National Arboretum Dog Session | Washington, DC | Carrie and Oliver (and Rae)

I was so excited when Carrie told me that she and Oliver wanted to do their session with their dog Rae at the National Arboretum! It’s such a unique location and I’d actually never photographed there before, but it’s been on my DC bucket list for a long time. The National Capitol Columns are one of the highlights at the arboretum, and they are actual columns that were originally used in the U.S. Capitol Building in the 1800s! They were relocated to the Ellipse Meadow area of the National Arboretum in the 1980s.

An important note for anyone planning photography sessions at the National Arboretum - make sure to review their photography policy and purchase a permit (currently $105 for a one-hour photo shoot). There are signs about permit requirements everywhere, and they do enforce it. Sessions are only allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays between 8:00am and 4:30pm.

Rae is the cutest little rat terrier mix, and reminds me so much of my dog Rui who is also a rat terrier mix! She is nine years old but still has that puppy energy and she loved exploring the National Arboretum grounds and smelling all the smells.

We lucked out that it wasn’t too crowded that day and managed to get quite a few photos where no one else was walking around the columns!

Oh my gosh that happy little smile ❤️️

After the columns we moved on to a couple other parts of the arboretum to view some of the other collections. I definitely need to go back and do more exploring because there was so much we didn’t get to see!