Ellie the Golden Retriever Becomes a TV Star on the Rachael Ray Show
I always knew Ellie was unique, but I never expected we'd have a segment on the Rachael Ray Show!
You might be asking yourself, how did a random guy and his golden retriever end up on national TV? Well, the short answer is Ellie's ability to captivate audiences with her taste tests.
The long answer. A critical aspect of Ellie's therapy dog training was learning not to resource guard. Resource guarding is a valuable instinct for dogs in the wild but isn't a desirable trait for domesticated dogs. An example is your dog growling at you if you approach their food bowl or your dog running away from you with your socks. I frequently work on preventing this with Ellie because it's common for her to be around children in schools or potentially dangerous substances in hospitals.
One day, I demonstrated Ellie’s ability to taste food on social media, and my followers expressed significant interest. So I decided to start a series called "This or That" where Ellie tastes two foods and then picks her favorite. Of course, it's terrific to have viral videos, but the thing I've enjoyed most about the series is educating people on what human foods are safe for dogs. In the video below, Ellie has to decide which vegetable she prefers more.
Approximately six months after starting the series, I received a DM on Instagram from a producer at the Rachael Ray Show. She mentioned how much she liked our videos and requested a discovery call. We chatted a few days later, and she was ecstatic when she learned about our mission to spread smiles. After that, we had a few more calls to prepare for our segment.
I was a little nervous about how Ellie would do during the recording, but she crushed it! Ellie smiled the entire time and tasted food like a pro. I signed off of the segment with a snarky statement.
"If you ever need an official taste tester, you know who to call!"
Let's just say I was surprised when Rachael said
"I need to meet Ellie in person someday."
I'm not sure when that day will occur, but I'm crossing my fingers we'll have the opportunity to visit Rachael at her studio.
You can watch a portion of the segment here.
