Uggie, the canine star of The Artist, adds to the film's growing awards haul.

Mail Online - So far it's been the year's big awards winner, so much so in fact that even the animal star of The Artist has picked up a gong.
Uggie the dog, who appears as Jean Dujardin's pet in the movie, picked up the animal equivalent of an Oscar at the prestigious Golden Collars.
The 10-year-old pooch was accompanied by co-star James Cromwell (who plays Clifton in the film) as he picked up the award for Best Dog in a Theatrical Film.

Uggie was smartly dressed in a cute doggy outfit that mimicked a shirt and bow tie.
The little dog looked excited to be at the awards ceremony, where he was also accompanied by his owner and trainer Omar Von Muller.

Accepting the award on behalf of Uggie, Mr Von Muller said the Jack Russell terrier, who stole hearts in the silent film that’s up for 10 Academy Awards, is a 'great performer, but he’s also a great family member.'
'He sleeps with us,' Von Muller added.

The Golden Collar Awards, dreamed up by Alan Siskind of the website dognewsdaily.com, drew other stars of The Artist, including Cromwell and Missi Pyle.
'I’m delighted to be here because I owe my career to a pig,' said Cromwell, who played the farmer in Babe.
Elizabeth Snead, an entertainment journalist who served as a Golden Collar judge, said the dog-awards show is more exciting than the Oscars.
'She said: Everybody identifies with the dogs. And it makes it more accessible for humans who don’t really care about awards season'

Omar Von Muller plucked the little dog from obscurity at the age of two, when he'd been rejected by two different owners and he appeared to be on a one-way street to the dog pound.
However, Omar took him in, on what was supposed to be a temporary basis, and ended up keeping him and training him to appear in movies.
Mr Von Muller told the Telegraph last month: 'He was a crazy, very energetic puppy. And who knows what would have happened to him if he gone to the dog pound. But he was very smart and very willing to work.
'One of the most important thing is that he was not afraid of things. That is what makes or breaks a dog in the movies, whether they are afraid of lights, and noises and being on sets.
'He gets rewards, like sausages, to encourage him to perform, but that is only a part of it. He works hard.'

Uggie went on to appear in What’s Up, Scarlet?, Wassup Rockers, and Mr. Fix It, before he got his big break starring with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson in the romantic drama Water for Elephants.
It was Uggie's first named role (as Queenie) and the appearance helped him win the part of “dog” in multi-award winning movie, The Artist.
The Artist is director Michel Hazanavicius's tribute to the silent movie era - Uggie plays the best friend of fading matinee idol George Valentin, played by Dujardin.
Beinga silent film, the dog’s vocal range doesn't come into play, but his physical prowess and comedy timing does.
We see him playing dead (after Dujardin pretends to shoot him), walking on his hind legs and hiding his head in his paws.
In the film’s most dramatic scene, he saves Dujardin’s character from a burning house.
All of which led S.T. VanAirsdale, an editor at Movieline, to start a campaign for Uggie to receive a real or an honorary Oscar nomination.
The campaign was launched in December last year, and has been supported by James Cromwell and, apparently, members of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
However, BAFTA responded to the campaign by issuing the following statement: 'Regretfully, we must advise that as he is not a human being and as his unique motivation as an actor was sausages, Uggie is not qualified to compete for the Bafta in this category.'

He did, however, with the Palm Dog Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Sadly Uggie will retire to his bed after the Oscars, due to a mystery neurological illness that has baffled experts and cost Mr Von Muller thousands of dollars in vets' bills.
He revealed: 'It comes and goes and, ironically, it is worse when he's relaxed.
'When we were filming you could hardly notice it. It is a shame this has happened when he is getting the biggest success of his career, but we feel the best thing to do is to retire him after the Oscars.'