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The Dog Eat Dog World of Animals in Show Business
The phrase "dog eat dog world" has been applied to practically every industry, but in the world of animal actors in show business it is a cliché that is simultaneously apt and surprisingly meaningless. The plain truth of the situation is that animal actors, and it seems dogs especially, are fairly easygoing creatures. Too bad the same cannot be said of the owners who are convinced they've got the next Lassie or Benji at home, just waiting to become the next big animal star. The trend of animals in show business becoming a cash cow, if you'll pardon the expression, has in the past few years moved away from the mutt saved from certain death at the pound and toward highly groomed and expensive show dogs.
It was only a decade ago that dog shows were still almost exclusively the domain of those already involved in them as far as entertainment value went. All of that has changed today, however, as a dog show seems to air at least once a week on a national cable channel. Animals in show business today are often stars on the dog show circuit long before they appear in movies, TV shows or commercials. In the early days, the trend toward animals in show business was tilted heavily toward the trainer who owned the animal himself and was educated in the ways of turning a young pet into a highly trainable professional. That is no longer the case. There are, in fact, many animal actor agencies that can be found on the internet that offer advice on how to get your own beloved animal-dogs and cats to the more exotic species like birds and snakes-in front of a camera. Hollywood Paws and the Hollywood Animal Actors Agency are just two agencies that can be found on the internet that provide guidance and answer basic questions that you may have surrounding the process of getting your animals into show business.
Just how much of a dog eat dog world is the world of animal entertainers? Currently the Hollywood Animal Actors Agency has a bulletin announcing they are not accepting any new submissions for the time being. Long over are the days when animals to be used in show business were hard to come. No doubt this temporary glut will change over time because the climate for animals being used in show business is better than ever. Although Hollywood does not produce nearly as many movies as it did fifty years ago, that lack of opportunity for your show dog or dog contest winner is more than compensated by the plethora of television shows and the fact that there are entire cable channels devoted to showcasing the talents of dogs, cat and other denizens of the wild. Cable channels from Animal Planet to the Disney Channel are constantly in need of talented, memorable and especially trainable animal actors for everything from episodic shows that air weekly to on-air promos. It is very easy to overlook the sheer number of animals that are found daily in show business, but if you were just to keep track of the number of animal actors to appear on your television screen on a daily basis in everything from pet food commercials to big budget Hollywood films like Pirates of the Caribbean, you might well be amazed how just how long your list really is.
Not all animals are cut out for show business, of course. Likewise, it is a mistake to think that your own pet may not be somehow "cute" enough. Just as movies feature both the beautiful and the horrifying of humanity, so too may that dog that you love, despite the fact everybody thinks it is the ugliest thing they've ever seen, be worthy of show business stardom. Remember, in addition to those dog shows where it always seems the cute poodle wins, there are any number of ugly dog contests. And every beautiful Lassie with her hair flowing in the wind needs a bulldog talking in a tough New York accent to match its villainous, mashed-up face.