Impressive Pet Tricks 003: Uggie the Jack Russell Terrier

You may have heard of a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Uggie, seeing as he is a world famous moive star. Uggie is owned and was trained by Omar von Muller, the same individual who trained Jumpy the Border Collie/Heeler mix I profiled in a post from 7/17/2013. Uggie is most famous for his co-starring role in the 2011 film The Artist. Uggie's last role was a cameo (playing himself) in the film The Campaign, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Will Ferrell attempts to punch Zach Galifianakis but misses and punches Uggie instead.

Uggie's Wikipedia page says that he "was rejected by at least his first two owners as being too wild", and that "he was about to be sent to a dog pound" before being adopted by animal trainer Omar Von Muller. In addition to numerous commercials, Uggie has appeared in 6 feature films. Uggie won the 11th annual Palm Dog Award for best performance by a canine at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, for his role as "Jack" in The Artist. On June 25 2012, Uggie was the first dog ever to be invited to immortalize his pawprints in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Boulevard. The City of Los Angeles declared the date Uggie Day.

The Wikipedia entry for Jack Russells notes that they are "an energetic breed that relies on a high level of exercise and stimulation" and that the breed originates "from dogs bred and used by Reverend John Russell in the early 19th century". Regarding longevity, Wikipedia says "Jack Russells can live anywhere from between 13 to 16 years on average".

Video1: Omar von Muller and Uggie appear on the The Better Show to discuss Uggie's life, film career and biography, Uggie: My Story. The Better Show gets its name from it's distributor's (the Meredith Corporation) flagship publication, Better Homes and Gardens. The Better Show is co-hosted by Audra Lowe and JD Roberto from studios in Midtown Manhattan (4:48).

Video2: Uggie appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with his owner & trainer Omar von Muller, 1/17/2012. Video posted to YouTube on 1/18/2012 (2:12).

Video3: Uggie and Dash ride their skateboards. Video posted to YouTube on 3/17/2011 (1:43).

PPP #32

Impressive Pet Tricks 002: Bunny The Diving Chocolate Lab

Bunny is a rescue Lab currently being fostered by Tami Stanley of Eluess Texas. Bunny is a female Chocolate Labrador Retriever who is aproximately one year old. The description for this YouTube video says "Bunny the lab is making a splash on the Web. The rescue dog has been getting attention for a video that shows off her swimming skills fetching toys at the bottom of a 13-foot-deep pool".

According to Stanley, she "first discovered Bunny's skill when she was in the pool holding a toy underwater. Bunny held her breath, swam by and snagged the toy". The Petfinder page created for Bunny says she is "funny and sweet", "fabulous with other dogs", and "on the smaller size". I found a video on the USA Today website that says Bunny is described on her Petfinder page as "not the brightest dog". Apparently Texas Labrador Retriever Rescue Inc decided agaisnt denigrating poor Bunny's intelligence and changed the wording. The Petfinder ad now describes Bunny as "silly".

Regarding Chocolate Labs, Wikipedia says, "the origins of all Chocolate labradors listed on the LabradorNet database (some 34,000 Labrador dogs of all shades) to eight original bloodlines. These bloodlines each lead back to three black Labradors in 1880s Newfoundland. Labradors are relatively large, with males typically weighing 64-90lb and females 55-71lb. The life expectancy for Labs is generally 10 to 12 years".

Video Description: Bunny dives to the bottom of a 13 foot pool to retrieve a toy. It is quite rare for a dog to be able to hold it's breath for long periods of time underwater. Video posted to YouTube on 7/16/2013 (2:01).

PPP #31

Impressive Pet Tricks 001: Jumpy the Border Collie/Heeler Mix

Jumpy is a 4 year old male Border Collie/Heeler mix trained by Omar von Muller. In the comment section for the first YouTube video below one viewer asks if Jumpy has ever been injured performing a trick. Omar responds by writing, "No, as dangerous as they look... if he looses the scooter or skateboard at a high speed he just runs with it like nothing. All the other jumps etc were done one step at a time and never an accident".

Uggie the Jack Russell Terrier - famous for his co-starring role in the 2011 film The Artist - is another canine trained by von Muller. I presume that Jumpy is a star in his own right, but could not find any information regarding any acting gigs (a Google search returned only results that included the video below).

Video1: Jumpy performs various tricks, including riding a scooter standing on his two hind legs down a hill! 6/30/2013 (2:05).

Video2: Jumpy winks on command. Video posted to YouTube on 9/3/2011 (1:00).

Video3: [ADDED 10/27/2016] Re Jumpy acting gigs, he is co-starring in 2016's In the Valley of Violence with Ethan Hawke. and Ethan Hawke as a drifter named "Paul" and Jumpy as his dog, "Abbie" (1:11).

PPP #30

Canine Slander

The Allstate insurance commercials featuring an actor portraying mayhem has crossed a line, deciding, for some strange reason, to slander man's best friend.

The Wikipedia entry (for Dean Winters, the actor playing "Mayhem") says, "On 6/20/2010, Winters was introduced as Mayhem, the recurring character in a new television and radio advertising campaign for Allstate Insurance created by the agency Leo Burnett Chicago. The campaign is centered around the idea that paying too little for insurance could result in customers not getting the best coverage or service for their money. In an analysis of the 15-second teaser spots, Stuart Elliott, advertising columnist of The New York Times, called Mayhem... a throwback to a kind of ad character that was once hugely popular: the bad guy who causes problems that the product being advertised solves..."

Sounds innocent enough. That is, until a recent installment of the campaign where Mayhem/Winters portrays the family dog, left to "hold down the fort" while his owners go out to see a movie. A gang of burglars enter the home and proceed steal everything not nailed down while the dog allows it to happen. Winters as Mayhem/The family says, "luckily for me, your friends showed up with this awesome bone". Then he yells at the thieves, "hey, you guys are great!".

Come on! Unless the dog was TRAINED to protect the home, is it really fair to suggest he's allowing the crime to take place? The spot is titled "Guard Dog", but I think that's intended as a criticism of the dog, who will be blamed by the ignorant owners when they return and see their PET has "allowed" the robbery to occur. Pets aren't trained service animals. Their only job is to provide companionship. The homeowners are lucky they didn't have to deal with a dead or injured dog (and expensive vet bills).

Instead they only lost some items of a low to moderate value. At one point in the commercial one of the thieves grabs some "silverware" from a drawer. Except the eating utensils are in the drawer loose. Valuable silverware isn't stored in this manner. Another grabs what is most likely a virtually worthless print from above the mantle. One of the thieves takes the "chandler" from over the kitchen table. Clearly these dumb crooks don't know what they're doing.

After subtracting the cost of the bone, these incompetent criminals may not have gotten away with much. Not anything that the family pet should have put his life or safety on the line for, even if it did understand what was going on.

Video: Allstate Mayhem TV Ad Guard Dog. Published 4/15/2012 (0:31).

PPP #18