For many actors, getting their first big break is cause for celebration. Canine actors are no exception. When Nugget the chihuahua got the call that he had been cast as Bruiser Woods, Elle Woods’ loyal canine companion, in Village Theatre’s production of Legally Blonde, his owner, Cindy Carroccio, did some celebrating on his behalf.

“I posted on my Facebook page, bragged to friends and co-workers, and sent out an impromptu press release to a local station,” Carroccio says. “I’m pretty proud and excited for him. Our bags are packed to move to NYC or Hollywood.”

Even though Legally Blonde is Nugget’s first production, he’s no stranger to the limelight. Born in Italy, Nugget’s show dog career has taken him to Costa Rica, Canada, and across the United States.

“He has a fan base when he goes to dog shows,” says Carroccio. “Everybody wants to hold him. He’s won over a lot of people who otherwise hate chihuahuas.”

Nugget and owner Cindy Carroccio.

Finding and training dogs like Nugget to perform in stage productions can be a challenge. But whoever said “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” has never met Kayley Paylor. Paylor owns a local dog training business, In Stride Azawakh & Training, which specializes in training and high-level competition. She’s also a theatre practitioner and a former member of Village Theatre’s stage crew. The combination of theater and dog training experience makes her ideally suited to cast and train the two dogs who appear in Legally Blonde, says Brandon Ivie, Village Theatre’s associate artistic director. “We are very lucky to have her.”

“The show world is small,” says Paylor. “You meet people. And you meet people who know people. So I put out the word that I was looking for a retired show dog or breeding dog that still wants to be active, and I actually had a lot of interest.”

As Bruiser, Nugget has to perform some particularly challenging behaviors including “speaking” to Elle’s friends and going to a mark. Learning these behaviors took a month and a half of focused training, during which time Nugget boarded with Paylor.

Paylor says the most difficult behavior to teach is comfort while being handled by actors, which ultimately boils down to breeding. “People have this stereotype of Chihuahuas that they’re nervous and they’re shaky and they’re biters. When I met Nugget, he came right out and let me pick him up and handle him. And that’s exactly what I would expect from a well-bred dog.”

Roxanne (Rufus) is Nugget’s canine castmate in. Roxanne’s photo courtesy of Two Hounds & a Cat Photography.

While most of the dogs’ pre-production training involved working on behaviors with Paylor, they also made occasional visits to rehearsals so that both the dogs and the cast could get comfortable working with one another.

“The dogs are a critical part of the show, so finding cast members who were comfortable with handling dogs was part of the vetting process during casting,” says Ivie. “Everyone needs to share the stage with them, so in many ways, it’s an entire cast of ‘dog people’!”

During rehearsals and production, the dogs have a separate off-stage area with crates and beds where they can relax with their handler. “They need time to turn off their brains,” says Paylor. “Even though they have lovely temperaments, it’s a lot to ask of them.”

In Paylor’s experience, many show dogs who spend years of their lives on the road end up missing the excitement of doing tricks for a crowd after they retire.

Carroccio says this is definitely true for Nugget. “Before, when we would get ready to go on the show circuit, he’d get a bath before we left and he would get so excited because he knew he was fixing to go on the road,” says Carroccio. “I gave him a bath before he left to start training with Kayley, and he knew. He knew he was about to do something fun.”

Welcome to show biz, Nugget. Now take a well-deserved bow-wow-wow.

GCH CH GRANELLO D’ORO DI SAN GIMIGNANO, CALL NAME NUGGET (Bruiser) was born in Italy and moved to Costa Rica. Nugget started his show career as a junior in Costa Rica where he became a JrCh. After moving to Portland, Oregon in 2021, he quickly attained his Grand Champion status in the United States and Canada. Following that he took some time off to sire two litters. He is excited to start a different type of show career in Legally Blonde The Musical.