Pet Food Star Rescued From Animal Shelter : ‘Mighty Dog’ Saves the Day--for Himself

With his starched red cape snapping smartly as he flies through the air, Mighty Dog has handled some daring rescues in his time.

He’s saved sailors from mutiny on a Caribbean pirate ship and calmed rebelling students at a Midwestern college. He’s headed off a confrontation among picketing protesters on a New York sidewalk--all in the name of dog food.

Mighty Dog pulled off his most amazing feat four years ago in North Hollywood, however, when he saved himself from death at the East Valley Animal Shelter.

There was no flying involved when the shaggy pooch looked brightly from the dog pound cage, stuck his face through the bars and licked Bob Blair Jr. on the hand.

Blair, 29, is vice president of Blair Bunch Inc., a Van Nuys-based animal training company that has become the top dog in the highly competitive field of pet-food commercials.

‘He Was a Sweetheart’

Blair had gone to the animal shelter in search of new talent. “That’s where we get most of our animals. I could tell right away he was a sweetheart,” he said. Fifty dogs and 100 cats live in the air-conditioned, music-serenaded Blair Bunch kennels tucked between a wood shop and a heating company office in an industrial area off Sepulveda Boulevard.

They are stars of commercials for pet food and such other products as Budweiser beer, Seagram’s wine coolers, Nestle foods, Hawaiian Punch beverages and Kodak film and for Sears stores and McDonald’s and Burger King restaurants.

“They’re generic dogs,” said company president Bob Blair Sr., who formed the animal training company 12 years ago. Before that, he worked nearly two decades with well-known Hollywood animal trainer Frank Inn.

Bob Blair Sr. said his company’s dozen animal trainers use a simple repetition and reward system to train dogs. Rewards are a combination of pats on the head, kind words and good treats.

‘It’s All Repetition’

“A dog wants to please you. That’s the whole secret of training. It’s all repetition,” he said.

“On the other hand, a cat wants to please himself. He strictly goes for the reward right now. It’s not harder to train a cat, just different. It’s not a voice reward but a food reward. We reward cats with baby food.”

Blair said his hardest commercial was one that was filmed 20 years ago and involved cats that did not have to be trained at all.

Trouble was, there were 1,000 cats in the 60-second commercial.

“Oh, man, that was a tough shoot. I don’t even like to think about it. It took a couple of months to track down enough cats. We cleaned out the local pounds,” he said.

Another time, Blair trained 50 dogs to sit in bleachers and raise first their right paws, then their left, on cue for a pet-food maker.

These days, the commercials are only 30 seconds long. But story lines are more complicated and visually sophisticated.

‘It Gets Harder’

“Every year, it gets harder,” Bob Blair Jr. said. “The agencies come up with some outrageous tricks.

The father-and-son team vetoes dangerous tricks. “Our animals are not disposable animals,” Bob Blair Sr. said.

The Blairs’ animals rest in cages between takes, the way human film stars hang out in their dressing trailers.

They do not get paid like two-legged performers, however.

“They don’t get residuals for commercials like actors do,” Blair said. “Actors have a stronger union.”

On the other hand, the dogs and cats get plenty of free food from the pet food manufacturers they work for. Blair said the freebies help limit his monthly pet food bill to about $1,000.

Custom Rates

Blair will not discuss his animals’ rates. “They’re as custom as the job itself,” he said.

Although trainers sometimes rent pets from private owners to fill a specific commercial role, Bob Blair Jr. said Valley-area animal shelters remain the best place to find dogs and cats with star quality.

That is where he found a mixed-breed dog named Charlie seven years ago. The likable mutt went on to become the dog called “Freeway” on the weekly television series “Hart to Hart” for six years.

Most dogs can be trained to do an on-camera trick within a week, he said. There are some exceptions, however.

“There are dumb dogs,” Blair conceded. “I’ve got three of them at home. They’re my pets. I get attached to them and don’t want to give them away.”