We rescued Klondike in 2016 and in 2018, she found a loving home. Larry Madrid, an experienced animal trainer for movies and television, was looking for just the right dog to play a part in an upcoming movie. He saw Klondike on our website and thought she would fit the role of Trusty, the Bloodhound in “Lady and the Tramp”.
So in June of 2018, Larry adopted Klondike and she began her new life in Acton, California; to begin intense training in hopes of becoming a movie star. For the first three months, Klondike started behavioral training which included socialization with people and other dogs. Her day-to-day schedule was play, work, enrichment and full immersion into learning how to be on a film set. Among other things, she had to learn to run with the horses and horse carriages.
Larry has trained many dogs before: Drooler in “101 Dalmatians” who then went on to star in “See Spot Run”, “Little Black Book” and “Frank”. Larry also trained the Lemon Beagle Team for “Inspector Gadget” as well as the White Cat; that team went on to do “The Royal Tenenbaums”. He trained Lenny, the English Brindle Mastiff, for “Hotel for Dogs”. This is just a short list of the animals Larry has trained in a career that has spanned more than thirty years.
While Klondike was with Larry in Savannah, Georgia, making the film, she met Adam Strobel, the P.A. on the set. Adam said, “There were a lot of dogs on the set, but I liked Klondike right away. I fell in love with her the moment I met her. I spent as much time with her as I could including taking her for walks.” Larry said, “Adam and I spent a lot of time together and decided Klondike, following filming, would be happiest in a home life situation. She is! She is awesome!” And that’s when Klondike, movie star in the making, found her forever home.
Adam said, “Klondike was a little skittish, but warmed up to me almost instantly. I worked with the trainers and Klondike for a little over three months and they decided that I was worthy enough to be the one to test out having Klondike at home. I’ve done everything I can to make her life with me as happy and healthy as possible. I have been working with her on basic commands and walking on a leash. She developed a skin issue, probably due to the moist climate of Georgia. I put her on a raw food diet, supplements and medicated shampoos which seems to have resolved this problem.”
“I take Klondike to work with me as often as I can. As a freelance Production Assistant, I work on various movie and TV sets. Klondike is very well behaved and the people on set love her and always stop by for a visit.”
“Klondike is the perfect companion and people say that she’s lucky to have me, but in reality, I am so lucky and grateful to have her. I love her so much! Klondike deserves the best life possible and I cannot say enough about the amazing benefits of adopting a rescue dog.”
Many thanks to Larry Madrid for adopting Klondike and giving her this opportunity to show that rescue dogs have many talents and purposes. And a big thank you to Adam Strobel for taking Klondike into his heart and home. You have given her a second chance at life and we are forever grateful.
You can see Klondike in the CGI live-action re-imagining of the 1955 classic “Lady and the Tramp” on Disney+. Sam Elliot is the voice of Trusty (aka our girl Klondike).
That is a wonderful story!