Christine Mahaney was working part-time as a paralegal when she and her rescued Border Collie, Toula,
won Petco's America's Most Talented Pet contest. Since then, Christine
has become one of the most sought-after on-set trainers in the Mid-west
and Toula is currently starring opposite Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's
"Public Enemies."
L: How did you get started working on TV and movie sets?
C: It all started with winning America’s Most Talented Pet contest with Petco.
L: Really? Wow! You didn’t even consider that beforehand?
C:
Well, I dreamed of it. I actually worked as a paralegal. I’ve been
training dogs my whole life. I always loved watching movies with dogs
and the behaviors they got the dogs to do. Living in Michigan, you just
don’t have those opportunities. You can dream it, but can you live it?
I went down to the store and stayed up till 3 in the morning getting my
props ready – I didn’t even know what I was doing or what order, which
probably worked better for Toula and I, because you have to just roll
with it when you work with dogs.
We went in there – won first place
[local], and then we won the top 12 – and then we won. So – it was
really from the Petco competition that got us out got us out there.
When Mahaney flew out to LA to do to the photo shoot, (FYI: Toula flew “Celebrity Status” – which was available to Toula specifically because she was going out to LA to work on a job) she also took the opportunity to meet with the owner of Paws for Effect, an animal agency. They immediately asked Mahaney if she wanted to work with them.
That was in Nov 2007. By April, Mahaney was training a a 12-week old dog for them to use in film and commercials. After that, as more jobs became available in the Midwest, Mahaney worked more and more.
L: Do you, then generally work with dogs that are provided by the company?
C:
It just depends. It’s about 50 / 50. Right now I’m working on a movie
for Disney Pixar in Chicago. That’s a private party animal that I
located. They wanted a bulldog. It really depends on what the script
calls for.
For “Public Enemies” they wanted a Border
Collie. Now, Toula is not a typical-looking BC. She doesn’t have the
white blaze – but she fit the part.
L: How is training for TV or commercials differ from everyday training or obedience?
C:
It is different. The biggest difference,: training a dog for a movie is
scripted. Real life doesn’t come with a script. Unless you have a
crystal ball, you don’t know who’s showing up at your door, or when.
So, as a private dog, you have to deal with real life situations.
Training for movies, you have a very good idea of what the environment
is going to be, so you know what you have to get the dog used to.
For private home training, I’m not really training the dog, it’s more
that I’m training the person. When I work on a movie, I’m working with
that dog. And you’re making the director happy.
L: Do you ever “train” any of the actors involved?
C:
Absolutely! You have to. For example, in “Public Enemies,” Stephen
Spencer [who plays Emil Wanatka] plays the owner of the dog. Toula had
develop a relationship with this complete stranger to make it look like
she was his dog. Now, that doesn’t happen just by sticking a dog— any
dog -- with an actor 2 minutes before you start rolling. You wanna make
it believable. ‘Yeah! That was his dog! Look at the way she looked at
him!’ So you do want to prep the actors: 'this is cue you need you to
give her' or 'this I the way you need to hold your hand. This is her
release word.'
I’m getting ready to work on a movie with
chickens. A 13-year old girl has to pick up a chicken. I’m going to
have to work with that 13-year-old to teach her how to properly pick up
the chicken so she’s comfortable with it.
L: How often have you worked with chickens?
C:
Ironically, I seem to have been working with chickens often in this
past year. It’s amazing. I wasn’t raised on a farm, but I like animals.
Every animal you work with – it’s a learning experience. With chickens
– you have to know how to make them settle more quickly – so their
wings aren’t out. Those are other things I’ll have to go over with this
girl.
L: What other exotic animals have you worked with?
C: Goats. If you consider that exotic. Deer. Squirrels….
L: Are squirrels trainable?
C:
It was a trained squirrel, if you can believe it. A pet squirrel. He
worked with audio and hand signals. The squirrel was trained to go to a
buzzer: when it hits the buzzer, food comes out. Somewhat like clicker
training.
I haven’t had the opportunity to work with reptiles. But, quite frankly, I’m OK with that.
L: What tricks and traits or behaviors are most important to train for camera / performing work?
C:
For me, FOCUS work is key. If you can take your dog and walk down the
street and you say “LOOK” and he looks right up at you no matter what’s
going on around him, that’s HUGE. And that’s how I train, even when I
train privately. With private pets, it’s a safety factor. If they have
a desire to chase a squirrel or deer, and you see it before they do,
and you can have them look at you, well -- you just saved them from
chasing that animal.
As
for a studio dog, or someone looking for movie work, FOCUS work is
really key. When you’re on the set, there’s a lot going on. There are a
LOT of distractions. Rarely are you in a studio that’s self contained
and there are one or two people. So it’s FOCUS work.
The other
key is to have a dog that’s really happy. And what I mean by that is:
when you have a dog that’s really happy, that dog is happy in any
environment. He’s happy meeting anyone - has no fears with strangers –
a man, a woman, a child, infants, somebody wearing snowmobile suit with
a helmet or a baseball cap. Every person is great to that dog. He’s
happy to meet everybody. I think that’s huge.
L: Do you believe in coercive methods or positive methods?
C:
I am a firm believer that you get a lot more mileage out of making a
dog do what you want them to do from marking the positive and not
focusing on the negative. Now when you work with positive-based
training, it takes a lot more patience. So, when teaching a dog go into
a tunnel, for instance, you’re luring that dog, making it positive for
them to stick their head down there. But that dog might stand there for
what seems like forever, even when it’s only 10 seconds. ‘Do I stick my
head in? Do I? Don’t I?’ But eventually when the dog finally does it
and they get that reward it’s like: Boom. He’s got it! ‘Nobody shoved
me in there. Nobody had to pull me or push me in; I did it on my own.’
It’s a positive experience. But it takes a lot of patience.
L: What was the most difficult thing on “Public Enemies” you had to train Toula to do?
C:
The most difficult thing on that set was to get Toula to walk outside
the lodge with this actor she just met not even 2 hours before while I
walked away into another room where she could not see me. It was shot
on a wide angle, so I had to stay hidden inside. Meanwhile, she is
walking out with this actor, it’s night, they’re out in the woods,
there are cars pulling in, she’s off-leash, there are 100 some odd
people around, cameras overhead, camera on-track, and she’s out there
all by herself. I couldn’t give her any hand signals, verbals, or
anything.
L: Did you get to rehearse beforehand?
C:
I did. When we got there, we did some pattern training. And Stephen
Spencer was willing and kind enough to work with us and do some prep –
cause you do want it to come off as if they do have a relationship. And
it was great – cause I was peeking through the window, and he stops at
the end of the walk to meet Johnny Depp and the other gangsters, and
Toula stops and sits down and looks up at him as if to say, ‘What’re we
doing, Dad?’ It was perfect.
L: How did you do the pattern training?
C:
Well, we did have a script, and I knew she would be exiting, but I
didn’t know if the door would open in or open out -- something you
never really think about – but it affects how you set your dog up. So,
we went to a lot of different businesses with a lot of different people
and traffic and I had her on a long lead -- with doors that opened in
and doors that opened out -- and then we only had three days to do this.
And then when we got on set I did a lot more pattern-training -- Cheese wiz is a beautiful thing.
L: Did you work with target training?[Where you teach the dog to hit a target or ‘mark’]
C:
I didn’t on this. I could have used a mark – but I didn’t want her to
get down there and start looking for the mark. Even though it was
outside – I have different marks: rocks, etc. But, again, it was dark –
I didn’t want her searching with head dropped looking for a mark. I
wanted her head focused on ‘oh, there’s people coming, I’m supposed to
look alert, and I’m next to my owner.’
Source: examiner.com
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