Shooting the Dog

There's an old maxim, "Never work with animals and children", I went with my wife Dani on one of her commercial shoots this morning. It was for a modular home TV ad featuring a nice family with the prerequisite 2.5 children and of course the star, a diminutive Yorkshire terrier named Arthur.
Arthur was an absolute pro the entire shoot, not at all demanding or overbearing. The agency provided him with a gift basket of canine snacks to keep him happy on set and he didn't seem to mind working closely with the child actors. It wasn't until near the end of the shoot when Arthur's owner/wrangler told us the steamy story of Arthur's libidinous past. It seems the little guy was quite the stud. Literally. Arthur spent the earlier part of his life living in a box as a device for producing pups. It sounded to me like something you would do with a cumbersome kitchen gadget that was too awkward to leave on the counter, but could always be pulled out when needed. He was rescued by his owners and now lives the life of a star. I say, Bravo! to Arthur. Sometimes the little guys do get a break. I'm sure he'll be working for a very long time.