Creative Animal TV
“Who Gets the Dog?”

By Jackie Joseph

Each episode of “Who Gets the Dog?” tells the story of one shelter dog’s quest to find the perfect family. Turning the tables on humans who always pick their pets, the one-hour program has the dogs deciding where and with whom they live, with a little help from a panel of pet experts. Each week one lucky dog will pack his or her bags and journey to three different homes in search of a new family. The shelter dog will spend 24 hours in each home, playing and participating in various activities, ultimately deciding which family to call its own. This sure is more useful to society than “The Bachelor.”

This entertaining and thoughtful series was created by Chris Dane Owens and Jerry Biederman for Animal Planet and LMNO Productions, who then developed “Who Gets the Dog?” with The Humane Society of the United States to pre-approved families for dog adoption and to ensure the dogs’ experiences result in finding a happy home. Together the organizations created a questionnaire for the show’s potential dog owners modeled after animal shelter adoption applications, and HSUS recommended activities to acquaint the dogs with the families. The dogs in the series come from local shelters in the Los Angeles area and are fostered by Bark Avenue. Hosted by Dorothea Coelho, “Who Gets the Dog?” features a panel of three animal/pet experts who will comment on the dog visits and help the pooches choose the family they will spend the rest of their lives with. I find it on Mondays at 5 p.m. Do find it on Animal Planet on your cable system.

Do I have a special interest here? Sure! Besides my love of animals and the idea of adopting shelter animals, I love Chris Owens. I almost adopted him. He was as close to being family as any teen friend of my kids could be. I’m so proud of his show. His dad is the ultimate Gary Owens and his mother is the spirited Arleta. Talk about creative!

We’ll talk.