and I was not disappointed. She had all the dogs living in her house with her, and she definitely wasn’t in it for the money; she charged half the “going rate” for a chin, $1,250 instead of $2,500. I was taking my kids on a road trip that included coming down here to L.A., the town I grew up in (and once again reside in) so the breeder agreed to keep Jasmine an extra month to accommodate my schedule, I picked her up from the breeder at four months instead of the more customary three. The whole process took about eight months because once I found the breeder, I had to wait for a litter, hers was a very small operation. So once the litter came it was four females.. I had to pick her out from a photo of the four, so I just picked the one with the most black; I have no fashion sense so I have a lot of black clothes. The breeder told me to pick out a name and she would start calling her by that name right away. So I picked Jasmine, and when I went to pick her up with my daughters, the breeder gave me a blanket with Jasmine’s name embroidered on it and because I picked her up at four months instead of three, she was completely litter box trained. I already had two cats at home so I just switched Jasmine from going in a litter box to going on a puppy pad, it was very easy. As far as the strategy of picking the dog from the litter with the most black, that didn’t really have much of an effect. I’m still covered with white hair, though I’m always unsure as to whether it’s Jasmine’s or mine. As far as training is concerned, when I first got her and she was a small puppy (about the size of a guinea pig), we took an American Kennel Club “Canine Good Citizenship” class, and because of what I learned there I took her around early and made sure she was socialized; used to other dogs, and used to children. That’s it, the rest she does on her own, and the reason she’s so chill, well I’m sure it’s the breed. DD: You come from a famous family, The Barrymores, were there many dogs owned in that family or were they more cat people? JB: My mother, Cara Williams, was born in Brooklyn and her parents weren’t really pet people but my mother has always had a dog, right now she’s got a Peekapoo or however it’s spelled, a Pekinese and Poodle mix named Gigi. Gigi is one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever seen and even Jasmine is a little too smart for my own good. My father’s parents, my grandfather John Barrymore and my grandmother Dolores Costello, they were definitely dog people. I never met my paternal grandfather; he died in 1942, twelve years before I was born, but in his will he
left his dog to the care of his Japanese gardener. I don’t know how that really worked out since in 1942 if you were Japanese you were probably headed for an internment camp. I never asked but my guess is that even though they were divorced Dolores probably took the dog. Dolores I got to know fairly well during my twenties, I was living in Vista, in the North San Diego County,and Dolores had an Avacado Ranch in Fallbrook, also in North County. She had an entire pack of dogs there, seven or eight of them and in that pack, as in many packs of dogs or wolves, the alpha dog was a female. Yes, that’s right, with canines the alpha male is just as frequently a female. DD: Do you consider Jasmine your friend, child, or pet and is she an important part of your day? JB: She’s my friend, and a very important part of my day. She always makes me smile, and people nearly always smile when they see her, though sometimes they’re just laughing at the image of the two of us together. DD: When you and Jasmine go out on the town, does she attract a lot of attention? JB: Sometimes I’ll have four beautiful women on their knees making a fuss over my dog, and one will look up and I’ll say, “I swear this is not why I got her.” and it’s not why I got her. I got her because even from the time she was a puppy she spends eighty to ninety percent of her time just sitting on a pillow. I found a dog that matched my lifestyle; I didn’t want a dog like a Jack Russell that I would have to run the energy out of every day, I’m not exactly a jock. Apparently, though, when it comes to attracting female attention, Jasmine was the dog to get, and I’m certainly not complaining about it. Guys have tried to rent her from me! DD: Any advice you would give someone who is looking to get a puppy or dog? JB: Dogs are pack (social) animals. They don’t like to be left alone, they’re not at ease when they’re alone. If you work long hours and can’t take your dog with you, get two dogs so they can keep each other company, or get a cat. DD: Since you are an actor, has Jasmine done any acting? JB: Oh yes. I played a gay Lebanese porn director in a thing called CGI Sex Files; it was one of those Showtime Friday night guilty pleasures erotic thriller type of things. I held Jasmine for the entire scene. Then, for the same director, James Bills, I had a much larger part in his film Hitchhiker Massacre (spoiler alert: I’m the massacre-er).
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