She's three years old and her name is Stella. Her sidekick is Hoss and he's just a puppy still, a puppy that weighs 70 pounds. They are bloodhounds and two of the stars of A Christmas Story~The Musical on stage now through Sunday at Shea's Performing Arts Center.
Behind every animal star is a great animal trainer and for Stella and Hoss that would be Doug Terranova. He's a life long animal lover and has been a trainer of animals in movies and TV shows for 44 years. Doug has worked with bears, rattlesnakes, elephants and even cockroaches. He says that with his talented bloodhounds the trick is to recreate those classic scenes from the movie.
One of the most memorable moments in the original movie is the dogs eat the turkey, a scene that with Doug's expertise his dogs are able to recreate nightly.
All work and no play makes for a couple of dull dogs, that's way their trainer likes to plan day trips. Doug says "I'm taking them to Niagara Falls while we are here." So for a couple of big, stage stars like Hoss and Stella, "A Dog's Life" is a pretty good life after all.
