Performing pets earn their kibble
They aren't Westminster Kennel Club competitors. They don't herd or hunt.
But these canine cuties do work — earning fees from their acting, sitting and, of course, staying.
Wilson, a 78-pound 6-year-old yellow Labrador, earned a quick $100 reward last November when his owner, Linda Arnold of Butler, took him to a photo shoot in Pittsburgh. Not bad for a couple of hours of work.His furry face ended up on a bag of Dad's new All Natural Big Dog Chunx, in stores now."I found the bag in March when I was in Edinboro for agility trials," Arnold recalled. "I was in a store getting some dog biscuits to set out for everybody when I saw it. I knew immediately it was him."She bought only one bag at the time. "I have to get another one," she said, since the one she has is looking dog-eared.
Arnold keeps the bag around for purely sentimental reasons. Neither Wilson nor the Arnolds' other dog, a 12-year-old black Labrador named Zebediah, eat that particular dog food."I emptied the food and gave it to someone whose dog eats that kind of food. I have used Dad's in the past with other dogs. My dogs now are on food for their joints," because Zebediah is older and Wilson participates in agility trials, she said.Driving a dog to Pittsburgh for the photo shoot didn't phase Arnold or her husband, Chris. "These are our children!" she said.Helping Arnold at the photo shoot were Bakerstown dog handlers Cassie Wilson and her husband Sean as well as Sean's father, Tom Wilson, who is now deceased.Tom Wilson created the agency called Animal Talent, representing dogs, cats and other assorted animals. They've handled 8-week-old puppies up to senior dogs."We've met a lot of people because we also have a grooming shop. We've raised Weimaraners and Yorkies; we show dogs and we've done agility with our own dogs," said Cassie Wilson, who also works at the business with Tom's wife, Jan.Getting the dogs to make different expressions for the camera is no different from getting children to pose. It takes toys, food and often a few sets of hands, said Wilson the agent, not the Labrador."We always say the dogs are 'making their food' for that month," she joked.As might be expected, the humans earn a bit more at such jobs, at the least about $500, Wilson said. "It all depends on how many animals are there and what needs to be done," she said. "Some are just the animals sitting and looking pretty and some are getting a dog to ride a bicycle standing on your head."Some pets really do earn their keep, according to Wilson. "It depends on how many jobs they can do, of course," she said.
Two breeds in demand for print and television advertisements are golden retrievers and yellow Labs, she said, noting black Labs don't photograph as well as the yellow variety."Even if it's just that the dog is hanging out in the backyard (in the ad), you can immediately recognize it as the family dog," Wilson said. "There was one Eat 'n Park commercial where the dog was just required to lie under the table."She deals with a lot of mixed breeds, too, in the couple dozen or so jobs she accompanies pets on each year.Most jobs do require the dog to have some obedience training, she noted. "But if you can get them to sit and stay, that's usually good enough."Still, she always takes a backup dog along, just in case. "You never know when a dog might be camera-shy. Dogs have bad days just like people."Photo shoots can take minutes to hours, but "when it becomes no fun for the dog, it's break time," she said.Being able to screen prospects is a necessary skill for an animal agent, said Wilson, a 10-year veteran of the field. "You have to know what is going to be expected of the animal."There was a commercial once that needed more action. "It was for Austin's carpet cleaner and the dog had to run across the carpet. It was cute. It was a Jack Russell terrier named Daisy. You can get a lot of expression from Jack Russells."Wilson the Labrador has a portfolio now, containing print articles about him, and some professional portraits — mostly action shots from agility trials. Arnold said she did the first photo shoot just for fun, but is open to more such events."I thought it was kind of a unique situation, a fun opportunity. It's fun knowing that our dog 'made the bag!'"There was an e-mail recently from the company that makes Milkbone. "My dogs have been on Milkbone since they were little. They have great teeth," Arnold said."They wanted to know what tricks he does, if he would jump in a swimming pool," but both dog and owner would have had to be available over a three-day period and Arnold said it just didn't work out.Wilson's original big break came when his litter mate Cove from Bakerstown, who has worked at a variety of appearances, couldn't make it to that photo shoot in November. So her owner called Arnold. Cove incidentally has been featured on Econ-O-Mets dog food bags.Look for Wilson's face on the front of a big green bag of dog food. A full-body photo of him is on the back of the bag.Said Arnold, "I look at it every time I'm in the store!"
Lisa Edwards of Butler Township could surround herself with published photos of her cavalier King Charles spaniel named Louie. The black, white and tan dog that looks somewhat like a cocker spaniel once won a Mighty Dog contest to be featured on a calendar. He's also graced the pages of a Mighty Dog magazine.In those cases, Edwards sent in her own photographs of Louie.Not only has Louie been published, but like any professional, he has many letters after his name, including CD (companion dog), CGC (canine good citizen), TT (temperament test), and TDI (therapy dog international).The 9-year-old doesn't practice any of his jobs anymore. King Louie is spending his retirement ruling at home with Willie, a sheltie, and Gus, a Burnese mountain dog.
Besides still photos, dogs are needed as actors in theater plays, too.Toni Tassey's dogs have been in musical theater and opera productions. Her terrier Flash has filled the role of Sandy the dog in "Annie" once for Moniteau High School and twice for Sing Hosanna! shows. He was also in a Sing Hosanna! production of "Oliver.""The Sing Hosanna! shows he did off-leash, but the Moniteau one they didn't want to. I don't know why, but it was probably just as well, because the kids really liked him but they would get him all excited and he would bark at them," Tassey said.Flash had a little help remembering to run to the character Annie. "She had a tin cup like she was drinking water," Tassey recalled. "We put bologna and cheese in there and he went right to her."Tassey's other three dogs are dachshunds, two of which were part of the cast for a Pittsburgh Opera production. Actually, only one of them, Echo, was in the show. The other, Gidget, was her understudy."I thought 'Does a dog really need an understudy?'" Tassey said recently. "But then one time we were leaving the theater and there were some chicken bones lying on the ground, and I thought if Echo had gotten hold of those it would have been bad. She could have been sick."
The audition for that show consisted of Echo leaving the room — and the comfort of Tassey's presence — to walk with a stranger, the actress she would be walking with onstage. Some of the performers also sang "Happy Birthday" operatically to make sure the dog wouldn't be startled by a loud noise, Tassey recalled.Like a good stage mom, Tassey drove to Pittsburgh for all the rehearsals five nights a week for six weeks. "It was a lot, but I would do it again."The pay for the part was a flat $100. "When we started out, I didn't even know they were going to do that," she said.One of her fondest memories from the opera show happened on the final night."We were allowed to use the (orchestra's) maestro's office after he had gone out to conduct each evening. Well, he didn't like dogs, but on the last night I looked out and saw him holding the dog at the end of the show. I thought, 'He's going to have dog hair all over him!'"Despite his job onstage, Echo eneded up performing the role most natural to his species: friend.
