The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 42: Doggie "stage moms" write in

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

Last week, "Heidi Chronicles" readers learned about the late Ginger the Wonder Dog, an ordinary house pet who became a working actor under the guidance of Michele Boardman of Mar Vista (and thanks, Michele, for adding your sweet comments about "Ginge"). 

Today, we hear from the stage moms of two other house dogs, one on the East Coast, the other on the West, who like Ginger managed to find some success in the industry. Both of them wrote to me after reading the saga of Heidi's showbiz quest in the print edition of the Times. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only dog parent out there who is certifiably insane.

First, meet Gaby (left), a 5 1/2-pound toy poodle owned by Judy Garland of Hermosa Beach ("No, I couldn't name my dog 'Toto,' she says). In my opinion, Gaby is on the fast track to portray Albert Einstein's dog.

 While Gaby's resume (note to self: get Heidi a resume) includes such impressive credentials as two Doritos commercials, appearances on Style Network, Access Hollywood and Animal Planet's "Groomer Has It," Garland describes their Hollywood adventure as "dog eat dog." She says she found most of Gaby's jobs through networking and, surprisingly, www.craigslist.com. She notes that professional union trainers look down on house dogs as "the great unwashed."

"This life of finding work for our cherished four-legged companions is more than difficult and ... quite expensive," she writes. "Plus there is a large demand for owners who look like their pets.... I went to one call and ended up literally cutting my hair to look like my Gaby."

If you still have that photo, Judy, please send. Meanwhile, to see little Gaby at work, check out her gender-bending performance as a "homeless boy dog" on this Pet Spa commercial.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 41: Ginger the Wonder Dog

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

By chance, I've discovered something about "The Heidi Chronicles": When I mention the name of a celebrity, the chapter tends to get picked up by more blogs and websites than when I don't. 

To that end, I'd like to mention just a handful of the major luminaries who have not met, or perhaps even heard of, Heidi: Miley Cyrus, Kris Allen, Paris Hilton, Sean Penn, Conan O'Brien, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Octomom, Miss California and all of the Los Angeles Lakers.

There is, however, a lesser-known star that Heidi and I almost met, and regret having missed: Ginger the Wonder Dog.

From the first day of Heidi's studio training with Sue DiSesso of Animal Actors 4 Hire, we heard about Sue's former client, Ginger, a cute Red Merle Australian shepherd owned by Michele Boardman of Mar Vista. Like me, Michele is a regular person who decided to see if her pet could make it in Hollywood. And Ginger did, becoming one of the few privately owned dogs to work consistently in the biz, appearing on "Murphy Brown," "Seinfeld" and in variety shows and commercials. Ginger died in January, at age 15.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 40: A little something "extra"

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

Heidi has not yet performed a speaking role on stage or screen, but she's now a veteran radio commentator.  If you want to hear me -- and more importantly, the dog -- speak, we'll be chatting about Heidi's career tomorrow (Tuesday) on The Pet Hour on Sirius XM Stars: Sirius 102 and XM 155, which airs at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST. We taped the show a few weeks ago. We rehearsed Heidi's "hello" in advance of the 10-minute telephone interview; then, I stacked dog biscuits by the phone and prayed Heidi would not ignore my "speak" hand signal and spend her 10 minutes of fame staring silently into the phone receiver.

She did not. In fact, Heidi was so good that hosts Cindy Connors and Nancy Glass asked her to speak again.  Apparently she had them at "WOOF."

But not content with having mastered the radio medium, we're still trying to get Heidi in front of a movie or TV camera. To that end, I finally overcame my resistance and followed some sage advice we got in March from Terri Ann Becherer, director of background actors -- better known as extras -- for the Screen Actors Guild.  Becherer had recommended that I go online and sign up with one or more of the various websites that offer to link up non-union extras with possible roles.  Some of these sites ask you to list any special skills or props you might bring to an extra role; those "props" might include a dog. 

I decided I would only visit sites that allowed me to sign up for free and invited me to post a photo, figuring I could use a shot that included Heidi. I also decided that I would take this opportunity to acquire a stage name, and chose to borrow the moniker of my late great-grandmother, Daisy Bishop.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 39: A star makeover from Artist Knox

This is is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered' in a park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the entertainment industry. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Times staff writer Diane Haithman:

Heidi recently celebrated her seventh birthday -- although, as an actress, she plans to continue to lie about her age. I try not to think too hard about the fact that large-breed dogs like Heidi tend to have shorter life spans than those little yappy ones, which seems like a slap in the face from the universe.

But what could be better to help a starlet forget about her age than a good old-fashioned Hollywood makeover?

So, naturally, I was intrigued upon receiving an e-mail about Artist Knox, 27, who was named the top dog groomer last year on the Animal Planet show "Groomer Has It." Knox, a native of South-Central Los Angeles, is now the star of Animal Planet's "Beverly Hills Groomer," a reality show that follows Knox's efforts to open his own salon and school catering to upscale clientele (while also finding time for pro bono grooming for rescue and shelter dogs). The show premieres Saturday at 10 p.m.

Over the weekend, we visited Knox -- named after a grandfather who was so named because his dad always wanted to be an artist -- who performed his magic on Heidi. When it comes to success as a dog actor, "the first step is Artist's grooming,"  Knox says.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 38: 'Love those ears': Andy Sheng shoots a star

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into show business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman.

Replacing Heidi's usual head shot, to your right you will see Heidi with her new friend Andy Sheng, 38, owner of Otis & Lucy Photography in Culver City. The studio is named after Sheng's first dog, Otis, and Otis' best friend, Lucy. Sheng's current dog-in-residence is Louie the Labrador (named for Louis Armstrong).

Andy and Heidi came to meet because Sheng e-mailed me after the story of Heidi's ongoing showbiz aspirations became a Column One feature in the print edition of The Times. Sheng suggested that Heidi's career --  such as it is -- might get a boost from acquiring a professional head shot that shows off her good side. He invited Heidi in for a photo session so we could see what he had in mind.

Once we arrived at Sheng's studio and saw some of his work, however, it became clear that the "head shot" was quite a few notches below his level of artistry. Plus, Sheng confessed that he's never really done animal head shots because the people most likely to want them are the ones signing up with questionable animal talent agencies that profess to be able to find work for pets, but more often end up scamming the pet owners with expensive training programs that lead exactly nowhere.

No matter to us -- not only are we not signing up with a pet talent agency, but Heidi loves the camera and is always happy to get her photo taken, head shot or no. And I figured that, should Heidi never make it as an actor, Sheng might give us some perspective on Heidi's chances of getting work as a model.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 37: 'Frasier's' Moose: 'An actor, not a dog'

 This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

Though you may not believe it, I don't devote all of my time to Heidi's career. In my dual identity as an arts writer for Calendar, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing actor John Mahoney about his role in the Conor McPherson play "The Seafarer," which opens Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse.

We talked about the theat-ah -- about the joys of live performance and playing King Lear. But amid all this heady discussion, I couldn't resist asking Mahoney about one of TV's most famous dogs: Moose,  the Jack Russell terrier who played Eddie on the long-running sitcom "Frasier." Moose portrayed Eddie -- who belonged to Mahoney's character, retired cop Marty Crane -- for the first eight of the show's 11 seasons, and was replaced by his lookalike son, Enzo, for the final three.

What he said gave me paws -- I mean, pause -- about breaking Heidi into Hollywood.

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 36: People skills

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Diane Haithman. And this is her "head shot": That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

I recently taught Heidi to fetch the newspaper -- she is, after all, a reporter's dog.  She still needs encouragement, but once I've pointed out the morning L.A. Times on the path to our front porch, she's thrilled to grab it by its plastic wrapper and charge off into the house. She thinks it's fun to drop it in a different place each time so that later she can watch me running around trying to fetch it too. 

Heidi learned this classic house dog trick just in time to retrieve her own story: The tale of Heidi's adventures in Hollywood was our Column One article last Wednesday. I didn't ask the dog to sign my newspaper, but it may be the only copy autographed with Heidi's teeth marks.

But enough about the encouraging fact that Heidi still prefers to get her news in print. In the previous chapter, we were chatting with animal trainer Brandon McMillan, star of the adventurous new Animal Planet series "Night," about his K9 Mind dog training program. He had left us with the intriguing statement that he can tell in 30 seconds whether a dog is cut out for a Hollywood career. Here's what he had to say:

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 35: A walk on the wild side with Brandon McMillan

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Times staff writer Diane Haithman. And this is her “head shot”: That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

It must be hard to sit still and talk about house dogs when you've dodged the claws of leopards in Kenya and teased the tentacles of the giant Humboldt squid in the dark Sea of Cortez.

Such has been the recent life of animal trainer and behaviorist Brandon McMillan, 31, in preparing his new TV series, "Night," which premieres Wednesday on the Animal Planet Network. With 20 episodes under his belt to air over the next 10 weeks, McMillan has traveled the world, pairing with local animal experts to witness the behavior of wild animals after dark. McMillan records the animals with night-vision technology, including thermal imagery and infrared beacons. And don't forget the sounds — you don't need your eyes to take in the alarming crunch, crunch, crunch of a leopard devouring the gazelle it has dragged up a tree.

McMillan has trained all kinds of animals, wild and domestic, but says he prefers trekking after the untamed. For the show, "I've switched careers in a sense," he says. "I've always been the adventurer, but unfortunately there was no money in adventure. I feel like I won the lottery."   

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 34: Breaking in as an extra

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Times staff writer Diane Haithman. And this is her “head shot”: That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

Some on-line bios for Brad Pitt say the actor began his career as a screen extra.  Could the same route take a dog to stardom? (Hold all Pitt bull jokes, please.)

Heidi and I first started thinking about the world of screen extras -- officially known as "background actors" -- back in January,  when we met Broadway trainer Bill Berloni in advance of Heidi's stage debut in "Annie" at the Kodak.  Bill told us that, back in New York, he has several pet owners who make themselves available to him when he needs a background dog for a show. Bill's requirement is that the pet owner be willing to chaperone the dog during the rehearsal process and be backstage during the performance. In some cases, the pet owner must be willing to go onstage with the dog, costumed for a minor role or crowd scene, as I did -- reluctantly -- in "Annie."

Bill suggested that one way to get Heidi in front of a Hollywood camera would be to sign myself up as a non-union extra who can also provide a dog. There are several websites that allow you to list yourself as available for background roles, including Extras Access, CastingNetworks and Hollywood OS .These websites ask you to list any special abilities, costume elements or props available to you.  Usually, there's a place to list "animals."

The Heidi Chronicles, Chapter 33: an entourage of one

This is Heidi. Last year, she was "discovered" in the park by a pet talent agency; since then, she has embarked on a one-dog quest to break into the business. This is her Hollywood story as chronicled by Times staff writer Diane Haithman. And this is her “head shot”: That longing look was achieved by placing a biscuit just out of reach.

Every now and then, I troll the Internet to see whether starlet Heidi has gotten any more Web-famous since I last checked; usually, she hasn't.

But every once in a while, one of the Heidi Chronicles chapters will turn up on various dog-related websites.  Several dog health sites picked up on the installment discussing Heidi's occasional acupuncture treatments for hip and elbow dysplasia, typical joint problems for large breed dogs.  Another handful of Hollywood websites were interested in our observations on whether the threat of a screen actors' strike might affect dog actors too.

And one plug for a Utah orthodontist -- who apparently treats humans -- ended up in the "comments" section on a "Heidi" chapter about the "snarl device," a little gizmo that can be placed in a dog's mouth to bare the teeth and create the illusion of anger, apparently because I described the thing as looking like a child's retainer. No word as to whether the dog connection resulted in increased business for Dr. Jamey C. Watson.

I particularly enjoyed the acupuncture mention on the website Dog Tails: Dog News From Around the Globe, which gives Heidi a certain showbiz panache by referring to her as the "German Shepherd Celebrity Dog."

Still, the reason I know Heidi is famous, or at least getting there, is that she has an entourage.

Her name is Layla.