This a great story for dog lovers – a rescued shelter dog going to Broadway. Thanks to dog trainer William Berloni.
Those of us who grew up loving Broadway musicals, know the story of Little Orphan Annie and her dog Sandy. In the story, Annie rescues a stray dog from the dogcatcher by getting the dog to come to her when she calls it, thus proving she owns the dog. She calls him Sandy – the dog comes to her (despite lots of other people calling it by different names at the same time) and is saved from the dogcatcher. The dog is now her faithful companion throughout the rest of Annie’s adventures. It’s a great story and the songs from the musical are well known.
Well, the real life story of the original Sandy (rescued a day before it was to be euthanized and then went on to perform for 7 years) and the dogs that have played Sandy in the national tours of the musical is just as good. Dog trainer William Berloni has used several shelter dogs for these tours, picking out those with the features of the character and training them to work on stage.
According to Mark Kennedy of the AP, the latest Sandy was adopted from a Houston dog pound.
Because Berloni rescues and trains dogs from shelters, the message is clear. Rescue dogs can be great pets too!
Read more about Berloni and the new dog playing Sandy here.