Click here to see the finished commercial.
Carrie Silva Wooddell owns an animal acting agency and has trained numerous dogs for commercials, magazines, and movies. This dog was trained to assist in a Kahlua commercial in New York City. This unique breed of dog is called a Chinese Crested Dog. It is a hairless breed of dog and comes in 2 varieties, with and without fur. The Kahlua producers had a specific picture in mind for the shoot and contacted Carrie at The Doghouse LLC in Pinellas Park, Florida. A previous graduate of The Full-Service Training named Piper, the female Crested, was a perfect fit for the job! We sent a few pictures and short video clips so that the commercial producers could get a feel for her personality. Piper was able to fly in the cabin with Carrie and flew into NY the day before the scheduled shot. Being a dog actor can be quite stressful, so making sure that the dog has the right personality for being around crowds of people, repeating behaviors many times for the perfect shot, and being well mannered to hang out on set without getting in the way is very important. Piper definitely has all of these qualities and became a big hit on and off the set.
If you are interested in having your dog trained for movies or commercials, obedience training is the first step. These dogs must love to learn new commands and tricks. It is important that they have the right personality for the job and a unique look also helps. They have to have a rock-solid temperament because many moving parts are being on the set, such as; cameras in their faces, different actors handling them sometimes, long days, changing environments, and lots of traveling. We love the challenge of teaching dogs complex skills for movie scenes. It is also fun to watch all the people on set get to know and interact with the dogs.
