Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Like mother, like son, like mother

I just got back from taking Kinsey for a photo shoot. She's done commercial work before, and so has her son Gus. This is the first "job" she's had in over a year, and it was probably the easiest photo shoot I've ever done*. She just had to pose with a big folding crate, and it took maybe 15 minutes...not counting, of course, the hour or so we waited while they set things up! But she was an angel as always, very patient and sweet. They wanted her to sit half in and half out of the crate, which of course is not a natural position for a dog - normally they're either in or out, they don't usually stop halfway. But she willingly stayed, and if the photographer wanted her angled differently ("Could you shift her rear this way a little?... a little more? Now scoot her rear forward.... Perfect!") I just crawled partway into the crate with her and pushed her around or moved her feet, and she stayed perfectly wherever I placed her. As one of the onlookers - there are always lots of people present at these things, assistants and clients and who know what else - said, "She's very malleable!" :-)

Her picture will be used on the box... so if you see a Pet Mate Giant-sized brand black wire folding crate, with two doors (one in the side as well as the one in the end) and a Great Dane on the box, you'll know who it is!

It's a nice crate by the way - very stable for a folding crate, and wider than most crates that size which makes it more comfortable for a dog to turn around. I was hoping to get one for our payment for the day, but no such luck.

In case you're wondering, these things do not pay well - often not enough to compensate you for taking a half day off work. And there are no royalties. It's different of course if the animal is a professional actor on a sitcom or in a major movie or something, but for this type of thing it's all about vanity - it's just a lot of fun to see your dog in an ad, or on TV!

*I'll tell you later about some other commercials I've done with our dogs that weren't so easy!

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