| Hollywood Paws Newsletter |
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Dear Hollywood Paws Students and Graduates,
First and foremost I would like to congratulate all of you for doing such an amazing job at keeping up with your pet's training. All of our trainers and staff here at Hollywood paws are seeing such an improvement with each and every one of your animals. For those of you that our new to Hollywood Paws, let me give you a brief rundown of who's who around our studio. My name is David Lawrence, and I am the Executive Director here at Hollywood Paws. I am sure many of you are also familiar with our Directors of Talent Acquisition, Gerri Chape and Joel Speilman who are both working tirelessly to make sure that your talented pets are being represented at the highest level possible. A new face at Hollywood Paws is Holly Ward, who has joined us at the font desk on the weekends and two other young ladies many of you have gotten to know are Ashley Weston with Student Services and Stephanie Harris, who has recently begun staffing different events that Hollywood Paws has been asked to participate in. Of course how can I forget our Hollywood Paws educational team consisting Joel Norton-Head Studio Trainer, Byron Wusstig-Studio Trainer, and Tanya Yarbrough-Assistant Trainer. I keep hearing such wonderful reviews about them and I know that all three of them are so proud to be working with such a dedicated group of individuals, not to mention your talented Fidos and Fifis. Joel Norton has even mentioned to me numerous times that he thinks our current group of students are some of the most enthusiastic we have seen here at Hollywood Paws.
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Spring Themed Yappy Hour: April 18, 2009 5pm - 7pm
The month of March has gone by so fast, and everybody at Hollywood Paws is excited to see where spring takes us. For those of you that missed the March yappy hour, don't worry because we are planning to make April's spring themed yappy hour our best one to date! Be sure to mark your calendars for the third Saturday of next month, April 18th from 5pm-7pm and all friends and family of Hollywood Paws students are welcome, but unfortunately fleas are not. Our next yappy hour will hopefully be held outdoors and have even more food, wine, surprises, and as is yappy hour tradition, a canine competition which our trainers are already beginning to plan. As for the March competition, we all witnessed a suspenseful round of distance "on your feet" from a sit position. We would like to once again congratulate our winner, Gracie whose owners are Steven Deluco and Jennifer Kairis. We also want to acknowledge Mick Hannaway and his own Gracie who were runners-up by only a couple inches. It seems as though the Gracie's of Hollywood Paws completely swept the competition this time around. Everyone who attended also had the pleasure of listening to Diane Huwaldt speak about her experience on set with her dog Petal during an E! Entertainment special. For the television shoot, Petal was to give a tour of the upscale D Pet Hotel in Hollywood. She not only had to perform basic sit-stays, but also very specific and difficult behaviors, which were thrown upon her last minute. Congratulations once again Petal for doing such an amazing job. We all cannot wait to see the final result!
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| PAWduction Jobs
Besides the D Pet Hotel job, various other production calls keep rolling into the office and we are constantly in the process of trying to book them as fast and best as we can. Some of our most notable calls received and booked jobs include:
A production company hoping to film a reality show documentary that focuses on various Hollywood Paws students and their four-legged counterparts. The show would not only document upcoming production jobs, but also demonstrate the training techniques and behaviors needed to be a true animal actor.
A marketing company responsible for a San Diego based University's Vet Technician program contacted us in need of dogs and cats for their upcoming commercial spots. The dogs submitted were Charmaine Abella's Basset Hound Homer, Kathleen Knight's Kalani, Jamie Samashima's Fletch, Dorinda Thomas' DeeDee, Marie Sitjar's Sullivan, Cindy Ahn's Noodles, Sue Delany's Wylee and Pat Kerschener's Falco. The cats submitted for this job were Camille Winfrey's Missy, Madison Hazelett's Coco and Momo, and Joyce Wilson's Cocoa. The dog chosen was Kalani and the cat chosen was Coco, congratulations to both.
Heartguard was in need of new dogs for their upcoming national campaign and contacted Hollywood Paws hoping to find their next star. Our Hollywood Paws talent exceeded the casting agency's already high expectations and we had numerous dogs called back for a second audition. After hearing the casting group rave about our talented canines, I would not be surprised if one or more of our talented pooches were chosen.
As previously mentioned, Diane Huwaldt's dog Petal was chosen by E! Entertainment for a special about the D Pet Hotel in Hollywood. I would also like to acknowledge the dogs submitted for this job which included, Dorinda Thomas' DeeDee, Julie Bridge's Jack Russell Derby, Margaret Vanek's Chihuahua Peanut, Mildred Haddock's Lulu, Sam Auchincloss' Tonka, and Virgina Sherman's Kodi. Our trainers were confident that most of you would be able to pull off this job with flying colors.
Catching a Frisbee in the air and pawing at sunglasses were two of many B-level behaviors that a production company required of a mid to large breed dog for an advertisement campaign. The dogs submitted to this job were Kalani, Kathleen and Jim Knight's chocolate lab, Janet Philips' Jaz an Australian Sheppard, Christina Betencourt's Brutus, Jess Pfhol's dog Jackson, Bill Douglas' German Sheppard Bonnie, and Kjerstie Timmons' dog Murdoc.
MTV productions contacted Hollywood Paws looking for a stunt double Chihuahua for an upcoming reality show. The Chihuahuas submitted were Mikilani Young's Lani and Bella, Bunky Mar's Samantha, Ryan Donnely's Webster, and Margaret Vanek's Pixie and Peanut. The final Chihuahua chosen was Pixie and everyone here at Hollywood Paws is excited for her to begin training for her stunt-dog role.
An independent director is filming a short that is to be part of a larger film and he came to Hollywood Paws looking for English Bulldogs. The two dogs that he chose for his film were Karen Laner's Mabel and Harley. Congratulations to Karen and both of her bulldogs.
Numb3ers, our neighbors at Los Angeles Center Studios called us looking for specific animals to be used in an upcoming episode and another production company wanted two dogs that they could animate for a vet office commercial.
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Photo Shoot:
Our photo shoot this month began with some slight disarray, but in the end every single dog's photos turned out absolutely amazing. I would once again like to apologize to all of our students who arrived to the first attempt at this photo shoot when our photographer forgot to actually show up. We were as upset as you all and felt completely awful about the situation. The next attempt at the photo shoot the following Sunday turned out much better and after reviewing all the photos, they were worth the chaos. If you would like a copy of your dog's photos, please let Joel Norton know and he can provide you with the cd. Once your dog has passed the B-Level of our program they will be placed on our website. Cats will be placed on the website after they have graduated from their Feline Acting program.
Trainer's Tip
"Don't forget the importance of your release! It may seem unimportant in the beginning stages of training, but your release becomes more and more important as training progresses with your animal. As we begin to work on advanced level behaviors, like a workaway, the dogs that succeed are the dogs that have a solid release!" -Byron Wusstig, Studio Trainer
If you have any problems teaching your pet certain behaviors, or just want to spend more quality time with us at the studio, then please come to our open labs every Thursday from 4pm-7pm and every Sunday from 10am-2pm. One of our trainers will be happy to help you with your training questions. Most all of you are also aware of our studio dog park, and we invite you to use it at any time before and after classes and labs. Don't forget to schedule your pet's PAWgress report during an open lab in order to see which areas of your training are nearing perfection, and which areas still may need more attention. A PAWgress report can take up to an hour so be sure to schedule enough time in your day. Taking the time out for this progress check will really help all of you that have up coming Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Therapy Dog International (TDI) testing. If you are awaiting one of these tests, our trainers will be giving you a call soon with the set date and time. As for out last testing, we would like to congratulate all of you who did pass your CGC and TDI and we would like to encourage all of you who did not pass to come in for open labs to better prepare for your next testing date. |
I wish all of you the best with your training, and hope to see you all at this month's Yappy Hour!
Sincerely,
David Lawrence, Executive Director | |
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