Winners of Dog Photography Awards Capture Thrilling and Loving Moments With Our Fur Friends

Is there any animal subject as creative for photographers than the dog? Images of our fur friends are emotive, exciting, familiar, eye-opening. No matter how many photos you see of dogs there are always new things to see, to learn to discover about them. That’s what this year’s winners of the Dog Photography Awards reveals.

From unique portraits of a dog’s back, to an avalanche rescue dog at work; from a powerful agility dog to a newborn pup cradled in human hands. These images will delight every dog lover.

So without further delay, here are the winners along with a selection of finalists from the 2022 competition!

PORTRAIT & LANDSCAPE CATEGORY

1st Place Winner – The avalanche rescue dog by Dalia Fichmann (Switzerland)
Dalia Fichmann captured this exciting moment an avalanche rescue dog digging through the snow to find her by crawling into a dark ice cave and letting the dogs search for her. She  accompanied rescue teams in Melchsee- Frutt (Switzerland) while they practiced and were being trained using positive reinforcement to “keep them enjoying the search.”

“The moment when the snow cover opens up, the first ray of light penetrates the cave, the paws dig away the snow and the dog’s nose sniffs towards you is wonderful,” Dalia wrote. “A big compliment to all the dog handlers with their four-legged friends who invest a lot of time and patience. In an emergency, they risk their own lives. The picture shows Border Collie Kyron, who was looking for me and fortunately found me.”

She said that the dogs search in rough, difficult terrain and that they are often the first responders, “fighting their way through the avalanche cones on their four paws with a lot of perseverance to look for the buried people, who are sometimes buried several meters under the snow masses.”

2nd Place – Amber my Dalmatian by Sophia Hutchinson (United Kingdom)
“This shot of Amber my Dalmatian is so special to me as this was one of the first walks we were able to do off lead since her two leg operations. It fills me with emotion seeing her so independent and captivated by the beauty of nature and wildlife,” Sophia Hutchinson writes.

3rd Place – Greenland Dogs by Joanne Liu (Canada)
Joanne Liu visited Ilulissat, Greenland to take photographs of the Greenland Dog (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Qimmiat, Danish: Grønlandshund). She captured images of the dogs “behaving naturally on the land provided to them by the government.”

“There used be 30,000 Greenland Dogs and now there are only around 15,000. In Greenland they are exclusively used as working sled dogs. Climate change has reduced their use in favour of skidoos, which are better able to handle marginal ice conditions. Puppies up until about 6 months of age are allowed to roam untethered in order to socialize them and are friendly and playful. Adults are chained and kept separate. Housing and veterinary care is provided by the government.”

STUDIO CATEGORY
1st Place Winner – Things are looking up by Su Kaye (United Kingdom)

Of her photo Su Kaye writes, “Just trying to do something different from the norm and create something unique in my studio and a new style. Not something I’ve seen other people doing and has created a great response and good reactions.”

2nd Place – Mimi’s Backstory by Jane Thomson (Canada)

3rd Place by Daniela Schmid (Germany)

DOGS & PEOPLE CATEGORY

1st Place Winner – Unconditional Love by Sabrina Theden (Germany)

2nd Place – Sarah Ebner (Switzerland)

3rd Place – Walking the dog along the beach by Russell Charters (Australia)
Russell Charters image was taken by an DJI Mavic Air2 drone and is of his partner walking their dog, Luna.

ACTION CATEGORY

1st Place Winner – “She is Bagheera” by Francesco Junior Mura (Italy)
During an Agility Dog competition in Italy, Bagheera is caught mid-flight. “The first obstacle of the course is the moment I prefer most of all,” says Francesco Junior Mura. “There, where it all begins, where the bond between Human and Dog is expressed in such a clear way by such a magnetic look, where you can see the power of dog’s muscles contracting and releasing energy at every handler’s nod.”

2nd Place – Kjara Kocbek (Slovenia)

3rd Place – Julia Haßelkuß (Germany)
“I took this picture during our vacation in Norway. It was very foggy that day, so I wanted to create a friendly and sunny look,” Julia Haßelkuß says.

Selection of Finalists

Dog Photography Awards is an annual competition open to professional, amateur and student photographers from around the world. Their goal is to promote talented photographers around the world with the help from their world-renowned, experienced judges, who themselves specialize in dog photography.

Winners of the Dog Photography Awards receive prizes of up to €2,000 in cash (€500 for each category). Judges received 1400 applications from 50 different countries for this year’s competition.

To learn more about the Dog Photography Awards and to enter the competition visit their Website and follow them on Instagram.