Disco Dogs' Media Diary

PDSA

2011-07-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Clee's first job, I was a little worried about how he might behave but was pretty sure he would be a good boy. I wasn't wrong, he was fab, he literally has just turned 6 months.

Mark came to the shoot to give me a hand and it was really helpful to have another pair of hands. Clee was a star, we did some shots with him sitting on my lap which he was more than happy to settle down to. Then moved on with some of him next to presents, he wasn't really interested in his food and clicker so we resorted to toys and a laser pointer which he worked fine for - occassionally wanting to go and explore! We did some shots of him playing with a toy they wanted and some of him posing. It was a shame as we wrapped just as he started to tune into his clicker and was being really good then, but it wasn't a problem as he had worked fine for the toys.

Everybody loved him and said how calm and relaxed and friendly he was. He really didn't bat an eyelid at anything, I would really like him to do more as he was very good.

Here he is when we stopped at the services and let him out of his carrier for a wander:

Pedigree Dentastix

2010-02-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a posting on Facebook I found out they were looking for a crossbreed for the new Pedigree Dentastix ad and of course I thought how good Diz would be. I was over the moon they picked her, at almost 11 years old she still looks great and her teeth in fab condition.

So we arrived just outside Manchester at 7:30am!! Had a lovely breakfast though - bacon and egg roll mmmm. Then we moved onto location where they had a mobile groomer on set, Diz loved being pampered, she whined in ecstasy at being blow dried!!

I always like to find a spot for Dizzy to settle her down as soon as we get there because it is a long tiring day so if she can have somewhere to chill then it makes it a lot easier. I had forgotten how good she is to work with, I would ask her to settle in her spot and leave her to go to the loo and she didn't move a muscle. I even walked back into the kitchen to find someone tempting her with a treat but she was not moving from the spot she had been left in, she is soooo good!

Set was in the kitchen and was basically just a mat on the floor! They basically filmed her playing tuggy with me all day from different angles. The only thing Diz and I struggle with is what you would think to be the easiest shot, I dread the words from the director 'I just want to see some love between you and the dog.' Diz just is not interested in fuss when she is working, she wants to be doing things and always looks so depressed when having cuddles! Still they managed to get what they wanted I just feel it is always hard work.

The last shot was the most complex of the day and by this time it was 4:30pm and Diz was getting tired, but as soon as I started asking for more from her she seemed to get her second wind!! So it was Dizzy walking onto the mat holding a tuggy, stopping before camera, sitting and then dropping the tuggy. I think this was her favourite part of the day, oh apart from the doggie chocolate bone treats she had lol!

She really enjoyed the day and we didn't really have any waiting round, on the go constantly so for an 11 yr old she did superbly, she did sleep well that night! Here she is crashed out catching 40 winks on set

Burgess Supadog

2009-10-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

urgess have released a new dog food which is a casserole, it uses freeze dried pieces of real beef which expand when hot water is added and turns into a gravy and looks just like a beef casserole! So to launch this they were having a video day and they want to promote agility so I was invited to train a celeb and their dog to do agility.

We arrived at the hotel late Wednesday night and settled down for the night, they provided Emz with a bed and a bowl.

Next morning we went off to shoot the video. Met Jeremy Edwards and his dog Molly. She was a great little dog and was a complete natural at agility. Jeremy and I did some chat about agility for camera then I did a demo with Ember (there was a tunnel, weaves and jump from one of those little home sets). Then we taught Molly to do each bit of equipment, we were lucky as she loved her food so she was dead easy to train to do it. We did a summary and that was that done, we probably started at about 11am and went on till about 2pm. Having to stop for the usual aeroplane going over, people clip clopping in high heels etc etc. Back at the studio we filmed me mixing the food and feeding it to Emz and also we both sat on the sofa and I had to feed her treats for camera.

It was a great day, Emz was absolutely shattered at the end of it. I had taken the car as it is so much more easy to drive round London.

Italian Bank

2009-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today it was going to be Cas as the production company had seen her from her Goldfrapp video, however they advised us there would be lots of people and children dancing so I decided Ember was probably the better of the two.

So off we went to London, got there for 10am and didn't get called till 6pm, Ember was having a great time as she befriended to young boys to play with all the time. Ember is not one for laying down and conserving her energy, she is on the go all the time though by the time we were called she was starting to get a bit tired and when she's tired she gets quite reactive to things such as noises etc.

As soon as we got to London I was put in costume, I had been beginning to wonder what this would be and when I arrived to see mini skirts I almost had a heart attack, but luckily they dressed me in something more suitable. I have to say working a dog in a dress is a little strange - I had no pockets for clicker, target stick, treats etc. Kay took this piccie of me dressed up!

So anyway onto Ember, we took her on set when called and rehearsed a bit with her and she was great if a little noisy and excitable as finally she was getting to work! Then the dancers came in and they were dancing so close to her, kicking their legs and waving their arms she got a bit freaked out and wouldn't stay at a distance as she was worried. So she did some work close to me then the dancers were stopped and she did some stuff at a distance. She was very good considering she had had a long boring day.

Unfortunately they never used the scene Emz was in, here's the commercial:

Citroen Shoot

2009-02-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Diz had some work today in Wimbledon. Typically it was the worst day ever to travel! I woke up to a blanket of snow and I thought once out of our lane the roads would be fine, nope so surely the main road into the village - nope again, main Shifnal A-road would be clear - no again, at this stage I couldn't believe the state of the roads and almost got stuck up the hill out of the village twice, the wheel was just spinning at one point! Well the main road to the motorway would be gritted and no again, 5 miles I travelled to get to the motorway and I didn't get out of 3rd gear! The motorways were horrendous, the outside lane was just covered in snow, I couldn't believe the amount of cars in ditches on the M40, a snow plough travelling in the opposite direction - quite surreal. Anyway we got there spot on 10am.

Had a lovely hot bap for breakfast, didn't do anything before lunch as they were packing the car and getting the set up perfect - it was a nice C3 Picasso. Braised beef for lunch and we didn't actually get Diz on set till 4pm. Shot various different positions with her lying in the car with chin up and down, sitting up and then some of her sitting by the car, looking in to the car and looking towards camera. She was good as gold and had stayed on her bed in the studio all day, she's such a chilled out dog, so easy to work with. We left at 6pm and got home about 10pm.

Kali Cat - Audition

2009-01-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

Kali did her first ever bit of stills work today and I was worried that she might freak out at the flash. Well she didn't and she was so good, she was better behaved than the dogs were at their last shoot! We went down to Hammersmith for the audition and will find out soon whether she has been picked.

Mary Ann's Book Shoot

2008-10-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

Mary Ann Nester has written a HTM/Canine Freestyle book and she invited me and the rowdy rabble to the photo shoot. Diz was up first and was a star as usual, did some paw over nose and chin on ground/chair work etc. she was thrilled to be in front of the camera again - such a show off! Then up was Ember who was doing jumping into my arms which she thoroughly enjoyed and was generally accompanied by noise! Rum up next who did heel position and round the handler and finally paw over nose in a down - he has always been really nervous at a photo shoot and I was so pleased today as he started off quite wary off the flash sound but really relaxed towards the end - good lad. Finally Cas who did all sorts of moves and she would not shut up she was soooo wound up - doesn't bode well for the Crufts Semis.

Anyway a good day and thanks to Mary Ann who invited us!

ITV??

2008-09-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today I had a researcher from ITV come over and interview me and film the dogs doing freestyle and tricks. Then we went over to Lees and she filmed a bit of them doing some agility but couldn't get much footage as it was a bit wet and windy! They are looking to commission a documentary on people and their dogs which sounds like a really good idea but they're still in the research stages and compiling footage of different 'doggie' people. Fingers crossed it gets the go ahead and they like the dogs' tricks :-)

Animals At Work

2008-07-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

I performed a display with Cas at The Wag & Bone Show and held a freestyle masterclass. We had arranged to meet up with someone from the BBC as they were interested in the dogs' tricks.

At the end of a long day Cas was asked to play basketball again and again, bless her she worked so hard and I could see her age showing - she tires much quicker these days.

Then Rum was asked to skip and he was a star, still a bit distracted but we performed some good skips - I normally trip over the rope lol!!

The show will be shown on CBBC I believe and is a series of programmes on clever animals.

Diz - Dogs Trust

2008-05-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Diz was supposed to be the main story telling dog but it was so hot she was panting and they didn't like the panting so they decided to use a different dog for the main dog which I thought was a little daft but hey!

So all we did on day one is eat from the nicest catering van ever! Then at the end of the day they filmed Diz and I playing frisbee and her running through a tunnel. Mary Ann was filming too with Frostie and we were at the same hotel so had a late dinner and turned in as we were late getting back.

Somehow we managed to wind our way into central London the next day and neither of us had sat nav so resorted to the good old fashioned map! It was another blazing hot day and Dizzy's scene was in a high rise block of apartments. She had to cower under a table and walk back under a blanket, really short shot but it seemed to take ages as they were changing the position of the table and the table cloth so many times. But Diz was perfect and we got it done.

Cas - Goldfrapp

2008-03-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Cas was used on Goldfrapp's music video for their new song - Happiness. The whole video is themed around people being happy and bouncing round the streets. They wanted a dog on it's back legs doing the same, that's where Cas came in!

They started by having Cas on her back legs by my side at the front of a crowd of people bouncing along, but Cas wasn't fast enough on her back legs, getting mown down by everyone else going quickly! So they then had her ahead of everyone else and joining in once the crowd had stopped. Trouble was it was difficult to get across the road as they were all dancing. So they did some filming of her crossing the road on her back legs by herself at the end which was better as there was nobody to bump into hee hee!

UPDATE:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtM3aI1M-Q

Rum - Anthony Cotton

2007-09-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

Had a phone call regarding the above show and they were interested in using Diz (skateboarding), Cas (playing basketball) and Rum (skipping). However I couldn't get anyone to go up to Manchester with me to hold the other two so they decided they liked skipping best and so it had to be Rum.

I was worried as to how he would react after last week and he has only been skipping for a week or so.

Rehearsal was at 11pm and we were second on, he freaked again and just wanted to run but they were really good and after rehearsal let me spend a bit of time practicing and getting him used the environment and we got a couple of good skips.

Had some lunch from the cafe and Rum and I chilled for a bit in the dressing room. At about 2pm we were called to do the real thing. I was so nervous as I could see him running a mile. As we walked on I lost his attention for a minute but I got him back and after a couple of attempts (mostly my fault as my hands were shaking and I dropped the rope!!) we got a good skip - I hope they show that one!

He was really good though and reveled the attention from everyone, they were all really down to Earth including Nicky Chapman, Antony Cotton and the guy that plays Ounslow (Keeping Up Appearances).

Show is to be aired Thursday 10th September at 5pm on ITV1.

PDSA Photo Shoot

2007-08-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Went to Northamptonshire on a photo shoot for PDSA. Started off with Diz and got some shots of her lying down, sitting, doing paw, chin etc. Then we brought Ember in and did similar shots. Rum was last in and we got a couple of shots then he decided to totally freak out, ever since some feedback from the speakers at KC Festival he has become quite nervous of loud sounds. Tried to relax him but he just didn't want to know. So we just had some group shots of Ember and Diz together, sitting and lying down. They were perfectly behaved.

Diz - Co-op Shoot

2007-07-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Diz attended a photo shoot for Co-Op bank today. She will be featured on an advertising campaign for savings accounts.

They did some shots of her looking to camera, holding a ring frisbee, holding a disc frisbee, holding a lead, holding a ball and holding a rubber bone. She also did paw and touch tap as well as lying with her chin down. They had pencilled in 3 hours but Diz was done in half the time, she was as good as gold.

Japanese Television

2007-06-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday 15th I had a group of people who were filming for a type of clever animals show in Japan. They came to East of England Showground as I was there at RVA agility show.

It was very difficult to start with as the famous Japanese actress couldn't speak much English so there was someone translating from behind the camera. Very hard to look as though you are talking to her but listen to the person behind camera translate, but I got used to it towards the end and it became quite easy.

They filmed Cas playing basketball and then performing her Cotton Eye Joe routine and finally riding her skateboard.

They also filmed Diz and Rum getting out of the van and they both sat there and did paw for the camera, it was very sweet and the Japanese loved it. Finally they filmed Diz tucking herself in, which was probably their favourite of them all.

They also did some faceshots with Cas and Diz just looking to camera.

Diz - Short Film

2007-04-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Diz and I went down to Hertfordshire yesterday evening and got back this morning to take part in a short film that will be shown at a film festival.

Quite quick & easy, she had to stand in the road and look towards a car coming towards her then backing away.

Next scene she had to lie 'dead' in the road as if she had been run over. She had fake blood poured over her which she didn't like to start with, but got over that and lay flat.

That was it, she did it perfectly so we were done and dusted quickly

Diz - Amazing Animals

2007-04-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

Diz and I took a trip down to Banbury to film for the above programme, it will be shown when you press the red button.

We started off with her sitting and looking to camera so they can put a voiceover on it. Might sound easy but with cows mooing and geese walking past there were quite a lot of distractions.

Then she was filmed lying in front of a pig pen looking to camera.

Right in front of the cows she was filmed looking at them as if she were talking to them, she was very close and they were eating the hay from behind her, she was a bit nervous to start with but was soon reassured. She then had to exit the scene.

A bale of straw was put on a trailer so she could sit on it and look down to camera.

Into the barn next to the sheep and Dizzy sat looking to camera and did some twists and then lay down as if she was exhausted.

They then filmed her skateboarding through the farmyard which she thoroughly enjoyed.

The next scene sees Dizzy crawling along towards some horses and hiding behind a hay bale. They did quite a few shots of this one at different angles.

Next to the geese she was filmed looking to camera and the geese walked past.

The final scene saw Dizzy picking up the camera tape box and giving it to the sound man.

All in all a good day, Diz coped really well considering she has never been that close to farm animals and all the nice smells. This should be shown the last week in April and I think will look really good as we got a lot done.

UPDATE:

Cas - Britains Got Talent

2007-03-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Well I went for the first audition for 'Britain's Got Talent' three weeks ago and had a phone call last week to say I got through to the second round.

So off we went to Manchester yesterday, got there at 1pm and didn't get on stage till 7pm!! I was quite annoyed as Cas was the only dog there so they should have put her on early. Still she was okay and had fun playing with her pink furry pig lol.

Did some interviews for ITV2 and for ITV1, met Ben Shepherd (sp?) and Ant & Dec.

I was performing 'Cotton Eye Joe' as it is a bit more interesting and upbeat than 'In The Mood.' We did some practice in the holding room and she was fine. I was worried she might be a bit wide on her backward weave but nothing else could go wrong (or so I thought).

We were about to go on stage when they had a little break so we had a chat to Ant & Dec and I put some paw spray on Cas as the surface looked a little slippy. We got on stage and had a chat to Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden. Then given the cue to start, off we went. Anyone who knows Cas will know how focussed she is on me when performing and World War 3 could start and she would still perform, what happened next I could never, ever have imagined happen.

She did her first jump, started the backward weaves and then the beat in the music changed and the speakers were facing in to us, she totally freaked out, the noise was so loud. I tried so hard to coax her into doing some moves, we moved to the back away from the speakers and I managed to get a little out of her but nothing much at all, I wonder whether she could hear me as well as I was having to really shout over the music. Needless to say we didn't get through.

I feel so awful I put her through it, if I had known how she was going to react I would never have done it. The judges said she was the best they had seen so far, if they had a better surface and the speakers didn't scare the dogs then all the others would have probably performed too.

She has been in studios, at Country Fairs, Crufts etc. So it's not something we would have ever, ever imagined happening. I don't care that we're not through, I wouldn't have wanted to put her through it again anyway. Just feel awful that she had to go through it. As she loves her canine freestyle, she was fine though afterwards and was happy to get back to her pink pig

Meeting Ant & Dec was fab. But I know now that she will never be able to do anything like that, studios and Country Fairs etc. fine but the music was just far too loud and it had to be for all the audience to hear, so theatres are a no go.

And I know that if ever anything like this comes up again on stage it needs to be a really really laid back dog, I think Rum or Diz would be fine. I know Ember would probably yap at the speaker as she has done that at Crufts when we were sitting watching lol. So if ever you think about entering something like this, just think twice. I think the BBC1 show would be fine as it is only a studio, but this is in a theatre. Bear it in mind.

Oh and we weren't allowed to take pictures either!

Here she is back home with her pink pig

Kali - CBBC Angellica

2007-02-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

Kali cat & I went down to London, aboard the Golden Hinde! Where she was filmed doing various bits and bobs for a slavery drama to be featured on BBC1 during March at 5pm.

Kali was filmed walking over the gang plank towards camera.
Then filmed playing with some marbles.
She then had to walk up to some chains.
We got her to sharpen her paws a bit on some rope.
Walking through a doorway towards camera.
Finally she was filmed sitting on a cloth, looking relaxed.

UPDATE
This was shown 26.03.2007 - Angellica: Time Travel on BBC1.

Cas - Homemade

2006-11-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

I've just had a researcher from the above programme come round to film Cas doing her Cotton Eye Joe freestyle routine.

She was a bit gobby the first time we performed it, it's hard to work with her when she's like that! So we did it a second time and filmed some close ups and a third time for a different angle. He also filmed her playing basketball and skateboarding though whether they use that I don't know as it was a freestyle routine they wanted.

UPDATE -

Shown Saturday 10th February 2007 on Channel 4 - they dubbed out Cotton Eye Joe and put Steps '5, 6, 7, 8' over it.

Diz/Kali - Nickelodeon

2006-10-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Up early to go down to London with Kali cat and Dizzy dog. A little nervous as to whether Kali cat will behave as I have not done anything with her before. The filming is for some little sketches in between programmes, cartoon characters living in a real world so there will be animated characters in the finished product as well as the animals.

Diz was up first and she did some skateboarding as well as various tricks - rollover, paw, creep etc. She found it difficult as the floor was very slippy so they put a rug down for her.
They then filmed a hamster running in his wheel.

Next up was Kali cat, I had got her out a bit before she was due to be filmed to get her used to the enviroment. She was fine, going up to everyone bunting them, rolling on the rug, totally wasn't phased. She had to run down the stairs towards camera. The first time she stopped to look at someone through the bannister rails, so we got them to move. After that she was good as gold and came running to me for the bit of ham. They wanted her running quicker so I called and called and she zoomed down the stairs. 'It's a wrap.'

Can't wait to see the finished product when the cartoon charaters are put in with the animals.

UPDATE I love it!:

Diz - Grange Hill

2006-07-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

What a hot day! Temperatures topped 32C. Dizzy was kept in the shade with plenty of water while the crew set up.

Scene 1 – Dizzy is standing by a kennel barking at camera, she then runs past camera slowly to start with then quicker as she nears the camera. We did this about 5 times as they wanted different camera angles.

Scene 2 – Dizzy waits by the kennel and she chases a boy down the track a fair distance.

Scene 3 – Dizzy has to run up to a boy and girl who are chatting. This I have to say was the most difficult, the first couple of times she wasn’t sure who to go with as the crew were everywhere too. But she got the hang of it. Went over to them, he picked her lead up and they ran off together down the track.

That ends our filming for Grange Hill. Not yet sure when it will be shown, Diz enjoyed every minute of it.

UPDATE:

Diz - Grange Hill

2006-06-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

We travelled up to Liverpool bright and early (5:45am!) and arrived for some breakie, I had a large coffee! We then went on to our first location.

Scene 1 - Dizzy chases a boy down an alley. I stood behind camera ready to call Diz and Jodie held her at the top of the alley round the corner. The boy had a head start then Diz was released, she did it perfectly, they did a couple more shots trying out different release times. Then they did a close up of Diz running by herself and then recorded her paws ‘pitter pattering’ on the tarmac.

Scene 2 - Diz has to chase the boy across the road, onto the pavement and round a corner. Again Jodie held Diz out of sight while the boy had a head start. This was a bit more difficult as I didn’t want Diz to run diagonally across the road, she needed to run across and onto the pavement. So the first time I signalled her over and after that she knew what to do! She realised she had to chase the boy so she ended up doing that and didn’t need me there, she thought it was a great game and as soon as they said ‘action’ she was raring to go!

Scene 3 - Back at the studios, Diz chases boy through a fence. Diz had to run out through a hole in the fence, through a bush, down a small wall, stop still and bark at camera. Which she did no problem, we ran a rehearsal then one for real and that was done. The second part, her ‘owner’ (in the scene) goes up to her and tells her to go back. Jodie was hiding through the fence and called her through. Then they needed to record for sound though so Diz had to go through herself, well she took the cue off her ‘owner’ and off she trotted back through the fence. They filmed this a few times, with sound, without and different camera angles. They also filmed a close up of her barking, then recorded her barking for sound.

That was Day 1 complete, Diz had a great time, she is such a good girl.

Diz - Audition

2006-06-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Dizzy and I went for an audition for Grange Hill this afternoon up in Liverpool. Diz has to do a lot of barking at a child and various other bits and bobs. She was great and they loved her so said they would take her. We go up next Thursday & Tuesday for filming – yay!

Cas - Blue Peter

2006-03-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

Cas and I were invited on Blue Peter following on from her Wag & Bone win. They were running a Pup Idol item.

There was a lady there with her dog who could skip, a gentleman with his dog that played football, Jo Ann with her staffie who was skateboarding and Tina with her collie doing some freestyle,. I was a little disappointed they only wanted Cas to play basketball as they had originally said they wanted her winning routine from the Wag & Bone Show. We took the dogs into the Blue Peter garden (looks a lot smaller than it does on TV!) and they had a short rehearsal. Cas did her basketball trick perfectly. We had some lunch and then another rehearsal followed. Again Cas did her trick perfectly and we were all told that we should do a few extra tricks and things a bit later.

In the live show Cas got the basketball stuck in her teeth and couldn't release it into the net - such a darn shame. A bit later everyone was asked to do their tricks, but you couldn't really see Cas very well as she was at the back. Needless to say she didn't get anywhere. But we did get a Blue Peter badge and it was great seeing the set and Blue Peter Garden! They actually had a short snippet of Ember finishing her agility round at Crufts on the Monday Show too.

Rum - Dogs Today

2006-03-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

Rum attended a photo shoot for Dogs Today today. It was his first time out and about as he only just had his last vaccination so I had visions of him completely ignoring me and going off! But I shouldn’t have worried, he was golden. They used the same colour background as they did for Cas as it makes their eyes look lovely. He did some sits and some downs and thought the noises the photographer was making were great!! The photos look fab and they think possibly good enough for front cover!

UPDATE - Rum is front cover of Dogs Today - August edition:

Cas - Richard Hammond

2006-01-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

Travelled down to London with Cas as we had been invited on the show because they were looking for talented pets. The show was filmed live so we had a couple of rehearsals. It is the first time Cas has been in a studio environment so I was really pleased with how she coped, I thought she might freak out but she was absolutely fine! We had one rehearsal then I had a bit of lunch then in the afternoon we had a dress rehearsal. We were in the second quarter of the live show so we got into position behind the curtains ready to go on. It was very dark and Cas is scared stiff of the dark and she saw the shadow of someone and barked, apparently you can just about hear it on the show lol!

Anyway it was our cue and we walked down the steps onto set. Richard asked me some different questions to the ones he had asked me in rehearsals, so it threw me a bit. But Cassie did her moves perfectly. In rehearsal they had had some videos of animals doing various tricks they were going to play but they likes Cas so much they cut those out.

It was another tiring day and Cas couldn't wait to get in the car to go home!!

Diz/Emz - Stronghold Shoot

2005-11-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

Dizzy attended a photo shoot for some stills that will be used on Stronghold posters for worms. She had to sniff along a fence whilst being walked by a little boy, she also had to do sniffing in various other places and sit by him while he was on a bench. In the afternoon they shot for the Strongold flea posters and they used Ember quickly, she had to lie on the sofa - easy enough!

Cas - Top Dog

2005-10-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

We filmed a programme called Top Dog for Animal Planet, presented by Shauna Lowry. 9am - 7pm!

Assualt Course - Straight up and down agility course, Cas unfortunately had 5f on the long jump, 5f for refusing the dog walk (which several dogs did and we couldn't understand why) and 5f for the A-frame. Finishing in 3rd place with 6 points.

Scent - My sock was placed in amongst a pile of clothes and she had to hunt it out. Only problem being she had to do this at the same time as the other 5 dogs, needless to say she was more interested in what they were doing, eventually finding her sock and coming 4th with 4 points.

Musical Chairs - As it sounds, it wasn't really a test of the dog at all. We've always been rubbish at this game as we don't cheat unlike others, so we came 3rd, again with 6 points.

Temptation - Mr Hog the butcher had a huge pile of sausages he took them right under the dogs nose. Cas stayed there for a minute and didn't touch them - did move away from him though as he was very scary! So she scored the full 10 points.

Trick - This was our best round and she did a few freestyle moves and skateboarding and basketball. She was a little off her head as had been sitting round doing nothing most of the day but did really well. I am not sure how many points she got in this round.

Overall she was placed second so I was quite pleased, Cas was a star and did exactly as she was asked. It was a long day for us both.Shropshire Star were there and ran an article:

Pup Idol!

2005-08-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

After winning Pup Idol at the Wag & Bone Show, I had a very busy day -
Started the day off when Central News came round to film Cas. She did her Amarillo routine followed by some basketball playing and skateboarding. She was a little star. Midlands Today arrived soon after and filmed her doing the same, the presenter tried to get Cas to dance with her but kept running away as soon as Cas went near as she didn't want white hairs all over her!
We whizzed down to Slough to attend the Dogs Today photoshoot for the front cover. Cas and Ember were good as gold and sat and posed for as long as they were needed, here's the front cover:

Dizzy - Pedigree Shoot

2005-07-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Diz and I made the journey to Wimbledon Common, London today. Four dogs were shortlisted and attended the day and one of the four will be chosen to appear on ads and packaging for Pedigree foods. Diz had to look happy (panting) and have pics taken in several different poses - Lying down with head up and with chin, lying on her back, standing, sitting, walking towards camera. She was good as gold as per usual and the photographer was impressed with her. We didn't seem any Wombles ;-)

Dizzy - Dogs Trust

2005-07-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

We have spent two days this week in Cheltenham at the studios there:

Day 1

After having spent last night in the hotel we didn't have to worry about the journey to the studios as it was 5 minutes down the road. We arrived at 7:30am and met all the crew. Our day went as follows:

Scene 1 - Dizzy had to lie on a vets table with her legs bandaged. Easy enough for her and she was very good, several takes were shot to get the angles right. I am featured as a carer and had to stroke her while she was on the table.

Scene 2 - Dizzy had to take slow steps with her bandages on in the vets surgery. This was difficult as I had to be at her side supporting her, whenever I told her to step she would look at me. So we got Kay to lie in front of the set and tell her to step which worked brilliantly.

Scene 3 - Dizzy was carried by someone through a Dogs Trust waiting room.

Time for lunch, we had a lovely buffet provided for us.

Scene 4 - Bandages off. Dizzy was filmed walking across set, easy enough - no! Well they wanted her walking slower and then when she did she didn't look as happy as when she was going quicker. So that took quite a few takes.

Scene 5 - Outside they filmed Dizzy taking her first steps unaided with me encouraging her.

Scene 6 - On location at a country park. They filmed us walking through the country and jumping (Dizzy not me!) a little pile of logs. They also did some stills of her and some shots of her bounding through the grass from A to B.

Scene 7 - Back at the studios we filmed a split screen with Diz looking into camera and another dog joins her and sits next to her.

Back at the hotel it's 9:30pm! So we go to the pub and have some dinner, Dizzy is absolutely worn out and sleeps well!!

Day 2

Scene 1 - We film a split screen again with Dizzy being joined with two other dogs.

Scene 2 - Out on location again and we film Dizzy wandering lonely and dirty (she was covered with brown make-up and water) down a pavement.

Scene 3 - Dizzy is filmed looking sadly across the road.It starts tipping down with rain so we have to film the pavement one again.

Scene 4 - Diz is filmed stepping out in front of a car.

Scene 5 - Dizzy is filmed playing dead in front of a car.Again back at the studios it's time for some food!! We then take ages showering the gel and make-up off Diz.

Scene 6 - Dizzy jumps onto a chair to look at a noticeboard.

That's it, our work was done. We finished at 4:45pm but the other dogs were then filming so I watched them so I could miss rush hour traffic. I arrived home at 7pm. What a fantastic couple of days - I loved every minute!!

UPDATE: