TV’S TOP DOGS

Buck

The big, brown hairy pooch, who plays the Bundys’ pet on Fox’s “Married ... With Children,” (Sundays at 9 p.m.) may look like a mutt, but he’s actually a pedigree. The 8-year-old Buck is a French working dog called a Briard.

Steven Ritt, who owns and trains Buck, acquired him through a private party when he was about 10 months old. Besides starring in “Married” for the past six seasons, Buck was featured in the Bill Murray movie “Scrooged” and the Janet Jackson video “When I Think Of You.”

Before Buck ever went before the cameras, Ritt spent 18 months training him and getting him used to people. “We get them accustomed to supermarkets and other places where there are lots of people and lots of noise,” Ritt said.

Ritt also makes training fun for Buck, giving him praise and ending his lessons on a high point when he is doing good. “They look forward to learning new things. He gets lots of praise from everyone (on the set), petting and off-camera praise from people. The cast treats him well.”

Buck has no offspring, but for five years has been madly in love with another of Ritt’s performing dogs, Frieda, a terrier mix. “They are real close,” Ritt said. “I bring her on the set sometimes. They are pretty much in love. He is real big, brown and hairy and she is little with short hair. It’s pretty funny to see. They are a long-time love.”

Bear

The four-legged scene-stealer who plays Dreyfuss on NBC’s “Empty Nest” (Saturdays at 9 p.m.) is a 6-year-old St. Bernard-golden retriever mix who comes from a famous acting family. His father, Boomer, starred in “Father Murphy” and the film “Summer Rental,” and his mother Molly and brother Bodie appeared in “Steel Magnolias.”

Bear is owned by Birds and Animals Unlimited and lives with his trainer, Joel Silverman. Before “Empty Nest,” Bear had appeared in an unsold pilot.

“He has learned a lot because of the fact he wasn’t real experienced when he came on the show,” Silverman said.

Because “Empty Nest” is a four-camera show taped before a studio audience, Silverman gives Bear silent commands--hand signals--offstage. “He may have as many as 25 or 30 moves in a scene,” he said. “(I) can’t talk at all. What makes Bear so good is he is a good working dog. He has done so many shows.”

Silverman and Bear are on the set five days a week. “He works with everyone else,” he said. “If it’s a tough show, they will give me a script two or three weeks in advance to train him. Our show is not a trick show like ‘Lassie.’ It is moves. Sometimes doing a lot of moves could be harder than doing a lot of tricks.”

The cast and crew, Silverman reported, adore their co-star--even when he gets more laughs. “When you work with animals, you can have the best-trained dog in the world, but an actor or an actress can make it or break it for you if they don’t want to work with the animal. Your animal will be unhappy and it is going to look that way when you shoot. But they are very secure people and they don’t mind the animal getting a few laughs here and there.”

In 1990, Bear became a father and his one son, Banjo, has followed in his father’s paw prints. He is now Bear’s stand-in on the series. “They are treated very good,” Silverman said. During his free time, Bear is a typical house dog who loves lounging on the tile floor in the foyer of Silverman’s house. His favorite dishes are chicken, hot dogs and cheese. “The only thing that is different (about Bear) is that he goes to work with me.”

As far as Silverman is concerned, there are two types of movie dogs: an honest dog and a dishonest dog. Bear, he said, falls into the dishonest category. “He is a sweet dog who will do anything for you, but if he gets the chance to get away with something with somebody or if I am not paying attention, he will try to get away with something.”

Recently, Silverman had a second trainer on the set. “He bluffed this guy. The guy wanted him to go pick up something, which is the easiest thing in the world, and he (Bear) looked at him if as if to say, ‘What do you want me to do?’ The trainer had to work him through it. The dog was testing him.”

Bullet

The gentle, sweet dog who plays Arnold on ABC’s “Life Goes On” (Sundays at 7 p.m.), is actually part pit bull and pointer. Six years ago, Bullet, then 4 months old, wandered into the yard of trainer Richard Calkins and has been a member of the family ever since.

According to Calkins, the 80-pound Bullet is mischievous and extremely intelligent. He was named Bullet because he runs as fast as one. The pilot for “Life Goes On” was Bullet’s first professional job.

Rin Tin Tin

Owned by Birds and Animals Unlimited, the German shepherd who stars in the Family Channel’s “Rin Tin Tin K-9 Cop” (Mondays-Fridays at 6 p.m., Saturdays at 7 p.m.) is a direct descendant of the original TV Rin Tin Tin from the 1950s.