We've all heard the stories of an actor's struggles before a career breakthrough: living a hard life, working part time, being a couch potato before getting that major role. Shelby, the star of "A Dog's Way Home", has a hard-luck experience that could top them all. Before her big break, she was living in a landfill, rooting through garbage for her next meal.
Shelby's big break came in April 2017, when animal-control officer Megan Buhler was driving in Cheatham County, Tennessee. Out on an unrelated call, Buhler noticed an obviously scared puppy emerging from the trash so she knelt down, just saying, "Oh, come here, baby. "Shelby was so scared, but she came right up to Buhler. The pair headed to the county animal shelter, where the staff began calling the new resident Baby Girl.
Buhler and others didn't know that 3, 200 kilometers away, Hollywood was looking for a dog to play Bella in a film written by Cathryn Michon. The find-a-Bella job went to a trainer Teresa Ann Miller. Her job was to search shelters nationwide for a dog that could play Bella. One day, Miller spotted Baby Girl's adoption photo. "Honestly, it was a really good picture and she was smiling, "Miller said. Then she met Baby Girl, and tested her on personality and the ability to respond to simple orders. She then adopted Baby Girl from the shelter, renamed her Shelby and took her to California for training. Miller and Shelby trained for just over three months before filming began. Then they were together each day on the filming set.
Most of the film's reviews have praised Shelby's performance. Yariefy made the comments "an amazing dog, perfect performance!"
Shelby has come a long way from the garbage dump. But Buhler said when she saw Shelby recently, she just needed only a second to compare the movie star with the dog she found from piles of trash. "She's exactly the same. " Buhler said.
