Internet Sensation and Extreme Pet Trainer Zak George Brings His Amazing Tricks to Animal Planet in New Weekly Series FETCH ME A BEER

-- Casting Begins to “Trick Out” Pets --

(Silver Spring, Md.) Too lazy to get off the couch for the pizza delivery guy? Pregnant and can’t change the litter box? Need some help hiding the remote from your spouse? Don’t worry; your pet’s got you covered! With the help of pet trainer and YouTube sensation Zak George, your fluffy friend will truly live up to their title of “man’s best friends.” Zak can teach anyone how to teach any pet how to perform any trick and he will do just that on Animal Planet’s new series -- FETCH ME A BEER (working title). Filming of this one-of-a-kind series begins in February, and Animal Planet and production partner Powderhouse Productions are currently seeking people with a desire to transform their ordinary pet into a trick-doing stunt jockey, and in the process strengthen the bond they have with their beloved companion.

In-person casting calls are being held across South Florida for the next six weeks through mid-March, and in the Boston metro area from now until mid-June. Interested parties in South Florida can send submissions to: dogtricksFlorida@powderhouse.net or for Boston related inquiries to: dogtricks@powderhouse.net. People nationwide can also submit videos and answer the casting questionnaire by going to AnimalPlanet.com/CastingCalls.

“My dogs’s best trick is lying on the couch with me. So I’m particularly amazed at what Zak is able to motivate pets and owners to accomplish in just a few short sessions,” says Marjorie Kaplan, general manager and president of Animal Planet Media. “Zak’s a terrific a new talent. Viewers will love him and his tricks -- which are often hilarious, shocking and frankly, just awesome.”

In FETCH ME A BEER (wt), Zak will show pet parents step-by-step how to teach their animal new and unbelievable tricks. Central to Zak’s training philosophy is that the process must be totally enjoyable for the animal, as well as enrich the bond between people and their pets. By finding out what motivates a pet, such as food or play, how the pet and their parent communicate and what an animal’s aptitude is for learning new skills, Zak designs a custom plan that will get each pet/parent pair to the finish line. One of the keys to success is commitment from the parent to put in the time and work with their pet on the specific tasks Zak assigns them for homework. Pet and parent have one shot to make it happen and at the end of several weeks, after three visits from Zak and intensive at home training, the duo is put to the test to see if they can pull-off the big trick.

Pet trainer Zak George grew up in Atlanta. He has always had a passion for dogs and with the help of his border collie, Venus, he’s turned that passion into an impressive career. He and Venus won five extreme dog trick competitions in only their first year competing and have become the most-in demand training duo in the world. With his newfound fame and over two million YouTube fans, Zak decided to focus his energies on helping other people train their pets to do awe-inspiring tricks. Over the past five years alone Zak has helped over 3,000 dog owners around the world.

FETCH ME A BEER (wt) is produced for Animal Planet by Powderhouse Productions. For Powderhouse Productions, Seanbaker Carter, Joel Olicker, and Tug Yourgrau are the executive producers. Melinda Toporoff is the executive producer for Animal Planet.