Kristin Chenoweth: The Joys of Adopting a Rescue Dog

Hi everybody! It’s Kristin Chenoweth here, and I’m so excited to be at my cover shoot for Guideposts magazine. 

I want everyone to meet my new baby—I, too, am a mother. I just happen to be a mother to a furry child. This is Thunder. She’s just had a photo shoot for Guideposts, so she’s really tired, but this is her.

[speaking to Thunder] Oh, yeah, you want me to hold you like a baby?

She’s a rescue, so I don’t know actually how big she’s going to get. I just pray she doesn’t get bigger than me. I guess it goes back to you never know what you’re going to get, and we’re all just mutts so I don’t care if she is a ninety-pound dog. She’s mine.

She travels with me everywhere. I find it very calming for me to have her. She is my emotional support animal, sol when I fly she can be just like this in my lap. She’s very well-behaved and I’m training her to be a very good lady (laughs).

One of the last times I was in Guideposts, I had my maltese, Madeline Kahn Chenoweth, with me. I had her for 14 years. I didn’t think I could ever love another dog like I loved Madeline. 

Madeline actually hated my singing voice—she actually left the room when I began to sing, and I had to explain to her that people paid money to come hear me in concert, but she didn’t care. 

This dog actually likes my voice, I’m happy to say; either that, or she’s a very good actress and should be nominated for an Academy Award. 

I think people who have animals … and children, someone to take care of, it brings them peace, and I know for me, having a dog brings me a lot of peace. I saw a saying once and I actually believe it: “Dog is God spelled backwards.” And being a God person, it just would make sense that I’m a dog person.