We’ve made more than 100 short films with dogs. Of those, more than 60 star shelter dogs and are filmed on camera phones. Our videos get a great reaction. We’ve had more than 4.25 million views on Positively Woof’s Facebook page in just the last month, 19.4 million views from January through May, plus nearly 200,000 more views on Positively Woof’s YouTube Channel.
Most importantly, the shelter dogs we film get adopted!
Our main goal is to raise awareness about how great shelter dogs are. We help spread the word about Pet Orphans (where we do most of our filming) to get more of their dogs adopted. Most of the dogs we film get adopted fairly quickly. We also use simple, positive training with the shelter dogs to help get them ready to be adopted. We know it works because we’ve both adopted shelter dogs from Pet Orphans. (Story Continues Below the Video)
Camera Phones are Perfect for Filming Shelter Dogs
We make videos using camera phones, which makes it easy for staff and volunteers to help by giving us footage. Camera phones are small enough that they don’t distract or intimidate the dogs. It’s a more natural, relaxed film experience. Camera phones help us get our message out in a faster, easier way than when we use a full production.
By the way, we also do full productions starring shelter dogs where we use professional quality cameras, lighting (low-wattage for safety), and our portable green screen studio that Pet Orphans allows us to set up at the shelter. Those productions are more intensive (and expensive). We use them for special holiday films. Some of our full productions are sponsored, including our six-minute comedy “PI Woof” that is sponsored by Halo Purely for Pets.
Music
Choosing a unique music track for each video enhances the personality of every film we make. A good track gives the video a specific vibe, enhances the emotion, and you can edit to the beat. We’ve used a few different music libraries. We search for music that suits our taste and our needs for what we want our videos to say. Our favorite music library is LuckStock. They have a great variety. Quality tracks. And super-friendly prices. And by the way, they’re not paying us to say this. (Story Continues Below the Video)
Our Videos Also Teach, Inspire, and Bust Myths
We’ve made videos about microchipping you pet, training methods, and celebrating our human-animal bond. In fact, we’ve documented the full process of shelter dogs getting ready for adoption — and those videos are really popular, such as the story of Flash & Lucy.
Our films also expose some myths about shelter dogs. Some say that shelter dogs are somehow forever broken and wouldn’t make great pets, but our videos show how great they are. Another myth is about so-called “bully breeds,” like pit bulls. But with love and basic training, we show that they are ready to be great pets. And another myth is that older dogs are beyond redemption—not true. Older dogs (such as Jazz, an Older German Shepherd Dog) can be taught new tricks and they make gentle companions. We believe that shelter dogs may even be the best pets! (Story Concludes Below the Video)
Share Your Camera Phone Films with Us
We want to hear your story. Please share your camera phone videos with us. We invite you to post them on our Positively Woof Facebook page. Let us know if you’re filming shelter dogs; we’d like to help you get the word out! Contact us here, too.
