An Ipswich photographer is searching for the dog with the “cuteness factor” to become the face of his new business.

East Anglian Daily Times: Josh Coulson, with his dog Dylan, has recently started his dog photography business and has launched a competiton where people send in photos of their dog and he will pick the winner who will then be on his branding.Josh Coulson, with his dog Dylan, has recently started his dog photography business and has launched a competiton where people send in photos of their dog and he will pick the winner who will then be on his branding.

Josh Coulson, of Waterloo Road, has been photographing dogs for over 20 years and in November last year, he decided to launch his own company.

The 40-year-old goes by the name of The Dog Photographer and takes snaps of people’s beloved pooches to hang proudly on their walls.

“I started to explore if there was a market there and quickly found out that people spend on all sorts for their dogs, and people like having that keepsake,” he said.

“I got heavily into dogs once I got Dylan seven years ago, I just became a real doggy person, we see lots of other dogs on our walks.”

To attract some attention, Mr Coulson has launched a competition to find the dog face of 2015, which has already seen over 200 entries.

Dog-owners are asked to upload a picture of their pet to his website, and the dog with the “cuteness factor” will represent the brand of the company in the coming year.

The winner will also receive a photo shoot and a large wall display photo from their shoot. All entrants will be entitled to claim discount throughout 2015.

Mr Coulson said photographing naughty dogs was “all part of the fun”, and that it was important to build a rapport with the models.

He said: “It’s all about making friends with them.

“Let them do their own thing in a guided way. It’s about capturing things as you see them, let them enjoy the session.”

Mr Coulson suffers from a complicated health problem which meant he was out of work for just over a year.

He got back into employment through the government’s New Entrepreneur Allowance Scheme, which provides money and support to entrepreneurial job-seekers. For more information visit www.dogtog.co.uk or contact Josh on 07745 308792.