There is a short film being shot here in the Yukon right now.
A few months ago, I was contacted looking for a trained dog to play the co-star role in the short film. I offered my Shepherd, but they said it wasn't the "look" they were going for, assuming Ironhide was a large Shepherd that they are used to seeing. They chose another dog; 11 year old, retired sled dog, no prior obedience and was a rescue, so lacked socialization.
I had come on board as the training "consultant" and was tasked with teaching the dog to hold/carry, bark on cue, target and recall to a whistle. We ONLY had 4 weeks to do this. I was very honest when I said that his insecurity may become an issue, no matter how well he knows the behaviors, he may not be able to work through it. It was definitely asking a lot of this sweet old guy.
Right away on day one it was very apparent that the poor guy was completely overwhelmed. He had learned every behavior in the short amount of time, he is a super smart dog, but he couldn't handle the stress of the set, camera and crew. By the end of day one, he was tired and stressed, not at all what we want for the dog.
Ironhide was always deemed the "understudy", so on day 2 of filming, we tried one scene with the original dog and one scene with her. I didn't practice anything with her, thinking for sure the other dog would be fine. But this girl totally pulled it off! So it was decided that Ironhide would take the starring role as the dog (there is only 1 actor and 1 dog in the short film).
As a trainer, I am so amazed at the new challenges we have encountered in setting up scenes to get the behaviors they are looking for. Monday, we shot all of Ironhide's scenes, PLUS re-shot all of the original dogs scenes. We were on set from 8:30am - 7:00pm with a one hour lunch. And STILL at the end of filming all Ironhide wanted was to play ball and then eat dinner. I can count on one hand the number of dogs I have met who could stay focused, on cue and alert for that amount of time.
She has been an absolute joy to work with on this project - the director is very happy and that she definitely fits the part. He was originally worried she was a very big dog (he met her son who is 90 lbs), when she is only 58 lbs.
Here are a few photos of her on set:
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/zCCJg3k6BnTbazRrR5ojbDKA5QylOJGUmDfz65BQJLkjQ1rbEsOq27V_UOSpMGCF4Svqc_KsFbSbzeJS8DGlUA_zpsabd7jogh.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/YBby0ik7TJbvi9zopr1EOB31DByKUUbNm8w0Hj1ljGs7CQJIaZimAsCJyNKWjVqeR0oSUpN5XYkIT_Xbcr7_QQ_zpsbppr89l5.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/Xw6CUkF4UXeriWWGZ0XN0ouTpbVHRMP5MNwrH1dFMXoiouN7d5x9A7Hf7iui-VFsEGx-FvIf_RHp32Ay3CqFqw_zpsarrmnhnf.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/TOXQswezjjBcWiSXHHm5kWs5u2xqS-kC80g-Qk8PO-wqopVNxvITZWXtn8iy70-Alsb_zGPpUlJpw9FZOqQRuk_zpsadjuxnv7.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/P6Mr-ORRDYK-W9P85XC7tTFxC8f2k3nLcoCR-_e0SWQhQVXjIPyJG_TYKDUHgp-FOmdVWiLZa8M7ydv49PUNUM_zps5bcybj07.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/OiYLIcQ4kkPajGEMSvBIxcEhmmFADaDfGC726_I2J3QDAqaw2t-ABgvX6jO-yFoJt01pXNprk-j3hVDSvbCjZM_zpsumxsgrt7.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/hcJTsNapkwf7V8LHEwJaQObwecj8CTGdgRDAnTqrahkLJdoD0I5rUOQCv5KsjacP2k_ymJYknwfW9LwuzNfG18_zps5tzh4o2v.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/FcYcSNuIuWbwQYIWcaxNZAPjBI4OR1DPPX-JpSgZc583fV_1t61Wyf3abGQ_AaitkfmwHekDsOtfDYvCz4I9iw_zpsak6etze5.jpg
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q632/Ironhidekennels/3pn2mKBJ-W4-Aj-UPDQgUaycj3yz10jzzY4W4ePteogPr7B3MqqYiHvcmi2jRwqhVMMFOKU2Kx4fjiXCfjdBxo_zpsi1pbudra.jpg
My movie star!
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Very glad you got so Pro-Active in sparing your dear old rescue K9 from Unnecessary stress!
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