As a pet photographer, I have many tricks up my sleeve when it comes to getting a dog's attention. From one of my pet photography groups, I learned hunting calls work well so of course I got me some.

I also got a very hunting style lanyard to keep them on... so funny, I am about the last person who would ever hunt and yet I'm carrying around this thing like I had my own show on the Hunting Channel.

I started out with a distressed cottontail and moved on to a variety of others... doe, squirrel, predator, hog and duck and a few dog whistles. The truth is, they may or may not work in pet photography. Some dogs do not respond to hunting calls at all. Couldn't care less about those noises. And some react to squeaky toys or funny mouth sounds, which I have a hard time doing. After about three sounds, whatever works at the moment may not work any longer. If there isn't a payoff for the dog in terms of you getting their attention and there being something worth being at attention for, they'll drop you like a hot potato.

That's why if you're a pet owner and I need your help getting the pet's attention (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't), I don't want you squeaking that toy over and over again. I need you to do it when I need you to do it and then squeak it only twice until we see what happens. Squeaking five or more times doesn't help in the least. You gotta find out what the dog responds to and if they haven't responded to it in two squeaks, just stop. Move on and find something they will respond to. And don't squeak it five feet above my head and to the side because that's where the dog is going to look. They won't look at the camera, they'll look at that thing in the air! Sorry about the lecture series but I get that on occasion from owners trying to be helpful.

But back to the hunting calls. We were having a little discussion the other day about calls so I decided to put together a little video of the ones I use and noises they make. It turns out, many of the pet photographers had dogs that actually responded to the video and came over to their phone or computer to check it out. See, it can work!

And I'm sure I don't have to say it but I will: No wildlife was harmed in the making of this video.

Don't have your own hunting calls for pet photography? I do! Give me a call at 818.481.5214. I'm Diana Lundin, I'm in Los Angeles, and I want to be your pet photographer.