(NOT) Camera Shy

When Doc Marose asked the Basic Obedience (Intermediate) fresh grads if we were up to participate in a morning news feature, I gotta admit, I wanted to get Odie to try it out. I've always been curious as to how it feels to make a dog work his charms for the camera outside of doing homework videos. Sure, I know that dog actors for TV and film have humans nearby to coach them. In Legally Blonde: The Musical, I love how Bruiser barks and hops on to Margot upon being given hand signals. But like I said, I wanted to experience it hands on so I really REALLY know what it's like. I was also looking for a way to celebrate Odie's ninth month birthday and since this is new to both of us, I confirmed attendance for Friday morning and got all excited!

Three months til his birthday! Yipes! Time flies!

We successfully beat morning traffic and made it before 8:00, only to find Doc, Lovely, and Buzz hanging out. I figured the TV crew would arrive at least an hour late because it's always been like that, but I went before the call time anyway. I was also told that the whole thing would last for just an hour, but I made a rough estimate that it would take at least four. I was right after all.

Doc spent idle time asking us questions and playing with the puppies. As usual, Odie was expecting treats and play time the whole time because he's not so familiar with the concept of rest. When the TV crew arrived, Lovely, Buzz, Odie and I were left in the court for a while because Doc did the interview in the park across the street. I guess it's safe to say Odie missed being in school in a chill setting, in the company of teacher and a classmate. I let him run around the place a few times and it was such a pleasant surprise to see him running towards me when I shouted his name. I didn't expect amazing recall! I hope we get to practice that more. Because we were bored and were not at all under pressure, Lovely and I also had the time to exchange stories and marvel at how Odie was looking around whenever I tethered him to clean his mess. He would look from side to side, at the ceiling, it looked like he was doing a security inspection of sorts and it was funny to just watch him!

Play time with teacher! Also, obviously, I grabbed
every chance I could to take photos.

When the interview ended, Doc and the crew went back inside the court to get a few shots of us training puppies, and Doc giving verbal cues, among other shots they wanted. The cameraman set up his huge tripod which made quite a bit of noise. It startled Buzz so he started barking. When he started barking, Odie looked at Buzz, then at the tripod, and started howling! I swear he just goes with the flow. Even in our neighborhood, he only howls when other dogs are barking. It's like he doesn't have a clue of what the barking's all about, but he'll join in anyway and add his howl to the ensemble. Weirdo! His howl sounds pretty good though, to be honest. It's like a rich baritone. I wish I could teach him to sing.

Post sniffing the camera setup and the new friends, Buzz and Odie were unstoppably amazing! We did sits and downs on different cones which was too easy. Then I did heeling with Odie and his little poodle prance which went surprisingly smooth. We even went past the tripod and he handled it with such ease and confidence that I never thought would come from him. After a while, the crew asked Doc to give Odie a couple of verbal cues (sit, down, roll over, beg, shake). Doc was hesitant to do it because Odie might not follow the cues given by a different voice. I, however, wanted to take photos because I'm quite the stage parent, so I insisted to let Doc work her magic. It literally took seconds for Odie to recognize the cues and did everything perfectly!

There's my little boy (featuring Buzz's place bed)!

We did a few more shots before calling it a day. Buzz got tired after a while and chose to just relax. Odie doesn't know how to relax so Doc kept on getting Odie to follow whatever instructions they were given. But we also came to a point when Odie wasn't thinking anymore and was doing actions based on stock knowledge. Doc did some more shots with the segment host while we stayed in the park because the host's character voice (is that what it's called for TV people too?) caused Buzz to bark and Odie to tilt his head from side to side.

The dogs were pooped when the shoot ended! I knew Odie was tired when he kept lying down on the bleachers whenever it wasn't his turn. But when he was being filmed, it was pretty quick for him to be the eager beaver show off that he is. No wonder Doc has made him the class demo dog. He's really just a hungry puppy who will work for food.

We spent some down time at the park before parting ways. Upon getting home, Odie quickly transferred to his wire crate and was knocked out til late afternoon. He must have been really tired! I'm sure he had lots of fun though. I seriously didn't know we'd be doing things like this in Pet Centrics, doing TV spots on a day's notice!

Doc kept on thanking me, Lovely, and the puppies for participating in this "extra-curricular activity" but personally, the pleasure's all mine. Thinking about it, it was pretty easy to get Odie comfortable with doing things in front of the camera. He could totally rock doing short films, thesis films, whatever would or could use a happy, crazy, obedient beagle. We sure could use some treats and/or accessories as compensation! Or if Odie would earn cash from it, it's definitely gonna be all his! I'm going to spend it all on his education, vet bills, monthly doses of Frontline and Heartgard, kibble, treats, toys, and maybe some of the things in Odie's wish list. Oh my dog, I sound like a parent!

Yesterday's activity was a great way to spend Odie's 9th month. I can't wait for more new adventures! Sigh. This puppy has given me too much happiness, he's turning me into a nice human!