Training dogs for movies, TV & commercials

[ACooper]

I also wanted to everyone know that just because I train animals for a specific client does not mean I endorse or use their food. This year and last year I trained the animals in the IAMS and Purina commercials. However, I do not endorse nor do I feed either of these foods. They pay me to train the animals for the commercials, and nothing else.

This is good to know Joel. I was really hoping you wouldn't be in their corner on nutrition

I am not into obedience, agility, or any type of training beyond regular training at home. You know, the basics...........sit, stay, leave it, and of course good leash manners.

Then of course we have our little repertoire of cutesy stuff like play dead, shake, roll over. But nothing beyond that here for us, so you won't likely see me much on the training forum

 

[JoelSilverman]

Thanks.. I just wanted to clarify that....By the way, some of the best pet owners I have been around don't train their dogs to do much.... But they're obviously your best friends, and that's all that matters...

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

Here is a question. If you had a dog who had many behaviors, let's say, such as:

Carry an object
sit up
speak
stay
sit,down,come (of course)
head up/down
wave
bow

How would you go about getting this dog work in a local area?

 

[JoelSilverman]

Are you talking about for movie work and commercials, and if so what area? A lot of it depends on where you live.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I am in NC but am willing to travel.

 

[JoelSilverman]

The reason I mentioned the city is you want to find out what kind of market there is for providing this service. There are two searches I would do:
1. I would check and see if there were local production companies in your area. If so, that is a good thing. If there are quite a few, those would be your prospective clients.

2. I would check and see if there are still photographers in your area. A lot of what we do are still shoots too. So that is another market for you.

If you see that there are enough in your area, it may very well be worth your while to start setting up a business and providing these people with dogs. If that is the case I can help you take the next step.

The behaviors that you had listed are all the behaviors that they will probably be asking for too. With the RETRIEVE, I would not only train the dog to pick something up, but also bring an object to a person. There is a huge call for that. I would just make sure that you have some good distance on each behavior, because you never know where they will decide to put the camera. (20 feet) Remember that the easiest shot can turn into the hardest shot based on where the camera is.

 

[dr2little]

I also wanted to everyone know that just because I train animals for a specific client does not mean I endorse or use their food. This year and last year I trained the animals in the IAMS and Purina commercials. However, I do not endorse nor do I feed either of these foods. They pay me to train the animals for the commercials, and nothing else.

You do endorse Bil-Jac though and it's not much better...

 

[JoelSilverman]

Yes it is, and it is all documented. But I am not going to use this forum or website to talk about other products, good or bad. This thread is about me helping you train animals for movies and commercials.

 

[corgipower]

Pfft! I'll sic my vicious USA dogs on them!
I don't want to go back in my cage.

** jumps on PW just to have Iz and Fro sicced on me

 

[LauraLeigh]

off topic, but... Pedigree's new commercials drive me INSANE, I change the channel ( I really do ) until I think they are over..... The sound effects of the dog chewin the bone/food irritate me for some reason.... LOL

Sorry, had to say it.. LOL

 

[dr2little]

off topic, but... Pedigree's new commercials drive me INSANE, I change the channel ( I really do ) until I think they are over..... The sound effects of the dog chewin the bone/food irritate me for some reason.... LOL

Sorry, had to say it.. LOL

Me too!!! Drives me NURTS!!

 

[JoelSilverman]

Have not seen that one yet

 

[Boemy]

Your Tabby/White cat... That look gets a ton of work for some reason. I cannot tell you how many clients have picked that color scheme of cat in the past few years. There are actually a few really good cat teams that have your cat's color in Los Angeles.

That's so cool! So do people ever train their pets and then freelance for commercials? (Not that there's a lot of TV work here in Spokane, I imagine. But hypothetically. ) Booster's good at manipulating objects, like opening drawers and such, and he's EXTREMELY food motivated. Also cat-wand motivated. What kind of basics do people usually teach cats?

Back on the dog note, is it true that black dogs are harder to photograph/film?

 

[JoelSilverman]

Totally true about black dogs... a real bummer too.. because there are so many good ones.. I am a little different than other animal suppliers. They make a rental on the dogs they own. So they are going to want to push their dogs for the job. Totally understandable. With me, I have no overhead except one dog that is a movie dog. He is Foster and the one all over my website.

That is why I like to use private party animals, and have people kind of freelance. As a matter of fact the IAMS commercials with the Bengal Cat (the spotted cat) that aired for a huge part of this year was done with a private party cat owned by a breeder that I found at a cat show in Connecticut. I went to NYC about 3 weeks prior to shooting the commercial and trained that cat and his brother. I had never worked with Bengals... awesome breed, by the way!

 

[noludoru]

Why, thank you! They're about six months old in my avatar picture. Remy (the tabby) looks about the same full grown, but Booster (part siamese) is more stripey now.

AWWWW! We need you to make a picture thread.

Your Tabby/White cat... That look gets a ton of work for some reason. I cannot tell you how many clients have picked that color scheme of cat in the past few years. There are actually a few really good cat teams that have your cat's color in Los Angeles.

Really? Like my cat, Emma? (pics in links.. though she's a longhair) I always thought orange cats, or white cats were most popular. They're usually what I see.... same for dogs on TV, a lot of them are white.

 

[JoelSilverman]

It all goes through phases... and for some reason it has been that look, But no question...the orange tabby and gray tabbies have always been a popular cat, and every animal supplier in the business has one of each. There are only a few white cat teams in the business that I know of.

Someone had a question about training their cat... I have to go but when I come back will tell you what most animal trainers do to make cat training easier.

 

[Angelique]

I loved watching Bart the Bear and his trainer/best friend Doug Suess (sp?). Doug has quite a knack with bears.

Another favorite was Moose (aka Eddie) on Frasier. That little dog had quite a history of being rehomed before going to work with his trainer!

I first picked up the use of markers, treats and praise by watching the old black-and-white "You Asked for It!" show on TV, when I was just a kid.

Which animals and/or situations are the most challenging?

I'm also seeing more CGI being used these days in some of the animals scenes - the wolves in "The Day After Tomorrow", for example. Ah, but you can always tell.

 

[JoelSilverman]

Doug Seuss and Bart are a great example of a guy that put the time into that animal. Just his commitment to that animal was amazing! And Moose, yes. The trainer's name was Mathilde, and I actually worked for that company from 1987-1992.

I think the most challenging situations are when there are environmental changes that the art director creates on a set. An example is working with smoke, fire, or special effects. You can have a dog that is trained great for that scene, but once you introduce an effect, things can change. We work very closely with the American Humane Association and they are always on the set for the safety of the animal. so that is almost never an issue. But the changes in the environment can make something easy become more challenging.

Another challenge is bringing an aggressive dog on the set for a snarl, bite, or some aggressive behavior. If it is just the crew, it is not as stressful, but if an actor is in the scene, it can get mentally challenging.

 

[TheGoldenRetriever]

Actually, another common behavior that is called for is a "head down", and also a "head up"... a lot of time that takes place when the dog is laying in the floor. You are totally right .. Golden Retriever!!!

And yes cats.. it's funny because so many people think that cats hard to train.. definitely different than a dog... and more challenging.. but it is amazing what they can learn

LOL ... Cheyenne (TheGoldenRetriever .... R.I.P.) did a perfect "head down" and "head up" ... as well as a "Smile" (she'd pull her lips up with a "Smile" command ... showing her clenched front teeth.)

It's not that people think cats are hard to train ... most think they're impossible to train! Not true. My orange DSH cat Rusty (R.I.P.) did all the basic obedience commands most dogs do. My current Turkish Angora/Himalyan cross Y.T. Cat does those and also a perfect off-leash heel. Turkish Angoras as a breed are particularly easy to train ... very people-oriented and far less independent than cats in general. Most breed descriptions of them say they "think they're dogs" and this seems to be true. Not a common breed though.

I disagree though that cats always work solely for the treat. Just like dogs it depends on their individual personalities. Rusty worked for treats ... and it had to be a either a piece of popcorn or a piece of boiled chicken. For Peanut, a black/white DSH, it had to be a piece of boiled turkey! But Turkish Angora Y.T Cat is NOT food motivated at all, for her it's all about verbal praise and/or physical affection.

 

[adojrts]

off topic, but... Pedigree's new commercials drive me INSANE, I change the channel ( I really do ) until I think they are over..... The sound effects of the dog chewin the bone/food irritate me for some reason.... LOL

Sorry, had to say it.. LOL

Same here, can anyone say mute????? Has anyone seen their commerical with the Jrt? The guy is saying, see? no growling, no snapping, no hiding under the bed...........while the jrt is chewing on the denta bone.

That commerical pissed me off so much I actually sent them a letter and told them it pissed me off and I wanted to know if their product was meant to replace breeding/raising and training a dog properly??

I often wondered if others had also complained because I haven't seen it again lol. And of course I didn't get a response which is what I expected.

Sorry OT.