This close up portrait of an avalanche rescue dog wins Dog Photography Award 2022

The avalanche rescuedog. Away from the pistes, away from the hustle and bustle, enjoying the softness of the powder snow, the untouchedness .. The dark side of it: every year people are buried by avalanches. The search in rough terrain is usually very difficult. The avalanche rescuedogs 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. In Melchsee- Frutt (Switzerland) I have accompanied the rescue teams led by Nicole Dammann with the camera for a day. The dogs are trained using positive reinforcement to keep them enjoying the search. To capture the moment when the dog finds the buried person and digs through the snow, I lay down with the camera in a small, dark ice cave and let the dogs search for me. 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. 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.

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.

These photos are of Greenland Dogs (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Qimmiat, Danish: Grønlandshund) in Ilulissat, Greenland 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.

“She is Bagheera”
The first obstacle of the course is the moment I prefer most of all. 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. Agility Dog is trust, Agility Dog is respect, Agility Dog is togetherness. This photo was taken during an Agility Dog competition in Italy.

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.

“Title: Things are looking up”
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.

“MIMI’S BACKSTORY”

“Unconditional Love”

Walking the dog along the beach. Photo taken by DJI Mavic Air2 drone of my partner walking our dog, Luna.