First-Ever Golden Collar Award Nominees: Which Dog Actor Do You Think Should Win?

The Golden Globe Awards are so last weekend. The awards event that’s shining today is the Golden Collar Awards, a new institution recognizing the best canine performances in film and television.

The first-ever Golden Collar Awards, put together by Dog News Daily, will follow in the decade-old pawsteps of the Palm Dog Awards at Cannes in honoring the year’s top dog actors. The nominations came out yesterday, and we were not too surprised to see some of our favorite four-legged thespians on the list. Check out the nominees below and let us know who would get your vote if you were a judge.

The spotlight has been shining brightly on the amazing Uggie, the 9-year-old Jack Russell who had a major role in the wonderful film, The Artist. He upstaged pretty much everyone at the Golden Globe awards on Sunday with his incomparable cuteness. His Uggieness even inspired a call to start recognizing dogs at the Golden Globes and the Oscars (check out the Consider Uggie Facebook page), but there has been no official movement in that direction. Well, who needs a statue when you can get a cool collar?

Penelope Ann Miller and Uggie announced the Golden Collar Awards yesterday

Uggie, who helped his human costar, Penelope Ann Miller, announce the nominees, was nominated twice for a top-dog award. (His other nomination was as Queenie in Water for Elephants.) Judges will probably have a hard time, because last year there were some superb canine performances.

One of my favorites on the list is Cosmo, the uber-adorable Jack Russell who played beside Christopher Plummer in the indie breakout film, Beginners. I saw that in a special screening with Dogster Managing Editor Janine Kahn, and was grateful we brought a little packet of Kleenex with us.

Both Uggie and Cosmo were rescued from shelters by their trainers. How cool is that?

As well as telling us who you think deserves the Golden Collars in their categories, let us know what you think about the up-and-coming idea of having a category in the Oscars for performance by an animal. Stephen Spielberg is reportedly behind this effort; he apparently would like to see the horse who played Joey in War Horse nominated for such an award. (From what I read, several horses played Joey. Not sure how that would work …)

The awards ceremony takes place on Monday, February 13, at 6 p.m. (PT) at the Hotel Palomar in Westwood/Los Angeles. You won’t be able to tune in, because it’s not being televised, but we’ll bring you the results.

Canine nominees for the Golden Collar Awards were announced in five categories:

BEST DOG IN A THEATRICAL FILM

COSMO as Arthur — BEGINNERS (Focus Features)

UGGIE as Queenie  — WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Fox)

DENVER as Skeletor — 50/50 (Summit Entertainment/ Mandate Pictures)

HUMMER as Dolce — YOUNG ADULT (Paramount/Mandate)

UGGIE as Jack — THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)

BEST DOG IN A FOREIGN FILM

KOKO as Red Dog — RED DOG (Roadshow Films, Australia)

LAIKA as Herself — LE HAVRE (Janus Films, France)

BIINA as Alf — THE DAY THE DOGS DISAPPEARED (Nippon Television, Japan)

ICHICO as Tao — THE DAY THE DOGS DISAPPEARED (Nippon Television, Japan)

BEST DOG IN A TELEVISION SERIES

ROCY as Arnold — ENTOURAGE (HBO)

CHUNK as Himself — CHELSEA LATELY (E! Entertainment Television)

BRIGITTE as Stella — MODERN FAMILY (ABC)

DART as Chance — HOT IN CLEVELAND (TV Land)

JASON GANN as Wilfred — WILFRED (FX)

LAMBCHOP as Yakult — SUBURGATORY (ABC)

BEST DOG IN A REALITY TELEVISION SERIES

GIGGY — THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS/Lisa Vanderpump (Bravo)

MILLOU — THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY/Sonja Morgan (Bravo)

JACKPOT — THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS/Adrienne Maloof (Bravo)

SPARTACUS — ICE LOVES COCO/Coco (E! Entertainment)

HERCULES — PIT BOSS/ Shorty Rossi (Animal Planet)

BEST DOG IN A DIRECT-TO-DVD FILM

FRED as B Dawg — SPOOKY BUDDIES (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

GASTON as Beethoven — BEETHOVEN’S CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE (Universal Home Entertainment)

ANGEL as Chloe — BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

ROWDY  as Marley — MARLEY AND ME: THE PUPPY YEARS (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

RUSCO as Papi — BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

View the original article here