Betty and Nikko will appear in the Estonian TV series

Ventspils resident Dace Busha’s pets – Weimaraner dogs Betty and Nikko – have become actors, filming in an Estonian mini-series Detective von Fox (Detective von Fock), which is created in cooperation with Latvian film industry professionals. On screen, Betty and Nikko take on the roles of the castle’s hunting dogs in the early 18th century.

Weimaraner owner Dace Buša, who created a training organization in Ventspils to find people with dogs Assistant of Latvia under the wing, saying that Betty and Nikko entered the world of cinema by accident. There is an animal throwing group working in Latvia Movie fauna. Dace’s pack of dogs was not sent to the casting agency, but her pets were recommended to the agency by another Weimaraner owner. “The series needed two dogs, an old hunting breed, and to train the dogs,” said Dace. Betty and Nikko are suitable for this role. This is not Nikko’s first time as an actor – he previously starred in a commercial for the Kuldīga company.

Dace drove the dogs to the filming sites twice – in May and June. The first day of filming was in Dikli swamp. The second stage of filming took place at Cesvaine Castle, outside, where filming took place over two days, including at night.

Although both dogs are trained, they also had to learn additional obedience commands for filming. “The challenge was pretending to be asleep. Nikko is a more serious character, he’s easier to work with in that sense. If he needs to sleep, he sleeps. Betty, on the other hand, is like that true girl! She has to pretend she’s asleep, but she likes it so much that she betrays herself and wags her tail. And they turned him around so he couldn’t see the tail,” said the owner.

Since the two Dace dogs are trained to find people, this work on the set was not difficult according to the script of the series, but it provided some awkward moments. “The only challenge in Nikko was – well, how many times can you find the same thing! Filming first takes place from a greater distance, and then close-ups are closer and closer, and it goes several times. When asked to find the same person for the third time, it looks funny to me – he sleeps here all the time!” It was also a challenge to get the dogs to show displeasure to certain people, as the scriptures ask, because that is not what they are taught. “Then we played in all kinds of ways to make them scream. Although they don’t bark, they pull,” said the dog’s owner about the knives used in the filming process.

One of the main roles in the series is played by the Italian actress Aurora Ruffino, Estonian actors play other roles, and Latvia also has supporting roles and big scenes. Nikko and Betty’s closest collaboration has been with magician Danti Pecolli, who plays horse and dog. “Pecolli was the one who was their biggest friend and created trust in the dogs,” Dace recalls. She is happy with this opportunity and the experience of filming dogs, but she also admits: “I’ll be honest, we were all tired, because one filming shift started at eight in the evening and ended at six in the morning scenes being filmed, you can’t leave, because you don’t know what time, depending on the weather and the light, you will be invited to film, so that what the director wants to see in his film. to be successful.”

The mini-series is expected to reach the audience at the beginning of next year.