Celebrity

November 4, 2008 is a day that many will remember as historic for a multitude of reasons, all of which the Newton family share in PLUS one bonus element of now having a bonafide celebrity in the house...at least that is what we like to think.

Shadow was summoned for her participation on an Animal Planet show called Groomer Has It. I have admittedly never seen the show, but understand (after looking at the website) that it is a lot like Top Chef or Project Runway or any of the other reality shows that are on TV, aimed at projecting talented hopefuls into the national spotlight as the absolute 'best' in their chosen field. In this case, dog grooming.

David originally answered the call from Hollywood this past Saturday for their 'senior dogs' show. At 14, Shadow clearly fits the bill. The producers liked Shadow, but thought that her thick undercoat might prove to be an unfair element for the groomer that had to work on her in the challenge. They sent David and Shadow home with promise of calling for another show should the opportunity present itself. We got a call just a few hours later asking if we could bring Shadow back to be in the segment that was being filmed on Tuesday. A quick check of my schedule confirmed that I was free (big surprise) and off to Hollywood we went!

It wasn't until Shadow and I had gone through all of the preliminary interviews, questions and vet check-up before I learned of the theme for the day. The focus was (I am trying to put it delicately here)...larger dogs. Not as in tall but more as in chubby (obese, is the way I heard one producer put it, which immediately put me on the defense!) Yep, Shadow is our very own fat actress.

Fortunately, my big-boned dog did not seem at all bothered by the topic of the show and was a very cooperative subject. We were at the studios from 11 am to 9 pm, but as you can see above, we have a very nice looking (and clean smelling) dog to show for the effort. The producers and everyone on the show took great care of the dogs, including an on-set veterinarian and a representative from the Humane Society (Shadow and I got one warning about aggression after Shadow got a little snappy with a cute little dog named Pete who got in her grill. We kept to ourselves and no additional issues were observed, whew!) All in all, it was a very successful day and we will be able to see our celebrity in her starring role sometime in late February or March - I will naturally keep you posted once we know.

Doesn't she look thinner to you?