21 Oct DogStar Life’s TailTalk and our talented dog actors
A few weeks ago we were contacted by two recent Cornell Tech graduates who were looking for a dog they could use to demonstrate a new product they've invented: a device that attaches to a dog's tail in order to read his emotions. It smelled a bit like a prank to us– less bizarre than the muffle-voiced caller who recently called to ask us to train his dog to render him a highly inappropriate service, but still. The Cornell techies, Mark and Yannis, wanted our help casting a Bernese Mountain Dog who could star as “Maggie” in their Indiegogo fundraising video. They also wanted a Golden Retriever to play her love interest (to show what the “Tail Talk” does when she is happy) and a stubby small dog to play an undesirable suitor (to show the opposite).
Tail Talk uses recent research findings that suggested that the direction and movement of a dog's tail relates to their emotional state. When a dog's tail wagged to the left, the dog showed anxiety and a higher heart rate; when it wagged to the right, they were calm and happy. An accelerometer and gyroscope in the sensor measure the movement and then send the data directly to the owner's app for up-to-date information!
Our star student and leading lady, Maggie, happily showing off how the TailTalk sensor works!
We knew just the dog for the job: Olive, a 1-year-old Bernese who graduated from our Puppy Kindergarten program. Our trainer Wendy was willing to lend us her Golden Retriever José — so well trained that he can put on a cone-of-shame without assistance! Our school principal , 10-year-old Yorkiepoo Amos, was a shoe in for the part of the unrequited lover.
We shot for two days in September with a wonderful crew who treated the dogs like the VIPs (or VIDs?) they've always known themselves to be.
Having a strong training foundation from her puppy classes, Olive was a born actress. The most challenging shot was getting her to lick the cheek of “Jane” in bed. The solution? Peanut butter.
