Canine ‘stars’ get in the Christmas spirit

Dogs who’ve been cooped up in the city-run Animal Services shelter got some festive goodies on Christmas Eve from a group of canine “movie stars.”

As the shelter dogs made a beeline for the Christmas tree to sniff out the perfect gift, they surely picked up another scent — the presents had been wrapped by the canine stars as part of a video project.

The “paw parents” had trained their actor dogs to “wrap” presents, as part of a class project at Dumbledogs K9 Behaviour and Performance Center in Winnipeg that turned into a donation drive for Animal Services.

Dumbledogs, which is a training facility for dog sports, performance training and professional animal actors, opened in 2019. It also includes a doggy daycare.

One of the dogs that starred in the video project was movie veteran Lilly Brook.

In 2022, Lori-Daye Blair thought she was signing up her dog for a regular training class. Instead, she had enrolled Lilly Brook, a goldendoodle, in Acting 101.

“I said to my husband, ‘I think I just registered Lilly for an acting class,’” said Blair, laughing.

Registering Lilly Brook for acting was a “happy accident” that led to her becoming one of the four-legged helpers in the video.

It took about three hours of training in a refresher course for the dogs to learn how to hold gift-wrapping gently with their mouths, drop things in boxes and nudge the gift box lid closed with their muzzles. They also learned how to pull the wrapping paper over the presents and neatly put a bow on top.

The dogs started training with fabrics, so when it came time to use delicate tissue papers and gift-wrappers, they had a light touch.

Lilly Brook has been in two movies, We Wish You a Married Christmas and Winner, as well as the TV show Acting Good (Season 3, Episode 10). She’s also a greeter at Home Hardware in Lorette and a therapy dog at a care home.

Donations for the shelter dogs came from the Dumbledogs K9 Behaviour and Performance Center community.

They filled three large U-Haul moving boxes with goodies for the homeless dogs, exceeding expectations, said Courtney Voth, one of three sisters who own Dumbledogs.

Animal Services currently has two dozen dogs in their care.

Voth said giving dogs a job is a great outlet to develop their behaviour, a reality that inspired her to be a trainer after seeing dogs be put down for behavioural reasons while she worked in a vet clinic.

“Most dog breeds were actually meant to have a job. That’s what they were originally bred for, whether it be herding or hunting or whatever it was they were bred for,” said Voth, who’s also a trainer.

“Nowadays the average pet doesn’t do any of that and it can be challenging for the dog… that’s why a lot of dogs get into trouble, because they’re too smart and they don’t have an outlet for it.”

The boxes contained new and gently used toys, food, clothes and puzzles for the shelter dogs.

“It’s really heartwarming for everybody. This job can be very difficult at times for our officers. Some of these dogs that we are trying to help find loving homes for have to sit in a shelter environment for a long time,” said Jennifer Medlicott, community relations co-ordinator at Animal Services.

“It’s this time of year that always reminds us of our staff who work really hard in the community, and the community cares for them,” said Medlicott. “It’s just love all around.”

One of the other pooches who starred in the video was Isla, an eight-year-old border collie.

Monica Hoersch, a trainer at Dumbledogs and Isla’s owner, said mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise, especially in the winter.

For Isla, who’s been in three movies and a commercial, that enrichment can come from working in showbiz.

“She’s my movie star. She just doesn’t know she’s a movie star,” said Hoersch, noting she cried watching the video for the first time.

Hoersch taught all the dogs who starred in the video.

“I feel at least my dog can help (the ones in the shelter) have a little bit of joy,” she said.

Animal Services will be back to regular business hours Saturday. The cost of adoption runs from $167 to $315, its website says.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca