The family have over three generations of working, showing, training, breeding and caring for our best friends. As a child, we owned and ran the Gamegards Kennels in Little Hallingbury. Here we ran a boarding kennels and had some 40 dogs of our own, of all different breeds, shapes and sizes.
We have not only trained dogs, but all kinds of animals for film and TV. Below I share some very fond memories and just some of the amazing dogs that we have been privileged to own.
The photo above from left to right, Wren a Cocker Spaniel starred in Portrait Of A Lady with Richard Chamberlin. Mr Perkins a Pekingese fondly nick named Nurge starred in many films, including The Forthsythe Saga. Flyn an Irish Wolf Hound starred in The Eagle Has Landed. Flake a Whippet performed in many Opera scenes. Jenny a West Highland White Terrier better known as Jennifer Buggins starred in many TV Ads. She also starred in Brief Encounter with Sophia Loren and became famous for producing at that time the worlds largest litter of West Highland White Terriers; she had 13 babies! A Rottweiler that sadly only produced one puppy helped raised 6 of her children for her. Todd a Border Collie starred in many films and TV including The Famous Five. Tassie a Bearded Collie also starred in many TV ads. Doe Doe a Golden Retriever starred in Dog Martin with Ronnie Barker and many more. Panzer a Rottweiler starred in Colditz, The Omen, Death Of A Rebel and many more.
Pictured below are some of our dogs advertising British Gas supplying hot water. Judy Mckenzie is helping advertise a carpet. Who's the Daddy!Above is Judy, a St Bernard on a poster advertising a band for the London Palladium.
Below is Panzer, a Rottweiler on the film set working on A Death Of A Rebel. Panzer regularly featured in the newspaper. Todd (alias Timmy) with The Famous Five. Todd also starred in The Railway Children and the series Black Beauty. Our dogs Panzer and Shady on the set of Work Is a Four-Letter Word, starring Cilla Black. This was a photo on set, all the dogs had their own chairs! Photos with our dogs including Gregory Peck in newspaper cuttings. Kerry our Cairn Terrier on set with Kirk Douglas and Farrah Fawcit Majors, filming Saturn Three. Condor a Rottweiler with Dick Donner the director of The Omen. Below are my parents on the set of The Omen. The dog under Gregory Pecks arm is indeed a prosthetic dog! Quin our English Bull Terrier playing at home and then getting dirty for his role in Oliver Twist as "Bullseye". Doe Doe in her role along side Ronnie barker in Dog Martin. Seiger and Druce working on Heart To Heart with Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powell; these two Rotts also appeared in Colditz. My sister with one of her spaniels, NOT a conscious effort, but I have noticed that she tended to always have her hair to match her dogs! Good job my nephew did not follow this trait. Below we were entertaining the public at a town show. Our show ran for one and half hours and included some 30 dogs of all different breeds. Dogs at down stay on location. Below is my mother with Border Collies on set in Germany. Giant Schnauzer working in Germany filming an advert. We have been supplying dogs for ten years and have also included a goat for operas at the Royal Opera House. Our German Spitz Lippies can be seen above. We did mention earlier many types of animals, above are some of the cats we trained for ads and TV. Finally after a hard days filming, Kerry the Cairn can be found relaxing while sitting down for some gentle reading of the 'Dog Owner's Guide to THE ROTTWEILER' by Joan Blackmore (née Woodgate).* DOG * KENNEL * BOARDING * ESSEX * DOGS * KENNELS *