Say cheese! Seven delightful dogs named as Britain's happiest hounds
WITH grins stretching from ear to floppy ear - it is not hard to see why these delightful dogs have been named as Britain's happiest hounds.
Izzy the cross and Murphy the Terrier
These seven content canines - Biscuit, Skye, Sidney, Doris, Roxy, Murphy and Izzy - are seen literally pulling their best smiles in a series of touching moments caught on camera.
Their pictures were taken during a one-hour session at Venture Studios, with each dog showing off their cheesy grins as the camera flashed away.
Izzy, a cross breed, can be seen with her eyes shut as she smiles broadly with her tongue hanging out, while Skye, a cross Brindle Collie, is pictured with her ears pricked to the side as she shows off a soft smirk.
Skye the cross Brindle Collie
Support worker Shirley Wheatcroft, whose pet Rottweiler Roxy loved posing for the camera, described her beloved furry friend as definitely a "pampered pooch".
The 26-year-old, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said: "I wanted to get her portraits done because I love her so much.
"Roxy is normally camera shy but once she got into the studio she loved the limelight.
"I took along some dog toys and biscuits to encourage her to behave, but she is such an obedient dog anyway.
"It didn't surprise me to see Roxy was smiling in the photos when I went back to see the images at the studios. She's such a happy dog so she smiles a lot."
Roxy the Rottweiler
Biscuit the Corgi
The total cost of three-year-old Roxy's time in the spotlight came to a whopping £650 - but Ms Wheatcroft insisted it was "worth every penny".
She said: "I paid a total of £650 but it was reduced from £950. The package included four photographs, a Christmas bauble and a photo app for my mobile phone where I can log in and look at all the pictures from the shoot.
"It was worth every penny - the photographs are beautiful."
Doris the Tibetan Terrier
Sidney the Bassett Hound
The trend for pet photography is believed to have steadily increased thanks to celebrities like Millie Mackintosh being snapped with their dogs, according Richard Mayfield, creative director of Venture Studios.
He said: "The demand for pet photography - and especially dog portraits - has been steadily increasing over the last few years, amounting to an overall 32 per cent jump since 2013.
"Generally, families come to us for portraits with their dogs but within a shoot we offer a variety of compositions including single dog head-shots.
"These work really well, especially straight-on head shots which can be blown up really big for a trendy living room piece.
"Every year we photograph thousands of dogs using the winning formula of eyes looking straight to camera and capturing an almost human-like pose from the dog."