What Kind of Dog is Benji?

Benji was the title of a canine character in a number of rather well known videos. The dogs that played Benji have been so adorable, and so intelligent, that it really is all natural for lots of folks to want to own a canine just like him.  

So -  what sort of puppy is Benji, anyway? 

However, answering that question is not as hassle-free as it would seem, since the dogs who acted out the portion in the films had been mutts. The very first puppy that played the character of Benji was named Higgins. His trainer, Frank Inn, located him at a puppy pound in Burbank, California. 

The trainer was sometimes asked what type of canine it was, and his top guess was a cross among a miniature schnauzer, a miniature poodle, and a cocker spaniel. Let's phone him a "cockaschnoodle," just for fun. 

Benji wasn't the only part that Higgins played. He was also a normal visitor on the Television present Petticoat Junction, which was preferred in the 1960s. Higgins' first appearance in the motion pictures was in 1971 as a character in Mooch Goes to Hollywood. He was 15 many years aged and officially "retired" when he was drafted to play in the primary Benji film. 

Higgins' daughter then took up the role and played the component of Benji in films from 1977 to 1989. She looked a good deal like Higgins, other than her fur was softer and fluffier, and she had a white patch on her muzzle. Considering she started to play the function when she was only 11 months aged, she was known as "Benji" both equally in serious lifetime and in the movies. 

When the function was reprised for the motion picture Benji: Off the Leash! In 2004, yet another shelter puppy was drafted for the aspect. A nationwide search for the ideal puppy took 3 months, and was extensively noted in an work to motivate some others to adopt shelter dogs. Last but not least, a cross-bred puppy that looked the part (and was effortless to train) was discovered at the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport.   

And that brings us back again to our unique query - what form of canine is Benji? And the response - all the canines that have played Benji in the motion pictures have been mutts. And with the exception of Higgins' daughter, they've all been adopted from an animal shelter, in which a large number of extra adorable, trainable and devastatingly cute dogs are now waiting for a long term property.