My own pets; Harry, the TV personality

Many years before becoming The Friendly Pet Nurse I had another dog called Harry. Harry was a Springer x Parsons terrier. I first met him when I donated some food to the Last Chance Rescue in Edenbridge and saw Harry. He had been there a while and no-one had seemed to show any interest in him however I literally saw something in his eyes as I stroked his velvet ears through the mesh. As I was a house checker for them they were happy for me to take him ensuring I would pass my own house for inspection! He had his vet check on Tuesday and then he came home with me. The only time he ever barked at another dog was when he was leaving the rescue centre, he passed a dog on the way and barked, almost as if to say goodbye. At that time all I knew about him was that he was around a year old and he had come from Wales.

How it began, more than just a pet

Having never had a pet dog of my own before and not knowing Harry’s background I ensured I attended training classes and Harry seemed to have a natural flair at obedience…he enjoyed his training with me and he was a quick learner. It didn’t take him long until he would bark on command and hold items. As the years passed I would occasionally enter some fun dog shows and he always used to get compliments. I had a friend who was working at an animal nursing home and she knew of an animal agency looking for a ’scruffy dog’ to appear in a TV commercial and suggested they got in touch with me. The advert was for a cereal company, where they would need to vacuum around him. During training, I had taught him to sit or down stay and he could do this for a good 10mins and with me being out of sight so I knew that he would be fine for the advert, that ended up being his first on-screen appearance. He also appeared in an advert for MTV as well as having walk-on parts in various productions. But then he got chosen for bigger parts…

Harry in Eastenders

Harry was given a small role in Eastenders. It was all very exciting as myself and Harry got to share a dressing room with Letitia Dean, who played Sharon Watts. Harry’s part included licking John Nardon, who played Jim Branning, face next to the fairground’s rides as the character had surprisingly fallen asleep whilst walking back from a night out. This was going to be a challenge as Harry wasn’t a licky dog so I knew some training would be needed. In order to do this, I trained Harry to lick peanut butter from my hand, so he was ready! Once the butter was smeared on John’s face, Harry immediately licked it off, we had all morning to do the takes, but Harry did it in one!

A major role in The Bill

In 2007 came Harry’s major TV starring role. He appeared in four episodes of The Bill, written into a storyline as a drug traffic dog. I spent much of the day on set or in ‘our’ dressing room. We did get to meet the cast, Harry got onto the cover of ‘We love telly’ magazine with PC Beth Green, played by Louisa Lytton. We filmed scenes on location where Harry had to pick up a knife from some bushes. He was already great at holding items, so it was easy for him, but the days seemed very long especially in between filming. After that we also appeared on This Morning, meeting Eamonn Holmes and got to meet other stars such as Jason Gardener and Duncan James.

After the fame

Harry lead a great life, I would regularly go for horse rides and Harry would tag along and chase rabbits, he was a great pet and companion. He lived to a grand age of 17. After Harry came Dylan, and that’s another story…