85 dogs. 67 breeds. 5,532 triggered photos. From 21 to 23 August I stood with my glass plate at the Rudelfreunde in Cologne and photographed upwards for three days.
In case you don't know this yet: the dog stands on a glass pane, the camera is underneath. What this creates is something nobody sees in everyday life. The paws from below, the fur spreading across the glass, and this downward gaze a dog otherwise gives to no one.
A few numbers before the dogs arrive:
The dog I think about most comes further down. He wasn't on the list at all.
Mona is 14.5 years, and I couldn't decide
That's why you see two pictures here instead of one. Mona is a Malinois mix, 14.5 years old, 25 kilos, and in the evening I sat in front of the files and just couldn't manage it. This happens to me all the time with old dogs. In the end I have five, six pictures, and each shows something different. So much character comes through. The years show in their faces, and from below you see it even more clearly.
Tequila and her spots
A year and a half, 26 kilos, a Dalmatian. A little side note many people don't know: Dalmatians are born completely white, the spots only develop in the first weeks of life. With Tequila they're long finished, and from below they spread very differently than you know them from the side.
Doji, the oldest breed in Japan
Shiba Inu, two and a half years, 9.3 kilos. The Shiba is the smallest and oldest of the Japanese dog breeds, originally a hunting dog for rough terrain. And it has this facial expression for which there is no good German word. Somewhere between "I'll think about it" and "no". From below it doesn't get friendlier, but definitely funnier.
Ollie, seven months, and you know his breed from the movies
Cairn Terrier, 10 kilos. The most famous of his breed is called Toto and ran alongside Judy Garland through the Wizard of Oz in 1939. Originally these are Scottish earth dogs, bred to work their way between piles of stones after foxes and otters. The name comes from these piles of stones, the cairns. With a young dog that's genetically built for digging, it's less about the perfect pose and more about catching the moment when he holds still briefly. That can take a while.
Momo, almost thirteen
6.5 kilos, and the breed on the papers reads "Sardinian mix terrier". He came together with his eleven-year-old sister Amy, but in this picture he's on his own.
Milo and Lucky, 10 kilos next to 3 kilos
The two belong together and yet are a wonderful contrast. Milo is a Spitz mix, two and a half years, 10 kilos. Lucky is a Yorkie mix, thirteen years old, 3 kilos. Old and tiny at once. On the glass plate such a dog suddenly seems much bigger than it is.
KIMA weighs 2.5 kilos
Yorkshire Terrier, five and a half years, and thus the lightest dog of these three days. And she has such a beautiful little braid – from below I fell in love with it right away. Remember the weight for a moment, the counterpart comes right up.
Nala, Max and Lätti bring 102 kilos
Nala – a Cane Corso, 36 kilos of pure guard.
Three dogs from one family, one after the other on the plate. Nala is a Cane Corso, four and a half years, 36 kilos. Two old guard dog breeds at one appointment, both from an island: the Cane Corso from Italy, the Dogo Canario from the Canary Islands. Both were kept for farm and livestock for centuries, and from below they both look as if they never forgot that.
With the big ones I'm almost always asked whether the glass can take it. Yes, it can. The plate is built exactly for this, and on site I calmly explain the process to everyone twice before a dog even sets a paw on it.
Max – a Dogo Canario, straight from the Canaries.
Max is a Dogo Canario, nine years, 30 kilos. A dog from an island who looks just as vigilant from below as from the side.
Lätti – another Cane Corso, just as heavy.
Lätti again a Cane Corso, eight and a half years, also 36 kilos. Two Cane Corsos in one family – and both carry their name with dignity.
Raven weighs 45 kilos
German Shepherd, four years, the heaviest dog of the weekend. That's eighteen times KIMA above. Both stood on the same plate, a few hours apart. He came together with Cooper, a Border Collie at 22 kilos, so with about half his weight at his side.
Maze, Malinois
Two years, 25 kilos, alert, wiry, always on receive. She came with Laines, an almost fourteen-year-old Husky. Young and old at one appointment.
Two Huskys, one of them maybe
Lou is a Siberian Husky, almost eleven years, 29 kilos. Blue is ten and a half, 26 kilos, and his papers literally say "presumably Husky, otherwise unknown". I really like such entries. There are dogs whose origin nobody knows and who still look as if they chose it themselves. From below both get something wolfish that doesn't really stand out in everyday life.
Four mixed breeds, four open questions
Maxi is Shih-Tzu and something, seven and a half years, 7.5 kilos. With so much hair the underside is especially beautiful because the fur spreads across the glass like a fan.
Rudi is an Aussiedor, five years, 30 kilos. Australian Shepherd meets Labrador. The Aussiedor isn't a breed but a mix with a pretty name, and I've been encountering it more and more in recent years.
Spike is an Aussiedoodle, a year and a half, 25 kilos. Doodles always count as mixed breeds with me, no matter how nice the name sounds.
Vincent is Maltese times Jack Russell, a year and four months, 8 kilos. The youngest in this selection.
Three that make it easy for you
Bluna, Labrador Retriever, five and a half years, 28 kilos. Labs are often the uncomplicated ones on the plate. Up, grabbed the treats, reluctantly lifted down again, done.
Merlin, French Bulldog, four and a half years, 17.5 kilos. From below bullies are almost funny, so compact they stand there.
Pablo, Boxer, six and a half years, 36 kilos. Boxer faces from below are a chapter of their own, because all the folds rearrange themselves completely anew.
Bobby's colour was once officially wrong
Biewer Yorkshire Terrier, eight and a half years, 3 kilos. And his tail is dyed blue, with dog-friendly colour.
The story behind it is too good to leave out. In 1984, in the Hunsrück, a puppy with white markings fell in the litter of two Yorkshire breeders, Werner and Gertrud Biewer. A rare gene mutation. When Mr Biewer exhibited his tricolour dogs in Wiesbaden in 1988, the VDH ruled: wrong colour, not suitable for breeding. In 1989 the Biewer was nevertheless recognised as its own breed. A dog whose colour was once declared a mistake now comes to me on the glass with a blue tail. It could hardly be more fitting. And honestly: not everything has to be beige all the time.
And then came Ingo
Ingo wasn't on my list. His people were there with two other dogs, with eleven-year-old Django and three-year-old Joker. After the shoot they asked me where else we were travelling. They had now seen how it works and could well imagine that their old boy would join in too. Then they told me they lived only seven kilometres away.
So I sent them home, built a gap into the day, and shortly after Ingo stood on my glass plate.
He is a Ratero Mallorquín, 7 kilos, fifteen years and seven months old. The oldest dog of the weekend. His breed comes from Mallorca and had a very unromantic job there: catching rats, in stables and pantries. Hence the name. The Ratero is still not recognised by the FCI today, and outside Spain hardly anyone knows it.
And this year he almost died. A treatment error, and you can still see how much it marked him. His people believed in him and nursed him back. Now he is recovering, in keeping with his age, and is becoming increasingly joyful again. I hear many such stories. And that's exactly why I'm so glad we still got Ingo onto the glass with so little effort.
Please photograph your old dogs
This is really important to me, which is why it says so clearly here. Old dogs can not only be photographed. They should be. Most of them have no problem at all with the shoot itself, especially the old ones. They are calm, they know themselves, they don't get thrown off so easily anymore.
What you should consider is the journey there. If your dog has big problems with car rides or finds it hard to even get to the shoot location, then leave it. But if the transport topic isn't an issue for you, just bring him along.
And if you're unsure: ask me. Write me a message, I'll tell you honestly what I think.
If it doesn't work out on site after all, because it gets too much for your dog that day, or if you'd rather leave him at home because of an illness, you won't incur any costs. I will of course refund it. You really don't need to worry about that.
It would be such a shame not to have a picture, just because someone didn't dare to ask.
A word about the Rudelfreunde
A word remains about our hosts. At the Rudelfreunde, dogs aren't parked, they're cared for. Day care with real walks, pack nights, dog walking, and whoever is dirty afterwards goes under the pack shower. Plus dog groomer, dental and claw care, nutrition advice and training for human and dog. "Together instead of alone" is their motto, and that's exactly how the weekend felt. If you live in Cologne and the area and are looking for someone for your dog, drop by: rudelfreunde.de
And we'll be back. Cologne stays firmly in the calendar, with the Rudelfreunde.
And in the end
Three days, 85 dogs, 67 breeds. From the 2.5-kilo Yorkie to the 45-kilo German Shepherd, from the seven-month-old Cairn Terrier to Ingo. The pictures I remember afterwards are rarely the ones from the dogs you'd expect. In Cologne it was the one who wasn't planned at all and lived seven kilometres away.
Fancy a shoot?
The 2027 dates will come online gradually over the next few weeks. Cologne is back in, and if you don't want to miss anything, check the dates page over the next three weeks.