Piper's Purina Ads

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Lots of people ask how Piper became a Purina model. This article appeared in the UJRTC News, Spring 1999 and tells the story:

Piper, the only Jack Russell owned by our Membership Secretary, Sharon Savage, currently stars in three of Purina's® "Chosen By Champions" ads.

How does Piper get his photo in over 30 magazines a month? It all started in 1996, when he won the Terrier Group at the UKC Premier show, the largest UKC show in the world.

Shortly after his prestigious win, Sharon received a form letter asking her to enter Purina's® nationwide talent search. While nearly 1000 other "Top 10" dogs also entered the competition, only 14 new dogs would be chosen. Although the odds were against Piper winning, Sharon dutifully filled out the application and sent it in. When Piper became #1 JRT of 1996 for conformation, Sharon became slightly more hopeful as she mailed the news of his ranking to Purina®.

Months went by, but Sharon didn't hear any news. Then, in March of 1997, she suddenly received a FedEx letter requesting that she send a photo of Piper to Purina's® advertising agency within two days.

Within a week, Sharon received a second FedEx letter asking her to come to Cincinnati in three days for a photo shoot. Three days and an 16-hour overnight drive later, Piper and his personal "baggage handler" arrived at the agency. At that point, professional handler Andy Linton took over, while Sharon lined her pockets with croissants from the fancy, catered lunch.

Piper's ads began to appear in magazines in October 1997 and are still appearing now, in January 1999. At the time the ads were created, Piper had only earned a Grand Championship and a herding instinct certificate. Since then, Piper has earned additional titles in obedience, agility, and go-to-ground, and has become a certified Therapy Dog. He is currently the most versatilely titled JRT in history. In 1997, he was honored as one of only 9 dogs to receive the prestigious UKC "Total Dog Award."

Piper's name is now U-CD, U-AgII, 2x Res. GTG Ch., Grand Ch. Gemstone Paydirt, CD, TC, HIC, CGC, TDI. Piper plans to finish up his UKC and AKC CDX titles soon and will begin playing flyball competitively this spring. Piper's breeder is UJRTC board member Lynn Bourgois.

Besides earning a few dozen more titles, Sharon hopes to find Piper some work in commercials. Piper would prefer to kill some critters.