The Trainer of Eddie the Dog from ‘Frasier’ on the Pup’s Path to Hollywood and His IRL Rivalry with Kelsey Grammer

When retired cop Martin Cain moved in with his pedantic, self-important psychiatrist son, Frasier, only two traces of his regular-guy life were allowed into his son’s pristine, minimalist apartment. The first was his hideous recliner, and the second was a Jack Russell Terrier named Eddie. 

While both got on Frasier’s nerves, his rivalry with the small canine was one of the funniest elements of the eponymous ‘90s TV show. Eddie would often openly defy Frasier’s many rules and even spontaneously challenge Frasier to an impromptu staring contest (which Eddie always won). 

For the first nine seasons of the show, which began in 1992, Eddie was played by the adorable rescue dog Moose, who usually stole at least one scene per episode and became a celebrity in his own right. He even adorned the covers of TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly — sometimes even without Kelsey Grammer. In the show’s final three seasons, however, the aging Moose retired and was replaced by his son Enzo. 

Both dogs have since passed, but their television legacies remain strong. I recently spoke with Mathilde De Cagny, the award-winning trainer who raised both Moose and Enzo, on Moose’s humble origins, unforgettable on-set moments from the show and Grammer’s actual behind-the-scenes rivalry with his canine co-star. 

To kick things off, where did Moose originally come from?

He came from Florida, the Orlando area. He belonged to a family, a breeder of Jack Russells. They ended up keeping him, but after a year or so, it turned out that he was absolutely out-of-control, more than any Jack Russell they’d encountered before. He had killed a cat and got in trouble with a horse and chewed up the walls and he was always barking. So, after a year and a half, the husband told his wife, “It's either me or the dog.”

She was working at a vet’s office at the time, and she brought him to work one day to drop him off at the shelter afterwards. Then a trainer came in who worked for Birds and Animals Unlimited, which is the company I work for, and she asked the trainer, “By any chance, would you want this dog?” and she explained how he’s out-of-control. The trainer said, “Yeah, we’ll give it a shot.” After that, I saw his pictures and said, “Send him to me in California.”

I got him and started training him, and he was a nightmare. It was really hard. He was really defiant and very mischievous. Then, early on, we got a call from the producers of Frasier and they said, “We’re looking for a dog to be in our pilot, and we’re wondering if you could show us what you have.” My boss, Gary Gero, gave us a list of dogs already trained to show to the producers. But he also said, “Oh, let’s just take Moose too. I know he isn’t trained, but that will give us another dog. It’ll show more dogs. More is better than not enough.”

Normally, especially back then, when you do those kinds of auditions, they want to see dogs do tricks one at a time. But for this specific one, they actually said, “We don’t care about the tricks because the dog doesn’t have anything to do. He’s just got to stare at an actor, so don’t worry about tricks. Just take them all out, line them up, make them sit in line, and we’ll just take a look.” So we did, and I took Moose out and the set designer was there along with the producers, creators and Kelsey Grammer. They’re all sitting lined up — seven dogs of all different sizes and breeds — and they take a look at each of them and the set designer goes, “This one. Look at the size and his color. He’s going to look great on the set. It’s going to be beautiful.” I just had wide eyes and I looked at my boss and my boss said, “Yeah! Great! No problem.”

The pressure was on. Basically, I had a month or so to train this dog to sit and look at Kelsey. Except that was the one thing that Moose didn’t like to do: sit still. He was a very active dog. He was very active and very strong-willed. I had to tie him up to a big sandbag to teach him just to be patient and wait.

Finally, we got to the first show and I still didn’t trust him — I never did, for 11 years, by the way. I was so nervous about him misbehaving that I ended up asking them if I could tie him up to a board hidden underneath the cushions, which we did. We only did that for the first episode, though. Really, he was ready by the time the show began; I was just nervous.

Eddie staring at Frasier kind of became a running joke on the show. What was done to get him to do that?

Yes, that got to be the signature trick for him. Basically, I trained him to watch my fingers or watch what you call a bait stick, which is like a little stick with treats at the end of it. Or Kelsey would give him treats. So it was two or three different ways that I would get him to do that.

Can we talk about how popular he got?

Oh, he became extremely popular — huge! He had ties. He had a whole wardrobe of stuff being sold. Then he was on the front page of Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and The Los Angeles Times.

What was that like for you?

It was amazing because it was so great to be able to make people so happy. We would go out, and everyone would ask, “Can I pet him?” and I’m like, “Of course.” And it was good for him too. Just to share his celebrity with whomever was such a treat.

Whenever we traveled, it was first class everywhere and the pilot would say, “We have a guest on the plane, and his name is Eddie from Frasier.” He had his frequent flyer card, and he traveled American Airlines everywhere. And, most of the time, we got to go to the Four Seasons. At the Four Seasons, they made him a little robe with the tree logo and his name on it. It was true celebrity treatment. I loved being able to share him, because people on the street can’t run up and kiss Kelsey Grammer, but they can kiss the dog.

I’ve read in interviews that Moose wasn’t a very affectionate dog. Was that a product of his training? 

No, it’s part of his personality. At the beginning, he was very independent. He was a dog that was always getting in trouble. He was very active and constantly looking for something to do. Therefore, physical affection wasn’t something he got a lot of. Then, on set, he was just focused on me, as I was just off-camera in his scenes.

What was the relationship like between John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane, with Moose?

To him, even though he really liked Moose, he was kind of like another prop. It was something else he had to deal with. When we weren’t working though, everyone was like, “Oh Moose!” and they were all simpatico toward him.

What about Kelsey Grammer. What was he like with Moose?

He, uh, had his days. Some days he was really good, and some days, the actors get into their acting. And again, Moose wasn’t the most warm, loving dog — not like a little labradoodle. But Kelsey was fine. He had a lot on his mind and a lot to do, so the dog wasn’t a priority — far from that.

There are some interviews from back then in which Kelsey Grammer almost seems to complain about Moose. I could never tell if it was a bit — because Frasier didn’t like Eddie on the show — or if he was genuinely annoyed by the dog.

He had his days. And, generally, he didn’t understand why the dog was getting so much attention. The way he explains it, he went to acting school. He worked for years and years and years on his skills as an actor. Then we show up and the dog is there and he barks, and people are all like, “Oh my God, he’s such an amazing actor!” That kind of pissed him off.

He couldn’t understand why the dog would get so much attention — sometimes more than he did — when the dog wasn’t doing anything. He didn’t have years of theater background or singing or piano playing. You know, Kelsey is extremely talented and cultured. And Moose’s fame was so unexpected. It was never supposed to be a show about the dog, but the dog somehow took over everything.

What other memories from Frasier stand out for you?

Well, Eddie was usually only in one or two scenes and, because we didn’t have so much to do, and because he got so popular, I had an idea. You know how they have a warm-up comedian on those shows? I offered, because it was kind of fun, that we do a little dog show for the audience in the middle of the long taping. He’d do all these tricks because he’d learned a lot of stuff over the years. The audience went bonkers for that.

Do you have a favorite episode or moment with Eddie?

There was a Christmas show where Eddie had to bring out a sock or something from the bedroom. Rehearsal went fine, but then, during taping, the set decorator turned on this dancing Santa Claus behind the couch, which we didn’t rehearse with. While we were taping, Moose comes flying onto the couch from backstage and he grabs the Santa Claus and shakes it, trying to kill it, basically. We ended up removing the Santa Claus from the set because of that.

Why did Moose leave the show?

He worked for nine years, then he started falling asleep on the set. He was getting old, and he wasn't quite as sharp. Then Enzo took over. Enzo had shorter hair and was a little thinner. Not a perfect match, but pretty close. Moose lived until he was 16, so very old. 

He and Enzo hated each other, though. They were enemies. They couldn’t be in the same room together.

Oh wow. What was Enzo like?

The exact opposite. The nicest, smartest, easiest dog I ever encountered. He was the best. Just the opposite of his dad.

I will say this about Moose, though: The fact that he was so defiant and so difficult for me to manage — and I was a young trainer at the time — taught me how to be a trainer. It’s like, if you train a golden retriever, a golden retriever doesn’t teach you anything. They’re a good dog, but they’re very predictable. Moose was never, ever predictable. I’d have to really calibrate what I was going to do. He tried to outsmart me — and he did, many times. That taught me how to set a different mindset. I would never, ever be the trainer I am now if it wasn’t for him.