When an abandoned 5-month-old puppy with heartworm disease was found in a wood pile in the snow in early 2020 in Leavenworth, Kan., his future was looking bleak.
But thanks to his rescuer, dog trainer, Melissa Millett, the Labrador, possibly whippet mix, named Pepsi, is not only healthy, well-fed, and loved, now he is also a movie star and superhero.
On the Leavenworth Police Department Facebook page Millett saw information about the abandoned dog.
“I was working as key trainer on Titans seasons one and two with Krypto the super dog, Millett said. “The current dogs were pets, matched to the comic book look, who work 9 to 5 and go home.”
As a professional dog trainer, she knew if she could actually adopt and keep a Krypto dog, it would be instrumental in taking the character to the next level in the TV series.
In 2018, the Titans series premiered as DC Universe’s flagship live-action series. Warner Bros. said the series will move to HBO Max. Seasons one and two are now streaming on Netflix.
Millett searched for dogs across the U.S. on Petfinder to find a dog that resembled Krypto. She found the look-alike pup at the Lucky 13 Rescue in Kansas City after he was rescued by Leavenworth Animal Control and taken to the animal control shelter. Arrangements were made by Leavenworth Animal Welfare Society to place him with Lucky 13.
“Due to overcrowding he was at risk for euthanasia (as described by Lucky 13), but from what I understand, the rescue does everything they can to move dogs around to help them,” Millett said. “They called Lucky 13 to come get him and he was taken to a boarding kennel to be fostered there.”
The Krypto character first appeared in a “Superboy” story in Adventure Comics in 1955. He was supposed to be a one-time character but because of the positive attention from the public, Krypto became a regular member of the cast.
Krypto, in the Titans series, is a dog that belongs to Superboy. Krypto is from the same planet as Superman (Krypton) and has the same powers and human-level intelligence.
“Visually, I knew he was perfect, but I just had a feeling about him,” Millett said. “My mom found him for me and we both fell in love with his soft expression and knew this was the dog. I am too soft to rehome a dog when they arrive, but I had to be sure that this dog could play the part, so I hired a world-champion trainer to assess and hand-deliver him. To ensure he wasn’t stressed, we wouldn’t fly him.
“He was a bit timid and undersized compared to the other dogs, but I knew this was workable and otherwise he was everything I hoped he would be.”
Since Pepsi was very shy initially, Millett didn’t think he would be able to take part in Titans season three. But a week after Pepsi arrived at his new home COVID-19 shut down the country and the lockdown allowed the dog time to heal from heartworm disease, develop confidence and become accustomed to training.
“To play Krypto, we just needed him to respond to the training and develop confidence to play the part,” Millett said. “He excelled at training, it was as if he was born for the role. When he came to the set, the dog that played Krypto in seasons one and two was taking on the roles initially, but once Pepsi developed confidence, his additional training allowed him to jump in and take over the last few scenes. We were overjoyed when we saw him blossom into the character. Krypto is pretty much the coolest character that a dog could play.”
She admits she is obsessed with dogs and has been training them for about 20 years. She has a dog-training school in London, Ontario, Canada and performs in a stunt show with her daughter and her pets, called The Ultimutts.
“From the Ultimutts, I was discovered by a veteran animal coordinator for film,” Millett said. “Mainly I train dogs and cats but I have offered to train other animals as well.”
Pepsi has also earned the reputation of being the perfect castmate on the set. He loves the other dogs that play Krypto alongside him, so much so, Millett said he is actually a little annoying with his puppy exuberance.
“While Pepsi started out timid, he is making up for lost time with lots of puppy antics now that he has found confidence,” Millett said. “He is still only a year and a half. Pepsi works mostly with Conner/Superboy (actor, Joshua Orpin). Dogs sense when someone is an animal lover, and Josh always has cheese and other goodies for him. Pepsi thinks he’s pretty cool.”
Pepsi spends about one to three days each week on the set and the rest of his week is spent in prep training at his large training studio at his home in the country with the other Kryptos and training team. He shares his workload on the show with a dog named Wrigley and their different personalities help define the character.
“He loves his team,” Millett said. “He certainly thinks that he is special since he is the one that gets personal attention and adventures. Pepsi is the newest addition to the multi-dog Krypto team. There is always a yellow lab, stuffed, fake dog that is also used on the set. The animals always get a fake, stuffed stand-in animal. It’s funny to see.”
Millett shares her home with her 14-year-old daughter, Sienna Purdy, and eight dogs, who she has trained, and who she said were all highly trained movie stars and performers with the Ultimutts.
“They all have their own unique tricks,” Millett said. I love communicating with animals, seeing their joy when they work, the creativity of coming up with tricks and the positive energy that they bring to people.”
While Pepsi’s training is ongoing, Millett said he is showing amazing talent, and in addition to his movie moves, he can shake his head no, retrieve, carry items, crawl, look sad, look proud, and participates in “canine parkour,” which is a type of outdoor gymnastics.
“The most challenging part is trying to meet the needs for mental stimulation of a working dog when they are not working,” Millett said. “Pepsi and other animal actors get used to being stimulated all day. When the contract is over, they still get to work, but they miss the volume of work, much like humans are experiencing with COVID shutdowns. The most rewarding part is to watch them grow and develop confidence as they learn.”
She believes training a dog increases the bond between them and their humans, increases their confidence and increased obedience opens up the world to the dog as they are welcome to explore and enjoy more locations.
For Millett and her daughter, living with Pepsi is a joy.
“We are so lucky to have him and I bet he is grateful to have a life where he can be happy and have fun,” Purdy said.
“She is a huge Titans fan and she gets to live with a dog from her favorite show!” Millett said. “We are the lucky ones to have Pepsi. He is in a unique position to inspire others to save lives by showcasing how amazing rescue dogs can be.”
Once the pandemic is no longer a threat, they hope to visit and inspire teens with Pepsi’s can-do spirit.
“He is a special dog who is just getting started,” Millett said.
Their hope is that Pepsi’s story will give people confidence and hope that no matter how difficult life can be there can definitely be a silver lining.
Pepsi has an incredible story that we hope will save the lives of more rescue dogs as people realize there are some incredible dogs out there,” Millett said. “We want people to realize that anything is possible in life, no matter where your starting point is.”
While Pepsi will probably never forget his humble beginnings and enjoys his superdog status, his demands are simple: love, a ball on a string, and of course, cheese.