Cold, Wet and Rainy

This is January in Georgia, so it has been below freezing at night and also wet and soggy during the day. With animal actors, the training doesn't stop. This is where I will work on my commands with my dogs and small animals. It doesn't take much, just a toy, ball or treat. Even for the horses, I will train small moves such as the smile, the look back or any other needed look while cleaning their stall or right before I toss them their hay. I take advantage of every opportunity I can to make my training work. Everything I do well thought out and managed. It is a bit like chess where you have to know the result of a "move" two or three steps down the line so you can prepare or avoid it. Don't train a dog to open a fridge unless you know how to "untrain" it. When someone wants a dog to pick up something specific, like an apple, and give it to the star in the movie, Dogs have teeth and you wouldn't want to eat the apple after the dog picks it up. (Well, I know there are some of you that would) If I have time during pre-production, I will progress the dog to be gentle and really get them to understand that when asked to pick this up they need to be very gentle, so as not to damage the apple. So, it starts with commands to hold and let go and builds to the pick up and give to command so that it becomes a bunch of small tricks turned into one big related trick. I don't want to train the dog that all items need to be picked up gently, just this particular one, as well as not pick up something unless I ask you to.
If I am not given a lot of time for training before the shoot, then we may have to resort to "fake apples" and camera tricks to make it look like the dog picked it up and gave it without any damage, but as a trainer and for the sake of the shot, I want it to look as real as possible. The best way to make it look real is to actually have the dog pick it up and pass it on without any bite marks. The director and the editor will be very happy as you just made his job easier and the film that much more realistic with minimal cuts. This is where animal training becomes an art. You can do it the easy way or take a few moments on those wet, cold days to add a little more to your training and your animal's trick resume.