My human, Hsin-Yi, does this thing called “modelling” which means that sometimes we see her in the big box in our living room (the humans call it ’TV’) or inside those flat book things called ‘magazines’. She has to stand and they flash a bright light at her with a small box called a camera.
Her agency is Clyne Models in Auckland and they called her last week to say that they were looking for people with car machines that had the name “Honda”. They wanted us to take pictures with our “Honda” car machines and show them - and then maybe they will pick us to be inside the TV box next!
I was very excited – I usually have to sit at the back of the car machine, in my special place, but this time, Hsin-Yi let me climb onto the back seat and even let me put my head out of the window!
Me and Hsin-Yi with our Honda car machine!
(I am NEVER allowed to do that usually – Hsin-Yi says it is very dangerous for dogs to stick their heads outside windows because things can fly into their eyes and hurt them badly. They can also get hurt if the car machine stops suddenly in an accident, because they are not secure. Some people think dogs should stick their heads out to enjoy the ride more but actually, I have never learnt to do it since a puppy so I don’t miss it – I just think the normal way to ride in a car is lying down safely at the back.)
I also got to be in special pictures last year – Hsin-Yi called it my “modelling debut”. This was for her ‘portfolio’ - which is a special book that has lots of pictures showing Hsin-Yi wearing different human coats. Sometimes she is smiling and sometimes she has a frowny face, although it is a fake frowny face because I can tell that she isn’t really angry so I don’t know why she has to do a frowny face for the camera. Maybe it’s because the Camera Human tells her to.
Anyway, she asked the Camera Human if I could be in the special pictures too – and the Camera Human said yes! So I had to stand really still next to Hsin-Yi until the big flashy light happened – and then stand somewhere else really still, until the big flashy light happened again. It was quite exciting and I even got to walk around with Hsin-Yi a bit, while the Camera Human kept flashing lights at us.
I promise I'll try not to drool...
On the dogwalk...
America's Next Top Dog - here I come!
At the end, they took me up to the Camera Human’s home and to get there, I had to stand inside a strange small room which moved in a very scary way – like the floor was dropping away under me – but the humans didn’t seem bothered by that scary feeling. And then when we came out of the strange small room, we were suddenly much higher – like higher than the trees. I was quite worried but my humans just laughed, so I didn’t worry anymore.
I always look to my humans when something scares me – if they act calm and unbothered, then I know everything is fine and even if I don’t understand it, I can learn to ignore it and not be scared. But if my humans act all excited and anxious – or if they stroke me and tell me “It’s alright! It’s alright! Don’t be scared…” – then that makes me really worried and scared, because they’re giving me lots of attention and that must mean that there is really something to be worried about…all my doggie friends agree with me: if humans want us to feel better, then they shouldn’t fuss over us when we feel scared – if they just laughed and carried on as usual, we’d be really reassured! 
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I really liked all the attention and it was fun doing this “modelling” thing – I hope I get a chance to do it again soon!
Honey, you make a great doggie model! Hsin-Yi is so beautiful in that red dress! I hope Hsin-Yi and you get the Honda contract!
Love, Dino