Schmeichel, Ozzy and Eccles at Coronation Street Tour

In celebration of National Pet Month three of Corrie’s pet pooches will be making an appearance at Coronation Street The Tour.

On Thursday 16th April, between 1pm and 5pm, guests to the visitor attraction will be able to meet and have a picture taken with Chesney’s Great Dane Schmeichel, Maria’s Labrador Ozzy and the Barlows' Border Terrier Eccles.

The pets’ handlers Anne and Clive Hunt, owners of Animal Capers, will be accompanying the loveable Corrie canines to the tour to answer questions and offer advice on being a responsible pet owner.

Michael Bellingham, Chairman of National Pet Month said: “National Pet Month: April 1 – May 4 provides us with a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the fantastic impact pets can have on our lives, to promote the importance of responsible pet ownership and to raise cash for the UK’s wonderful pet charities. Pets help to enrich and enhance our communities in so many ways and it’s great to see that reflected in popular dramas like Coronation Street.

“We’re delighted to hear that the Corrie pets will be treading the cobbles during National Pet Month. What a wonderful added bonus for fans visiting Coronation Street The Tour!”

The character of Schmeichel was played by four different Great Danes, the final animal actor to play the role was also called Schmeichel and was the grandson of Spike, the third dog to play Chesney’s beloved pet. It is this Schmeichel who will be returning to the Quay Street studios after filming his final scenes back in 2011.

Both Ozzy and Eccles still appear on the screen and will be taking a break from filming to pay a visit to the former Coronation Street set.

Coronation Street The Tour General Manager Andy Begg said: “Personal appearances at the tour have always proved very popular and I am sure that a visit from some of Coronation Street’s most loved pets will prove no exception. It is great that we can show our support and help raise awareness of National Pet Month whilst also enhancing our visitors’ experience.”

Tickets to Coronation Street The Tour can be booked online here. .

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The best bitch ever on Coronation Street

Eccles has had a lot of air time this week and even a storyline of her own.  So it's time to take a look at the best bitch there's ever been on Coronation Street.

Have all of the other dogs there have ever been on Corrie been male? I know there was Monica, who had no personality to speak of.

You can follow the real-life Eccles and her breeders on facebook.

With thanks to Corriepedia, let's have a look at Eccles, by 'eck.

Eccles is a Border Terrier who was owned by Lena Thistlewood, a friend of Blanche Hunt. When Lena died in January 2006, the dog was left to Blanche in her will. Bringing the dog back home from the funeral, the dog bit Ken Barlow. She was originally named Lady Freckles, but swiftly changed to Eccles as Amy couldn't pronounce the name.

Ken regularly took Eccles for walks along the tow path of Weatherfield Canal. In January 2009, Eccles jumped into the canal when chasing ducks, and was rescued by Martha Fraser, a touring actress who lived on a barge. Ken took a shine to Martha, and used their walks as an excuse to get him out of the house to meet Martha, although this stopped when Ken called time on the affair and returned to Deirdre.

When Blanche passed away in May 2010, she left the dog to Ken in her will. When Ken left for Canada in 2013 to tend to his grandson Adam, Eccles remained at number 1 with Deirdre. 

In June 2014 Eccles turned detective and sniffed out a stolen bracelet in the Barlows' backyard. It was a bracelet that Rob Donovan had stolen on the night he killed Tina McIntyre. Could Eccles' find ultimately lead to the downfall of Rob Donovan?


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Coronation Street's stray cat

There's a new cat on Coronation Street but it's not one that'll turn up on screen.

The cat is a stray and some cast and crew members have been takings pictures of it and posting them to twitter.

The Mirror reports today that Corrie cast and are feeding the cat and have quietly adopted it as they try to find out if it belongs to anyone.

Samia Ghadie, who plays Maria Connor, tweeted: “I’m not usually a cat person. But how cute is our Corrie cat!”

The Mirror's also listed Corrie's cast of cats - are any missing?

Bella – Maxine Peacock’s cat
Bobby - Minnie Caldwell’s first catBobby (originally Sunny Jim) – Minnie’s replacement cat
Cleo – Vera Duckworth’s mouser
Marmaduke – Betty Williams’ cat
Monty (actually Phoebe) – Stray befriended by Norris Cole
Rommel – Hilda Ogden’s cat
Sunny Jim – Jed Stone’s cat
Tiger – Natalie Horrocks’ cat
Tucker and Zammo (aka Pernod and Black) - Kittens taken in by Janice Battersby’s lodger, Trevor Dean

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Coronation Street fans vote Schmeichel as favourite pet

Coronation Street Blog readers have voted Schmeichel the dog as their favourite Corrie pet in a landslide victory. 311 of you voted and 192 (61.74%) voted for Chesney Brown's Great Dane, who appeared between 2004 and 2011.

In second place came the Barlows' dog Eccles with 27 votes (8.68%). She's appeared since 2006. Minnie Caldwell's cat Bobby came third with 21 votes (6.75%). There were two Bobbies - one that appeared between 1962 and 1968 and then from 1968 to 1976.

Maria Connor's dog Ozzy came fourth with 11 votes (3.54%). He's appeared since 2007. Mavis Riley's budgie Harriett came fifth with 10 votes (3.22%). She appeared between 1982 and 1990. Jack Duckworth's pigeon Scarlett came sixth with 8 votes (2.57%). She made her last appearance in 2009.

Simon Barlow's rabbit Leanne came seventh with 7 votes (2.25%). She appeared until 2009. Tyrone Dobbs' greyhound Monica came eighth with 6 votes (1.93%). She first appeared in 1999. Her last appearance is unknown.

Rita Sullivan's dog Mr Woo (2002), Craig Tinker's rat Darryl (2012- ) and Maxine Peacock's cat Bella all came ninth with 4 votes (1.29%). David Platt's rabbit Barney, Percy Sugden's budgie Randy (1983-1988, 1988-1997), Jed Stone's cat Sunny Jim (2008-2009) and Frisky the cat who appeared on the Corrie titles from 1990 until 2002 all received 3 votes (0.96%).

Jesse Chadwick's parrot John, Hilda Ogden's cat Rommel, Betty Williams' cat Marmaduke, the Duckworths' dog Boomer and Sean Tully's dog Shandy all received 1 vote (0.32%).

Happy with the results?

And if you haven't yet, you can vote for your favourite pillar of the community here. Voting closes at midnight on Monday, 2nd September.

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Wanted: Corrie fan pictures of pets watching Coronation Street

Coronation Street fan Barb Decoste in Canada has answered our call for pictures of your pets watching Coronation Street.  Here's Barb's daughter's cat watching Corrie on the telly, a few years ago.  Email your pictures in to us and the best ones get blogged!

See also: Is your dog addicted to Coronation Street?

Is your dog addicted to Coronation Street?

Ok, taking a deep breath and preparing to write the oddest blog post of the year...

Is your dog addicted to Coronation Street?  Oh yes, I really said that. A press release from The Dogs Trust as the UK switches over to digital TV says that: ‘The way digital is delivered seems to make it easier for dogs to watch.  We've thought for some time that dogs love watching telly to relax, either with their owners or by themselves.’  And they reckon that Coronation Street is a canine favourite. 

Ok, I know they'd say that just to get their press release in the news, but you know, I'm thinking there just might be some dogs out there who lie on the sofa, howl along to the theme tune, whine every time Deirdre comes on screen, barks at Betty or wags its tail when it spots Eccles.  Email your pictures and Youtubes to us of proper pets and we'll blog the best Corrie canine fans.

Have a look here for a long list of Youtube clips showing dogs singing along to the Corrie theme tune.

Eccles, the wonder dog

This is Tess. Tess is a border terrier, and Tess and her sisters, Phi and Maeve are TV stars. They in turn have played Eccles over the past couple of years on Coronation Street.

They've even got a website and a Facebook page - no kidding.

The main website belongs to Tess' breeder where you can see more photos of the dogs and there's even some video clips from the show and Harry Hill as well. Mouse over 'Coronation Street Eccles' and a menu will show to click on the video page.

Apparently all three dogs were used for the dunking in the canal when Ken met Martha. Marvellous stuff!

R.I.P Monica Dobbs

A poster over at the Digital Spy forums emailed ITV to find out just what had happened to Tyrone's dog, Monica, the reply was  as follows:

"Thank you for your e-mail. We’ve never had a scripted line, but it’s been at least 3 years since she was last seen, so I think we should assume that she died off-screen."

So it seems we'll never see Monica again, and adds another loss to poor Tyrone's family!

Meet the man who provides the pets for Corrie

Kevin Horkin's website is a gem. He first started providing advice on specs to the Coronation Street cast and ended up providing the pets!

Kevin's site shows some of the animals he's provided for Corrie, including Theresa the Turkey (pictured here), which the lovely Spider tried to save before it was killed on screen when Les Battersby ran it down.

Kevin also wrote the book Pets and Personalities on Coronation Street.

Go on, have a browse of Kevin's website, it's really nice.