Terry, cast as Toto in "The Wizard of Oz", was owned by an elderly couple in Pasadena,as a pup Terry so shy she spent most of her days hiding under the bed refusing to come out. The couple were not at all pleased with Terry, so they took her to Carl Spitz who trained dogs in Hollywood.Spitz trained Terry and helped her overcome her shyness,however the couple never paid Spitz for his efforts and never came back to claim Terry. Spitz had trained Buck, the St. Bernardino "Call of the Wild"and was well known at MGM for his ability to handle dogs during filming.One day while MGM director Clarence Brown was visiting Spritz's kennel, when he laid eyes on Terry.Brown remarked to Spitz, that Terry would be perfect for the role as Toto in "The Wizard of Oz".Spitz disagreed and felt that Terry was just to shy to ever make it in the pictures,he wanted no part in handling Terry during the filming.
Brown would not take no for an answer and agreed that he personally would handle Terry during the filming of the movie.MGM was willing to pay Spitz $300.00 per week for Terry's role as Toto. (Judy Garland got paid $500.00/weekly).but Spitz settled for $125.00/wk since he believed that Terry wouldn't last a week on the job. Of course, Brown and Terry got along fabulously and the little Cairn did better than anyone ever expected.Years later Judy Garland and Ray Bolger both commented on how willful, stubborn and difficult Terry was during rehearsals,but once the lights came on and cameras started rolling,the Cairn knew how to hit all her marks and was quiet the professional.So, that's the story behind Terry the Cairn from Pasadena who made it BIG in "The Wizard of Oz
"