Starstruck: Casting call

Canines of all sizes and breeds answered The Howard Hughes Corp.'s casting call for the ideal Summerlin dog to be featured in an upcoming print advertisement for the master-planned community.

"Summerlin's current ad campaign features actual residents engaged in real life activities in the community," said Kim Haley, associate director of marketing for Hughes, developer of Summerlin. "Featuring a Summerlin dog seemed like a natural and fun addition to the campaign. After all, the community is full of dog lovers and their dogs who walk the trails and engage in a variety of outdoor activities."

Haley said Summerlin is a dog-friendly community, where trails and sidewalks are lined with "dogipots" -- receptacles for pet waste. Dogs also are welcome in the community's parks and at many of its events.

More than 100 dogs, with their owners, auditioned on a recent Saturday morning. The dogs and their owners were photographed and observed to determine how well the dogs behaved.

"We're not necessarily looking for graduates of obedience training, but we are concerned about the dog's ability to obey simple commands while being photographed. And we were impressed at the number of dogs who are K-9 therapy dogs or who participate in worthwhile programs such as the Reading to Rover program at the library," Haley said.

"We're (also) not necessarily looking for a highly pedigreed, award-winning dog. Rather, we're looking for an adorable, expressive dog with loads of personality that will put a smile on just about everyone's face. If we could feature all the dogs that showed up at our casting call, we would. They were all cute in their own way."

Among the hopefuls were Grant Fewsmith, owner of a long-haired Akita named Apache. Fewsmith hoped the decision would be based on how well the lucky candidate photographs.

"Apache is a beautiful dog with a commanding presence and a rich and colorful coat," he said. "We're hoping he does well."

Lesley Baumann and Ross Miller, owners of two yellow Labradors -- Jack and Portia -- hoped personality would impress the judges, as their dogs showed off their flying disc catching ability.

Another hopeful was Linda Martinelli, who brought four of her five beagles.

"I'm hoping there's strength in numbers," she said, referring to Buddy, Buster, Jasmine and Maci.

The judges' decision is expected by early April, with a photo shoot scheduled for early May.

"You can expect to see the Summerlin dog gracing the pages of Las Vegas newspapers and magazines by July," Haley said.

Summerlin aligns the western edge of the Las Vegas Valley, and is comprised of villages. It is home to Nevada's two Tournament Players Club golf courses, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Bear's Best course and several others.

There are 107 neighborhood and village parks, 107 miles of trails, 17 schools, houses of worship, shopping centers, medical facilities, cultural facilities and business parks.

Nearly 120 model homes showcase the available single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums, which are priced from the low $200,000s to more than $700,000.

Custom-home sites in The Ridges are priced from the high $500,000s to more than $1 million, and predesigned custom homes are priced from $2.1 million. Monthly apartment rents start from the low $800s.

For more information, visit www.reviewjournal.com/real estate and click on the Summerlin link.

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