Fenway the Animal Actor!

A few years ago, my border collie Fenway shot 2 commercials for Pedigree DentaStix to promote Bark Week.

I just received a note about an NPR podcast about animal actors that featured Fen's agent, Carol Rosen. Here's the link to the podcast. Scroll down to see Carol and Fen shaking paws!
whyy.org/segments/can-dogs-really-act-or-is-it-all-an-illusion/

And here are videos of the original commercials



This commercial was really easy for Fen because he's a trained obedience (UD) and agility (Masters level) dog. Sit, stay, down, leave it (don't touch the DentaStix until I give the cue!) were used. At the last minute, the director wanted Fen to run around a kitchen island and then charge ahead to the actor holding the DentaStix. Fen has great agility distance skills and verbals so that came in handy. I was just off camera and gave the "Go 'round" verbal that he knows from doing backside jumps. The rest was history! Since Fen isn't an overly kissy dog, I solved that problem with a jar of peanut butter. The actor's cheek was rubbed with that tastiness and
Fen slurped away like he was in love! LOL

I was so proud of Fen that day. He had to remain calm and in place while the cameraman was on a dolly and coming towards him. He never flinched. And he nailed all his scenes on the first take, making for a very happy crew who got to go home early!

Moral of the story: Fen is my first trained dog and my competition dog. If I can do it, you can, too. Take classes, train diligently with love and never quit believing in yourself or your dog.