Maternity photoshoots aren’t just for expecting human mothers anymore. Over the past decade, a growing number of pet owners have given their pregnant dogs the same glamorous treatment — flower crowns, soft backdrops, and carefully posed portraits — and the results keep going viral.
Where the Trend Took Off
One of the earliest breakout cases was Lilica, a Pinscher mix in Brazil, photographed by Ana Paula Grillo in 2016. Lilica’s owner asked Grillo to document her pregnancy after she was expecting five puppies from a brief romance with a neighbor’s dog. The shoot took only about 20 minutes, and Lilica gave birth the very next day to four boys and one girl. Grillo later told The Dodo that all five puppies were adopted by members of the owner’s extended family.
That same year, a golden retriever named Chanel had her own viral moment. Owner Kennedy Sorenson and photographer Amy Rients teamed up for a shoot featuring Chanel and a fellow dog, LeeRoy, posing together with signs counting down the days until the puppies arrived. Sorenson said she was inspired by the maternity shoots she saw friends doing for their own pregnancies and simply adapted the idea for her dog.
The Trend Kept Growing
In the years since, more dogs have had their pregnancies documented in similarly elaborate fashion:
- Fusee, an 8-weeks-pregnant dog in Olympia, Washington, posed in a flower crown for a shoot that racked up hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets after her owner shared it online
- Cindi, a dachshund in Australia photographed by Vicki Miller, styled her shoot with a flower crown across multiple scenic locations — and had previously done a newborn-style photoshoot as a puppy
- Numerous other dogs, often golden retrievers, pit bulls, and small breeds, have followed suit as pet owners increasingly treat a dog’s first litter as a milestone worth documenting the same way they would a human pregnancy
Why Owners Keep Doing It
The reasoning tends to be consistent across cases: for many pet owners, a dog is treated as a full member of the family, and a first pregnancy feels like a milestone deserving the same care and creativity typically reserved for human parents-to-be. Photographers involved in these shoots have also noted a practical upside — the sessions are usually short (often 20 minutes to a few hours) since a pregnant dog’s comfort and patience are limited, unlike longer human maternity sessions.
Not Everyone’s on Board
The trend isn’t universally embraced. While many online commenters find the photos charming and lighthearted, others have pushed back on treating pet pregnancies with the same ceremony as human ones, viewing it as an unnecessary extension of “humanizing” pets. Despite the mixed reactions, the photos consistently generate massive engagement whenever they resurface online — a pattern that has held steady since Lilica’s shoot first went viral nearly a decade ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to do a photoshoot with a pregnant dog?
Generally yes, provided the session is kept short, low-stress, and the dog isn’t forced into uncomfortable positions — most successful shoots have lasted well under an hour and avoided excessive handling late in pregnancy.
How long are dogs typically pregnant before giving birth?
Canine gestation is usually around 58 to 68 days, which is why many of these photoshoots are scheduled close to the due date, sometimes just a day or two before delivery.
Do professional photographers specialize in pet maternity shoots?
It’s a niche but growing area — some pet photographers have built dedicated followings and business inquiries specifically around maternity-style sessions after their photos of one dog went viral.
Why do these photos go viral so consistently?
The novelty of applying a familiar human ritual to an animal, combined with the inherent cuteness of a pregnant dog dressed up and posed, tends to create broad, easily shareable appeal across social media.
Sources: ABC13 (KTRK), ABC7 New York, Romper, and Chewy, all covering documented viral dog maternity photoshoots.
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