When I discovered recently just how much money some animals on TV are making, it made me wish we had stuck at it.

Bob the dog, who lives with the boys in the House of Trouser on Neighbours, would be raking in somewhere between $250 and $500 per day. And some of those squirrels you saw in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were probably pulling in about $1,000 per day. You know there is something fundamentally screwy about the society we live in when it's possible for a squirrel to be out-earning you.

Christine Powell runs Animal Actors, a casting agency that has been providing all sorts of animals to the television and film industry since 1974. Over the years some of Powell's biggest stars have been seen on shows such as Cop Shop, The Sullivans and Neighbours (like Bob the dog, Casserole the sheep and Joe Mangle's Bouncer 5). She even supplied that cute wombat with the bandaged leg in that famous RSPCA commercial.

According to Powell, it's not a lack of talent that holds many animals back. "Many good animals never make it because of their owners," she says. "Those animals with owners willing to do the hard training yards and who can learn our training methods are the most successful."

Powell also states that scriptwriters are looking for animals that are friendly and outgoing with all strangers and other animals. And she should know. As well as Animal Actors, the Victoria-based Powell runs Sit Happens, a sort of NIDA for pets. Courses at Sit Happens consist of eight consecutive weekly lessons at $25 each, with five course levels from basic to advanced.

"The animals learn many tricks and behaviours to assist them with unusual tasks they may be asked to do," says Powell, who stresses that these tasks need to be performed under distraction and from long distances. Her website also highlights that her training is based on positive (rewards) reinforcement.

It pays to remember that Lassie was one of only three animals in the world to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (the others are Rin Tin Tin and Goodheart). And keep in mind that in return for rescuing children from wells and commandeering helicopters, Lassie had a valet, personal chef and a personal assistant.

For those of you who are already contemplating trading in your pet skinks and goldfish for a more "X-Factor" black Labrador, hold on.

United Kingdom-based animal trainer Steve Vedmore says he hasn't come across an animal that can't be trained. An animal trainer for 30 years, Vedmore pretty much proved this when he spent eight weeks working with 40 squirrels on the set of Tim Burton's box office hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2004. Despite having access to the latest and most sophisticated computer-generated technology and imagery, Burton insisted on using real squirrels in the famous Nut Room scene where squirrels crack and sort nuts on a conveyor belt.

"Some squirrels filled up on nuts very quickly and then lost interest," said Vedmore, in an interview last year with BBC News Magazine. And in the case of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the American Humane Association ensured that every "hero" squirrel had a stand-in so that none of the animals was "burnt out". That's right. Not only are there squirrels out there who are earning more than you, but they have agents and body doubles - and probably script approval.