As I mentioned last week, Lilly and I got invited to take part in a media thing. It’s partly because of the blog, but it’s mostly because of my contacts from years of working for national humane and veterinary organizations. The media campaign, called Power of Paws, promotes the benefits of pet ownership. It’s being done by a firm in NYC for Del Monte, which owns Milkbone and a bunch of other brands. The primary use for these videos and interviews is online, but the extensive release I had to sign says they can use our audio and images throughout the universe (I’m not kidding) in all media outlets now known or later developed. So, who knows … maybe you’ll be able to hear Lilly howl on a singing Milkbone box of the future.
I don’t want to bog you down with an endless entry, so I’ll write more in coming days. Here’s the first part.
The team’s 2-day stop in CO came just as another big spring snowstorm hit. It’s a good thing our interview was set for Friday because the roads in our canyon were a total mess on Thursday. Tom tried to go run errands, and he spun out / lost control of his truck 3 times within a mile from our house. He turned around and came home.
But, Friday was fine. It was cloudy and cool, but the roads were clear and dry. So, Lilly and I set out on our hour-plus drive to the HQ of the American Humane Association, where I used to work on staff and sometimes do a little freelance work.
We took a quick walk along the nearby road so that Lilly could potty as needed. Then, I crated her in the car again to await her turn.
Unfortunately, there was a big moving truck also in the lot. And, a couple of guys loaded metal filing cabinets and stuff out of the building. Suffice it to say they were NOT gentle or quiet, so there was all manner of banging and scraping. Lilly was pretty unhappy about it, so I sat with her and tried to keep her calm. I stayed with her until the movers went back inside, then I put up her sunshade so that she didn’t have to see them, and I put the windows most of the way up to help muffle the noise, if they came back.
I checked in with the onsite team, including the PR gal from American Humane, who was dying for me to meet her young BC (Shyla). So I went to kiss on her pup for a bit before our scheduled interview.
By the time we got back, the dog before us (a big Rottie) had finished and left, so it was safe for Lilly to come in. BUT, first I wanted to see the room. My pal who has done TV stuff with her dogs said seeing the room was a must. So, I scoped it out and looked for anything that might bother Lilly.
It was dark, except for the lit area for us. There were 3 guys on the crew — a director, a sound guy, and a camera guy. A big light was on one side and a big reflector thing was on the other. A microphone hung overhead, but they also put one on my collar.
I placed her Relaxation Protocol mat next to my chair. I grabbed our bait bag and ran out to get Lilly.
We had trained to sit side by side with our heads at the same level, but they just wanted her to lay next to me as I sat in a chair, so that’s fine. Lilly does that all day while I work.
Lilly entered the building no problem. I thought it might be weird since the lobby is an atrium with terrible echoes, but she hustled right inside the first-floor conference room. She went straight to her mat, as I asked. I fed her this whole time, hoping to keep her focused on me and relaxed.
Being able to hear the guys in the dark freaked her out. She also wasn’t too keen on them fiddling with the lights and microphones, so she barked … for about a minute. She stayed on her mat, but she barked. It was that nervous what-the-heck-is-that noise.
Credit to the team, they waited her out. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and I got her back into a protocol mindset. She was quiet. She stayed put. She even relaxed into it and had a happy, smiling face.
So, during the interview part, she laid down on her mat and smiled. I didn’t have to shovel treats at her. She just did her thing.
A couple times, they had to pop out of the room to tell the movers and others to zip it. You’d think someone would have scheduled around such noise on a filming day, but there you go. But, it gave me a few chances to tell her what a good girl she was and to hand off a few treats.
I’d thought about what I wanted to say, and I did manage to remember some of it. But, I honestly have no idea if I gave them anything they wanted. The difference between the interviews I do for print media and the ones they do for video is that they don’t really interact with you or ask follow-up questions that might clarify something but not produce a sound bite. You just talk into the dark, toward the general vicinity of the director (rather than looking at the camera).
So, it’s like talking into an abyss.
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