So, you really think your dog, or any pet for that matter, is smart and already learned to do a lot of tricks. You've talked to a studio trainer and realize you and your pet still have a lot to learn.
Studio pets are "clicker" trained. Every time they initiate a behavior(trick) you are asking of them they hear a click and immediately get a reward. As they improve the standards get harder and they only get rewarded for improvement and then only when it is mastered. Sometimes when it is done exceptionally well they are double rewarded. A special treat for a fine performance. The trick for you in clicker training is timing. The click, the reward, the release all have to be performed with impeccable timing. Okay, so you get the clicker and you may have to get your dog used to it as the loud noise is sometimes scary, and you think you are ready to begin.
Some behaviors are harder to teach than others depending on the pet and what they feel comfortable with and what they tend to offer naturally. Some will do a hand shake or paw way on their own and all you have to do is encourage it to be on command. Others will go retrieve any item in sight and bring it to you. All that is left is for you to be able to direct them to a specific item. Others just won't. The trick to studio training is getting the pet to do something that doesn't come naturally to them and also knowing when to give it up and realize it just isn't going to happen. "Petal" has been working on a "Take it Command" for over 5 years. It has never progressed into more than she will touch it with her mouth and sometimes even her teeth. She refuses to pick it up let alone hold it in her mouth and bring it to me. But it took only 3 attempts to teach her to "Nudge It" which is to push things with her nose and even less to get her to "Tap" any thing with her front paw. Learning to lift her leg and pretend to pee on things was somewhere in between. The point is, some behaviors are easy and others are not. Sometimes you work and work on a trick and then all the sudden it clicks and the pet gets what it is you want and it's just takes a little work to perfect it. Now you might understand why it may take several look-a-likes to complete a movie. Different pets are trained or capable of certain behaviors and are relied on for doing that behavior on set.
Now comes another common issue. Most people teach their pets to do tricks at their feet. Unfortunately, that mean you are on camera too and no set director wants that. So you have to start by training your pet to stop/start and perform the behavior from a mark. A mark is a spot just like actors use to give direction to an actor including animals. Marks for animals are often a rock, leaf, mark on a rug or an item that they put their front paw on that looks like something that normally would be in the scene. Marks are most often no bigger than a credit card and some are as small as a coin. It depends on the scene and the size of the pet and how visible the mark is allowed to be. Marks are used on every set.
Another common issue is that directors require "quiet on the set". That means you can not verbally ask your pet to do a command. You have to get your pet to do a trick-usually a series of behaviors, from at least 20ft away and without speaking. You do this with hand signals. There are standard hand signals that studio trainers use so it is important that you learn what those are for the times your pet has to have a studio trainer on set. For example: many people teach their pets to play dead by pointing a finger at them and shouting "bang". A studio trainer uses a series of hand signals that not only asked the dog to lay down on it's side but which side and what direction based on what the director of the film requires. Hence the term "chain of behaviors".
The most common and useful behaviors are not really tricks at all but are truly behaviors. She is often asked to nudge or tap things and to sit up and bark or growl on command. But most often any pet I have worked with on set has had to move from one mark to another while facing a particular direction and at several different speeds. Yes I wrote different speeds and several. Sometimes the director wants a slow walk vs a fast walk. Sometimes they ask can she put a "skip" in it. Directors want the scene to be shot a certain pace and you have to be able to provide that. A good camera person is essential because they can set the film speed sometimes to help you out. But that isn't always an option.
Now comes another glitch in the training. Not only are you at least 20ft away and not able to talk to your pet, you are often off to the side or at a weird angle crouched behind something. And your pet is supposed to be looking at the actor or something else besides you. There are some props like target sticks that can help but they must remain off camera and out of the way of microphone booms. So you have to teach your pet to do all their tricks while not looking directly at you.
Now do you have the picture? That is why it is so important to have the help of an experienced studio trainer. So get a clicker and start teaching tricks to your pet from a distance and from all directions. Remember, timing is everything: ask, click, reward. You must work with your pet at least an hour a day every day. But the pets that do best are worked with several times a day.
Part IV: Some training helpful hints.
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