THE ARTIST Dog Has A Mysterious Neurological Illness…
Uggie, the absolutely adorable canine counterpart to Jean Dujardin in THE ARTIST, might have to hang up his acting paws sooner than expected, all due to an unknown illness.
According to a new interview with The Daily Mail, Omar Von Muller, Uggie’s trainer, said that the Jack Russell Terrier suffers from a “mysterious shaking syndrome. It is a neurological disorder and we’ve spent thousands on vets’ bills trying to figure out what is causing it but the experts don’t really know.”
Muller said that Uggie’s problems started prior to production on THE ARTIST.
“It comes and goes and, ironically, it is worse when he’s relaxed. When we were filming you could hardly notice it…It is a shame this has happened when he is getting the biggest success of his career but we feel the best thing to do is to retire him after the Oscars.”
Uggie also appeared last year in the Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson romance, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. Muller’s co-trainer Sarah Clifford said that while they were planning for the 10-year-old Uggie to retire after this year, it is still a sad situation to be in.
For his final curtain call, Uggie will reportedly help open the Oscars telecast on February 26 alongside host Billy Crystal.
And if you haven’t seen THE ARTIST yet, see it, if not for anything else, for the cutest dog you’ve seen on film in years.