“I had the pleasure of working with Animal Co-Ordinator / Trainer, Bonnie Judd on a recent tv movie project “A Christmas Tail” which features a lost dog that brings two families together. This film showcased the bond between child and dog it was critical that the dog not only perform the scripted action but also be believable as the family’s beloved pet.
Bonnie was able to work within this projects budget and provided not only the lead dog but also all the other animals seen on screen. She was able to offer us a large variety of well-trained dogs to choose from. Raz, the lead dog we decided on, was extremely well trained and prepared; he performed every action that was asked of him and more. Raz’s ability to hit marks, stay with the actors and keep a correct eye-line made it easy to get the shots we needed. If during filming we decide to try different options for a scene; Raz and trainers, Bonnie and Trish, would not only make it happen but did it quickly.
Bonnie was a great asset to production above and beyond her training abilities. Through her seemingly unlimited animal contacts she found us a number of dog related locations and also provided a ton of Christmas doggy props in August!
My job as a director was to make viewer’s fall in love with the dog: Raz made that so easy that I would have quite happily taken him home to live with me. Bonnie and Trish provided a level of training and professionalism one would expect on a multi million dollar production. I would not hesitate to hire Canine Costars again.”