I recently received my copy of PawPrint magazine, and I'll take the liberty of borrowing from it. This issue features articles on how to prepare for costly pet emergencies, what to watch out for and how to help senior dogs, pets with special needs, Bombay cats, “talking” puppies, cats that act as hearing aids, and more.
But I'm going to focus on a fun article that finds out if you remember or know the breeds of dogs and cats of celebrities. I'll start with my all-time favorite, Snoopy, famous from Peanuts by Charles Schulz. I love all the Peanuts characters, but Snoopy is the hero of those crazy kids. He's very smart and can think philosophically about many problems in life. Did you know that Snoopy is the official safety mascot of NASA and has a star dedicated to him on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (I didn't)? There are a lot of Snoopy items being sold recently, including a sticker that I paid an exorbitant amount to put on my car window, but his popularity has not waned among today's young people.
The satirical spy drama Austin Powers had a Persian cat named Mr. Bigglesworth who accompanied Austin's nemesis Dr. Evil. He was cryogenically frozen at one point and resurrected as a hairless Sphynx after thawing. I don't remember that happening.
The titular Eddie on Frasier was played by a dog named Moose. He was a Jack Russell terrier with a lot of energy. In the new series of Frasier, a human character is given the name Moose in honor of the late “Eddie.”
In Alice in Wonderland there was a Cheshire Cat, who was probably a British Shorthair.
The Cheshire Cat and Puss in Boots are also varieties of British Shorthair, and are thought to have been brought to Britain by Roman soldiers ages ago.
Hooch is a Bordeaux Mastiff (also known as French Mastiff) and was Tom Hanks's companion dog in the 1989 film “Hooch”. Hooch's large size means he needs special training. He was used as a guard on the estates of French nobles. Hooch is very affectionate and drools a lot.
Toto the Cairn Terrier beat out many other dogs for a role in the 1939 classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. Interestingly, Toto was paid $125 a week, probably more than most actors were making at the time. Cairns are easy to train and love attention.
You could also use this as a quiz among your friends – I enjoyed reading about these pets, but I definitely would have failed the quiz.
Judy Lore is a volunteer columnist for the Ark Valley Humane Society.
