This month's featured animal is
...Arnold
the
Semi-Wonder Dog
Arnold
is a half pit bull/half
Labrador
family pet. He belongs to the Thatcher
family who live at 305 Woodridge Road in the
town of Glen Brook, Illinois. Arnold's caretakers
included Libby Thatcher, an ad agency account
executive; Drew Thatcher, the owner of the Glen
Brook Grill (lots of doggy bag goodies every
night for Arnold) and the family's children
Paige, the eldest daughter, Becky (14), and
Charles "Corky" (18) who has Down syndrome. Arnold's
mission in life is to be fed. He likes to carry his red bowl
around the house to remind his owners to give his some dog food.
Arnold with friend "Becca" Thatcher (played by
Kelly Martin)
Photograph courtesy of ABC
Trivia Note:
Arnold the "Semi-wonder dog" appeared on the
domestic drama LIFE GOES ON/ABC/1989-93. Bullet
the dog
played the role of Arnold. Bullet was
originally owned by animal trainer Richard
Calkins who got Bullet from a friend when the
dog was three months old. Bullet was later
adopted by Joann Curtis, the daughter of the
late Lassie trainer, Rudd Weatherwax who retired
Bullet from show business as a family pet.
Bullet lived with Curtis for fifteen years until
his death of kidney failure in 1999. On the set,
Bullet was a very affectionate dog who loved
kids and got along extremely well all the cast
members, especially Chris Burke who was very
fond of Bullet. Off the set, Bullet loved to
watch cartoons (Tweety Bird was a favorite) and
enjoyed eating pizza crust from Palermo's in
Hollywood. On the series' season finale, Bullet
as Arnold the dog, who week after week
mournfully clutched his food bowl in his mouth
in the TV show's opening sequence, finally got
fed in the last episode (Arnold lays
down with his empty bowl, and a cupboard falls open
and a large bag of dog food spills out on the
floor).
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