bring rescue and shelter dogs to her studio and she uses her talents to showcase a dog's best side.

Dog rescuers say the professional-grade photographs Young creates — rather than those amateur dog pound shots — help them place dogs that otherwise would be overlooked.

Young calls her effort the Sirius Project, named for the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky, and because of the double meaning — "I'm serious about dogs."

A greyhound rescue group, Greyhounds of Eastern Michigan (GEM), can tell the difference when Young photographs their racetrack rescues.

When they post her photos on Petfinder.com, there's a noticeable uptick in how many people browse the pooch's page, says Mark McCloskey, a GEM volunteer.

"She does a better job of capturing a playful side or more attractive side," says McCloskey, a stay-at-home dad in Pinckney, Mich. "She's got a better eye than we do. I think the more a dog gets viewed, the better its chances of getting adopted.

"Those photographs are what they would call in the real estate world 'curb appeal,'" said McCloskey.

Growing up in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., Young's family had a collie, Jody. "I learned to walk hanging onto her," Young says. She also had cats, all white and always named Kitty. "I don't know how many Kittys there were, but there were several," she says.

When she was 15 years old, her brother Jack gave her a rescue basenji — her preferred dog ever since.

Young has been operating a studio since 1989, marketing it as pet-friendly. The pet side of her business grew as more families included their pets in photo shoots. Her studio's growth coincided with the period in which independent pet stores and chain stores started to blossom.

Young photographed rescue dogs on and off, but was inspired to create photo workshops for volunteers through the Sirius Project when she saw a television feature about a photographer shooting rescue dachshunds in Dallas.

She has photographed a variety of critters, like birds, gerbils, guinea pigs, iguanas, one alligator and a quartet of racing turtles. "They were very difficult, because once you set them down, they run," Young says. But she says she can outwait any restless, fidgety, cranky creature.

"Mostly, it's just being patient and you go with what they can do. Everything is about the dog's comfort. Even when we're doing family photos, I put the people down with the dog, since dogs are closest to the floor.

"I'm good at pets," Young says. "I can speak dog."

Among young's attention-getting tools are stuffed animals, a pole with feathers, and a bird puppet. Squeaky toys are "sometimes a mistake" because "they all have squeaky toys at home and the first thing they want to do is run to you."

Balls don't work because the animals will want to play. "And we rarely use the S word," says Young, referring to the chase reaction elicited with "Squirrel."

With one dog, she uttered the words "Mort Crim" to get the canine to perk up and pose. The family told her the mere mention of the retired WDIV-TV anchorman always caught the dog's attention.

A secret weapon is a harmonica. It's high-pitched and surprises the animals because it's a sound they haven't heard. She uses it to make ears stand perky.

"We try to figure out what calms them down or whips them into a frenzy," Young says.

Young's own dog, a rescue basenji named Henri (pronounced Henry), often runs into the studio and assumes a photo-worthy pose atop a prop. Henri (named after the French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue) responds to the English pronunciation of his name. "It's very hard to use French when yelling" at him, Young says.

One day in the studio, Young uses all her tricks as she devotes a couple of hours to photographing rehabilitated racetrack greyhounds, aging pugs, and three other dogs that were on the verge of being put down at local pounds.

Henrietta and Clara, pugs given up by an ailing owner, will have a hard time being adopted, says Susan Tauber of West Bloomfield, Mich.

Tauber, a retiree who helps with Michigan Pug Rescue, says that Henrietta's age (she's 13) and a medical condition that makes the gray-haired pug prone to toilet accidents, will limit interest in adopting the duo together. Clara is more agile and younger at 9 years old.

On the stage at Young's studio, a pillow is placed for the dogs' comfort and pearls draped around their necks. "A little tulle and pearls always helps," Young says.

Young then emits sounds kind of like a whirring helicopter and whooshing air. She barks. She ruff-ruffs. She arches a stuffed bird in front of the dogs. She pumps a squeaky toy. Neither pug stays still. Clara breaks for the door.

Young brings out the harmonica. The pugs seem peeved.

She resorts to "whiffing" the dogs with a bag of liver treats passed under their noses. Now that she has the attention of their olfactory nerves, the dogs freeze and stare her down.

Young gets her shots; the dogs get their treats. Tauber is pleased, but wishes Henrietta had shown her teeth because "she has such a beautiful smile."

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Jill Andra Young Photography

734-455-7787

http://jillandrayoungphotography.com

Find Young's photos of adoptable dogs at www.gemgreyhounds.net, www.michiganpugrescue.com, www.lastdaydogrescue.organd www.facebook.com/TheSiriusProject.

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