We all think that our own dogs are clever and cute enough
to be in the 'movies' and probably they are, but only a lucky
few actually make it as an animal actor!
For those of you that are interested here are a few tips on
what is required.
1. Dogs need to be trained and well behaved. Teach
them to do a 'bombproof' sit stay, down stay and stand.
A very important requirement is the 'watch me' command
so that you can confidently get your dog to look into the
camera lens.
2. Teach your canine to come to you at different speeds,
slowly, trotting and running. Get them to perform their
commands at a distance from you as well as near to you
and use hand signals wherever you can.
3. A good speak on command is very often required,
especially if you can get one with a hand signal only
(for when they are running sound).
4. Socialise your dog with different people including
children, as many as you can so that they will happily
go with other folk if required to do so.
5. Train your dog to do as many tricks as possible.
You never know what the director will require!
6. Film sets are usually organised chaos with lots of
noise and different people all working away. A nervous
dog would find this distressing. See how your animal
reacts to noisy and crowded situations, in addition they
often work with other animals on set so would they get
along? These are all things to take into consideration.
7. If your canine is to be used for advertising shots then
'flash' photography is normally used. Some dogs 'freak'
at this. What is your animals reaction?
8. Dogs often perform brilliantly in the comfort of their
own home but how do you think they might act when put
in front of a camera in a strange place? Take this into
consideration.
9. Filming often means long hours waiting around before
your turn finally comes! Have you got lots of patience?
Can you get up at an unearthly hour of the morning to get
to the location or studio?
10. If all the foregoing has not put you off then go for it!
The final piece of advice is to get on the books of a reliable and wellknown animal acting agency. They will require
you to supply photographs of your budding actor. Ordinary
snapshots will do. Possibly, one standing sideways on
showing all of the animal and then one sitting facing the
camera with a good shot of the head.
HOW DO I KNOW ALL THIS! I HAVE THREE SMALL
DOGS AND THEY ALL HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH
TO FIND WORK IN ADVERTISING, FILMS & TELEVISION.
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