I'm not sure who looked more pleading, me or the dog, but by the last sip of our lattes, DiSesso had agreed to take on Heidi as a client. "We'll see if we can get her some work," she said, adding these warning words: "But it takes about a year to studio-train a dog."
It requires an open mind as well. During our training sessions, I had several encounters with the unexpected and the unheard of:
* DiSesso showed up one day with a "snarl device," which bares the fangs when placed in the mouth to make a good dog look b-a-a-a-d. She explained that, for many dogs, the only way to get a snarl is to provoke the animal to the point of aggression, and no one wants an aggressive dog on the set.
Once the snarl device has been used and the shot is in the can, the producer of the movie or TV show can dub in the appropriate sounds.
* After explaining that a lead animal may require doubles or triples on a set, DiSesso introduced us to Rose Ordile, one of Hollywood's premier animal colorists. Ordile has turned white horses into zebras, white cats into calico creatures and changed the spots on border collies, all with nontoxic color.
* A stage or screen dog must learn to ignore distraction. On another day DiSesso showed up with Sweetie, a 6-month-old gray rat, so we could train Heidi not to chase her like a living chew toy. At first, she placed the rodent's cage out of reach, on my dinner table. ("Rats are very clean," the trainer insisted.)
When it came time for the two animals to meet, DiSesso gave me a choice: hold the dog or hold the rat. I chose the dog, holding Heidi tightly on a short leash, prepared to give the lead and chain a sharp snap -- the correction -- if she lunged at the rodent. Under DiSesso's firm guidance, Heidi did not go anywhere near the rat. On the other hand, her penchant for chasing squirrels may be an unbreakable addiction.
Despite the surprise encounters, the training process proved a bit tedious. Could a little Hollywood glamour liven things up?
I attempted to arrange a rendezvous between Heidi and Rusco, the Chihuahua who played Papi in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," and was turned down. Later, Heidi did get a date with another celebri-dog: Jonah, one of the 22 yellow Labs used to portray the lead animal character from "Marley & Me."
"Marley" trainer Mark Forbes brought Jonah to Johnny Carson Park in Burbank to meet with Heidi and share training tips.
