Canine Actors Tout Vitamins for i Love Dogs Commercials

Five furry actors preferred playing to the limelight yesterday when they starred in two i Love Dogs, Inc. commercials at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, Calif.

The canine crew is helping to promote i Love Dogs’ vitamins and nutritional supplements. The cast is diverse with Captain the Rat Terrier, Lucy the Basset Hound, Max the Golden Retriever, Molly the English Bulldog and Ruby the Doberman Pinscher. Rounding out the mix was Captain’s human sister, Audrey Coburn, 4.

Before filming, the actors sniffed noses and asked humans for belly rubs. But they became animated once they stepped in front of the camera.

Lucy first sprawled on the grass soaking up adoration. But the hound bounded up hills with her long ears flapping behind her at the urging of her human, i Love Dogs intern Samantha Madlangbayan.

Molly hammed it up with her grinning and swaggering. She got the humans to chuckle when she ambled around with a tennis ball in her mouth.

Captain sat and waited on command for the camera. Audrey also romped with Captain and led the terrier on a leash. This was the second time Captain has been in the spotlight. In April he modeled a diamond collar designed by i Love Dogs exclusively for InCircle, the customer loyalty program for Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, and was featured on news shows and blogs.

Captain became part of the Coburn family three months before Audrey was born, said their mother Kelly. The two grew up together and are buddies, Kelly Coburn said. Audrey is comfortable around dogs and treats them with respect. The toddler ran happily with her doggy co-stars as the camera rolled.

“I hope Audrey gets to see herself in the commercial with a dog,” Kelly Coburn said. “She’s so excited about this.”

Max broke into a smile as he frolicked, wagged his tail and rolled on his back. Later he cuddled with his human Amanda Castillon as she spoke of the Green Tea supplement‘s benefits.

Ruby sprang onto her hind legs for treats and gave a “high-five” to her human Thomas Mitchell with her paw. i Love Dogs Customer Service Representative Maggie Urioste “discovered” Ruby as the Doberman took one of her daily walks.

Mitchell said it’s, “pretty cool,” that Ruby was picked for the commercial. While the tall, muscular Dobie impresses many people, some strangers get the wrong impression of her.

“Some people become find her intimidating,” Mitchell said. “Some people will stop and say, ‘nice dog.’ She’s around dogs and kids all the time and she’s good with both.”

Cameraman Wayne Robbins said it was a pleasure to work with the canine crew.

“We got a lot of good angles, a lot of fun dog things,” he said. “The people were sweet and the dogs were friendly.”

Bruce Conway of Time-Warner Cable is directing the commercials, which are scheduled to debut later this month. The commercials will be shown on Time-Warner Cable channels in West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Palos Verdes.

Here is the first of the two commercials generated by the June 10 shoot.

i Love Dogs, Inc.

i Love Dogs, Inc.’s three websites – ilovedogs.com, ilovedogfriendly.com and findavet.us – provide information and up-to-the-minute news to keep pet parents aware of all things dog. A premium canine vitamins and lifestyle company, i Love Dogs is famous for its line of diamond dog collars. The name says it all — at i Love Dogs, we are committed to the health and happiness of our canine companions.