Actor Michael Rapaport wasn’t always a dog person. “I grew up scared of dogs,” he says. “I never had a pet of any sort.”
All that changed as Rapaport got older. “I was visiting Brad Pitt at his house one house one day,” he recalls. “He has dogs, and he told me, ‘you’ve got to relax and play with them.’ I did and I could feel my attitude changing.”
About a year ago, things changed even more. “I walked into the Beverly Center in L.A. to get sneakers,” he says, “and I walked out with a chocolate Lab.”
Rapaport named his new friend Frankie. “She taught me what it was like to raise a puppy,” he says. “If you ask me, raising a puppy is a grueling test. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it’s worth it. They say if you can raise a puppy, you’re on your way to raise a kid.”
Rapaport now has two dogs. “There was a stray puppy on the streets of L.A. – a pit bull/boxer/shepherd mix,” he remembers. “My heart went out to her when I saw her. She looked so helpless, so pitiful, so starved for love that I had no choice but to take her home. I named her Stanley because… well, because she looks like a Stanley.”
The two dogs got along well from the moment Stanley arrived at Rapaport’s home. “They’re not perfectly trained or perfectly behaved,” he admits “but they have character. That’s more important.”
Rapaport’s busy schedule makes it necessary to plan ahead where his pets are concerned. “My movie and TV work keep me on the go,” he says. “If I am away from home for only a little while, I’ll leave the dogs and have my girlfriend or other friends or relatives look after them. Any longer, and they come along. They’re good travelers. I cried the first time I put them in airplane carrier cages, but they didn’t mind.”
The busy actor who will be starring alongside Arnold Schwartzenegger in On The Sixth Day and with John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Numbers this year, still makes time for animals. He has even learned to appreciate their distinct personalities. “I call them ‘the schitzo’ and ‘the dumb one,’” he says. “Stanley has to warm up to you. That’s the result of her street background. She’s nervous and not so trusting. On the other hand, Frankie is innocent, free, and full of unbiased love. A friend of mine says, when you look in her eyes, you don’t see much going on!”
But Rapaport wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love them both. They’re my doggies!”
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