Natural History

I hate to admit to watching this show.

But I have.

Yes. I have seen more than one or two episodes of Full House, one of those “TGIF” family sit coms that was on ABC from 1987 to 1995.

It’s perhaps most famous for launching the career of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, two identical twins who played “Michelle,” the youngest child of the family.   I believe they are now into selling their own line of clothing.

But Full House also launched another career.

And I not necessarily talking about John Stamos and Bob Saget (Ned Flanders’s favorite comedian), I’m talking about Comet.

Comet was the family dog, played by a light gold golden retriever.

He first appeared on the show when a pregnant female golden retriever (which looked very much like Comet!) showed up at the house. She had her litter, and when the owner came to claim her, he let the children pick one of the puppies as part of the reward.

Comet was easily the best actor on the show.

And that’s how got his next gig.

However,  you probably didn’t recognize him.

Comet played a reddish brown mongrel in the 1995 film called Fluke. The other dog, called “Rumbo” in the film, was actually one the puppies of the dog who played Dreyfuss on Empty Nest. Dreyfuss, whose real name was Bear, was not a Leonberger. He was a golden retriever/St. Bernard cross.

Yeah.  Comet was in Fluke (1995).

I knew the dog in the film was a golden retriever.

Anyone who has seen more than four or five golden retrievers would instantly recognize the dog in the film as a golden retriever, even though they tried very hard make him look like a mixed breed dog.

According to ReelDogs,  Comet was auditioned for the role, which was supposed to go to a black mixed breed dog. The film was based upon a James Herbert novel about a businessman who dies and comes back as a dog.  People who had read the book might not be as happy with an obvious golden retriever playing the main role.

However, the director really liked Comet, and he was eventually asked back.

But only if they dyed him.

Now, according ReelDogs, an AKC judg eventually declared the dying job enough to make him look like a golden retriever cross.

I would not have given such an endorsement.

That’s because there is a color in golden retrievers that is very similar to the color they used to dye Comet.

It’s just not found in show dogs. It’s not particularly common in the breed anymore, but performance-bred lines will occasionally produce a dog that is very dark, as dark mahogany as an Irish setter.

Like this one:

I thought the director may have done some dying with the dog in Fluke.

But I was sure the dog was most likely a performance-line golden.

I was shocked to find out that the dog in the film was Comet from Full House.

I guess if Lassie was actually a male collie, then Fluke could be a blond golden retriever.

It’s just that it was much more obvious that Fluke was actually a golden retriever.

If they had dyed him a different color, it wouldn’t have been as obvious to me or anyone else who has been around darker-colored golden retrievers.

It also shows you that dog show judges don’t know as much as they think they do.

My guess is the dog show judge in question had never seen a golden retriever that was very, very dark before. They usually aren’t shown.

But regardless of this little quibble I have, Comet did an amazing job in the film. The plot is not particularly great, but the animal acting more than makes up for its deficiencies.

Just remember that’s a blond golden retriever playing that red-colored mongrel!