Life + Dog / Issue-14 2012 / Josh Feldman — Star of Santa Paws 2

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Josh Feldman — Star of Santa Paws 2

On November 20, 2012, Disney's Santa Paws 2 hits store shelves, just in time to be the season's perfect stocking-stuffer for the entire family to enjoy over and over again. In this charming tale, four frisky pups—Hope, Jingle, Charity and Noble—are up to no good being rambunctious in Santa's workshop and almost destory everything! To prove they are worthy of being Santa's newest helpers, they decide to embark on a journey to spread the Christmas cheer all by themselves. The four adorable pups start granting everyone's wishes with the aide of a fantastic magic crystal, but their good intentions backfire and Christmas is almost lost forever! It's up to Mrs. Claus and the four pups to find a way to save Christmas for everyone!

LIFE+DOG met with the film's star Josh Feldman on our most recent trip to Los Angeles. Josh was born in Texas and has been raised in Los Angeles where he caught the acting bug at the age of 8. Josh took an acting class in school to help with public speaking and knew he had found something he wanted to continue to do. Josh has been seen in The Closer, Genereal Hopsital, the film Insidious and is excited to have landed a starring role in Santa Paws 2. We were lucky enough to catch this busy teen and his doting mom during a recent break and chatted with him about what it was like to film in British Columbia away from home and of course, his life and his dogs!

L+D: Have you had dogs your whole life? Tell us about your current dog.
Josh Feldman: I have had dogs my whole life.  My first dog was a chihuahua named Taco after the TacoBell commercials.  My current dog is also a Chihuahua named Chewy.  He's a great dog that we got when Taco was attacked by a coyote in our back yard.  Chewy is brown and white long hair/short hair mix with a little bit of jack russell mixed in there.  He's very smart.  He plays dead when you say bang and brings you his sweater in the winter when he's cold!

L+D: How did you get cast in the leading role in Santa Paws?
JF: I first auditioned for the role of Carter then waited a few weeks and got the call that I got a callback. I went to the callback, then had to go to the mix and match where they match you with other actors to see how well you work with each other. After the mix and match, I had a meeting with the producer and director and then waited and waited until I finally got the call that I booked the role of Carter.

L+D: Did the producers want to know anything about your history with your dog or if you were comfortable working with dogs?
JF: They asked me if I like dogs and was comfortable with dogs because I was going to have to be on set with them a lot. I told them I have a dog and love dogs! 

L+D: How many different puppies did you get to work with on set during the filming?
JF: I worked with probably 3 sets of puppies. There were 4 dogs on set as the Santa Pups and they grew very fast (because they were Great Pyrenees )so every few weeks they had to replace the dogs with new ones. So just the puppies it was like 12 dogs plus Santa Paws and all the other dogs on set.  It was an awesome set to be on.

L+D: Did you get close to any of the dogs you worked with and want to bring them home with you? Why didn’t you?
JF: I loved all the dogs on set! They were so amazing. On set I was told that I could take one of the puppies home. I spent the next 2 months trying to convince my mom to take on of the puppies. Unfortunately my mom said no and then kept saying no and no and no. We live in Los Angeles and during the winter it's warm but during the summer it's very hot. Bringing a dog like a Great Pyrenees to LA would not be right.  I still wished I could have one of the puppies. They are so cute and soft but they grow up to about 150 pounds with so much fur that your hand gets lost and it wouldn't be right to have such a dog here. The dogs were all given very good homes and I even get emails from one of the puppies owner's telling me how she's growing.

L+D: Did you learn any training tricks you have used with your own dog while on set?
JF: I learned you can teach a dog lots of tricks if you have a treat!!! You also have to be kind and patient with the dogs

L+D: What was your favorite thing about filming on location in Canada?
JF: I loved filming on location in the little town of Fernie.  It was this tiny town where everyone knows everyone else, the main part of town have 1 main street with shops and that's it. There wasn't any great dinner choices but the bakery and cookie places were amazing! 

L+D: What would you say to someone looking to get a new dog for Christmas when they see how cute the puppies are in Santa Paws? 
JF: The movie is very cute and the dogs are amazing!  I'm sure lots of kids are going to want mom & dad to get them a santa pup, but it's important to make sure that this kind of dog is good for your location and family.  It's very cute when it's a puppy and they are great as a dog but it's a very big dog!  When you're ready tp add a dog to your family you need to make sure you have a dog that works with the kind of life that you have.  We have a busy life so we have a Chihuahua who can go on trips with us, ride in the car and if we have to go out of town he's easy for our friends to watch.  It's important to make sure you know what kind of a dog you are buying, if it's good with kids, how big they get and everything else. Another good option is to adopt a dog at your animal shelter. The dogs at shelters are great and need good homes, and you can see what you are getting!

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The film SANTA PAWS 2 will be available for purchase at retail stores nationwide as a 2-Disc Blu-ray™ Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) for the suggested retail price of $39.99 U.S., a 1-Disc DVD for the suggested retail price of $29.99 U.S., and via High Definition Digital for the suggested retail price of $39.99 U.S.

Pictured here at a Santa Paws 2 release party is Director Robert Vince with stars Josh Feldman, Cheryl Ladd and Kaitlyn Maher. 

Group Photo (c) Disney.