Australian animal trainer Laura Ingall has made a career out of training her pets to star in TV, films and adverts.
Prior to her setting up business Pets on Set in 2019, she worked for other trainers and with Paul O’Grady at the Battersea Dogs & Cats home.
As the proud owner of 25 animals with appearances in shows such as House of Guinness and Bad Sisters and a shoot for Vogue Magazine, she has also trained rats, spiders and even flies for her projects.
Watch the video below for more on her training process.
Ingall’s passion ignited while teaching her childhood Airedale terrier, Barney, all sorts of tricks, and now one of her dogs has just wrapped on both a Marvel feature film and the second season of Rivals, which she says is a favourite.
She said: “It has probably been the best thing I’ve worked on because it has a brilliant cast, brilliant crew and the bosses are really kind, nice people who care about everybody which filters down from the top.
“They couldn’t have been more supportive of me and my animals and my work.”
A working day for Pets on Set often begins with an essential early morning dog walk and is followed by a discussion on set with the director about what they would like to achieve. Although sometimes, they might just wait to be called as background artists which could be anything from being a passer-by to a dog sitting on a sofa.
Motivation in the form of food plays a big role in an animal’s performance and so careful consideration is taken to make sure that any scenes requiring them to eat are saved until last.
The nature of her work leads her to travel the country including to studios like Elstree, Warner Bros. Leavesden and Shepperton.
To help with animal care while out on the road, she has recently bought and upgraded a new van so that she can take them all with her.
The van is equipped with a fully operational kitchenette, a television, enough beds for everybody, and serves as a trailer for the furry actors in between call times.
Not all of Ingall’s pets work but she keeps a close eye on those that do and their comfort levels to make sure that they retire when the time is right.
She said that the animals are her pets first and foremost, that they always come first before anything else and if an animal doesn’t want to do something, she will never make them.
When asked what she would like to say to them all, she said: “That I love them, that I appreciate everything they give to me and the life they’ve offered me.”
All images by Laura Ingall
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