Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Theo practices singing 'Happy Birthday' with his family, (from left) Christina, Jennifer, Charlie and Alison Robert.

Saratogan to make a joyful noise in N.Y.

Theo, the dog, was born to sing

By Sarah Lombardo

Just a short 41/2 years ago, Saratoga resident Theo Robert was homeless and living in a shelter. Today, he's preparing for an appearance on Regis and Kathie Lee on Friday, Sept. 11, and gearing up to compete against 11 other hopefuls in a sing-off contest in New York City's Times Square on Sept. 16. The grand prize? A budding career as an advertising model. Who says it's a dog's life?

Well, Theo would--if only because he is one.

The black-and-white pointer/pit bull mix is one of 10 finalists from the U.S. in the Advantage Search for North America's Best Singing Pet contest being flown to New York to compete for the title and a stint in an Advantage print advertisement. Two finalists are being flown in from Canada. The winner will also receive a professional studio recording of his or her winning performance.

All 12 finalists can be heard by visiting Advantage's Web site at http://www.nofleas.com.

Of course, being only 41/2, the young Theo will be accompanied by his owners, Charlie and Jennifer Robert.

"Theo was born to sing," Charlie Robert says. "He loves to sing."

The Roberts found Theo as a stray in a CARE shelter and discovered his talent for crooning about two years ago, during one of their daughter Alison's soccer games.

"Theo had been coming to the games for years, and one day one of the girls scored a goal and all the parents went 'Yay!' and he just started howling," Charlie says. After that, it became a soccer-team tradition for all the parents and spectators--led by Theo, eyes shut and nose pointed skyward--to howl each time the team scored.

"We would encourage him at soccer games," Charlie says. "The whole team would start howling."

With a voice that in sheer volume alone could make an opera singer blush with shame, it isn't hard to imagine Theo got quite a bit of attention.

"Then about two years ago at one of the kids' birthday parties, we were singing "Happy Birthday," and he just took off," Charlie says, recalling the day the family discovered Theo's favorite song.

Recently, one of the other soccer parents suggested the Roberts enter Theo in a contest she heard about from Advantage, a flea-control product made by the Bayer Corporation's animal-health group. One short trip to San Francisco and one singing performance later, the Roberts were headed to New York.

A representative from the New York Humane Society will be on hand in Times Square to help judge the contest, which will be emceed by Matthew Margolis, dog trainer to the stars and host of the PBS series Woof! It's a Dog's Life With Matthew Margolis.

Word is that even Freckles, who played Pongo in Disney's 101 Dalmations, will be at the scene.

With all that star presence, could Theo fold under pressure?

Alison figures some of the other competitors might, raising Theo's chances.

"You figure that at least five of the other dogs will go flat," she says.

But the family has confidence in Theo.

"He has never not performed," Charlie says. "He doesn't believe in choking--unless it's on a bone."

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