Due to my part-time training in acting, I have been familiar with film and advertising photography for several years. In Los Angeles, I've also often watched animal actors and their trainers at work and so I was planning to do that with my own dog as a hobby.
It is important that the dog for film or advertising shots does not have to be able to do the classic tricks, but is trained to appear as if it were playing or acting in everyday situations. In dog training in particular, it is necessary for the dog to accept commands at a distance and, for example, to be able to send them to a target. It is also helpful if the dog can look for a target. For this I started with Bijou when I was a few weeks old and she learned it at breakneck speed.
The commercial with Großspitz Bijou
But it is just as important that the dog can handle the hustle and bustle and many people on the set. It should also not bother you if a camera is following you or coming towards you or panning. Bijou remained extremely relaxed, was very courageous, fearless and showed a very high tolerance for frustration. Perseverance and being able to persevere is also often the order of the day when shooting a film, since the schedule is usually not adhered to, as is often the case with us, and then overtime has to be worked, in which there are still long waiting times because of the set conversion one self are included.
Bijou also excelled here in that she remained patient and was still very approachable even during overtime and did her job, which is by no means a matter of course for even experienced animal actors. For a photographer, Bijou and I were even allowed to stand together in front of the camera in the summer of 2021, which complicated the work for me as a trainer and actress on the one hand, but was also not a problem with the intelligent Bijou.
Guest contribution: Nicola Türk
Photos: photo-sorko.at, Nicola Türk