OSCAR ANNOUNCES DOG TV & FILM AWARDS

Whether he gets that that Oscar nomination or not, it looks like Uggie the dog won't be going home empty pawed this award season.

Dog News Daily, the news service that covers Hollywood canines, has announced that they will be jumping into the busy trophy-giving fray by presenting the first ever Golden Collar Awards. The awards will honor the past year's Best Dog performances in five different show business categories, three in film and two in television.

The big screen prizes will go to Best Dog in a Theatrical Film, Foreign Film, and Direct-to-DVD Film; the small screen awards will fete Best Dog in both a Reality Television Series and a scripted Television Series.

Uggie, the canine star of "The Artist," whose playing dead, face-pawing, brave galloping and muted barking helped bring a sense of old Hollywood sparkle to the black and white silent film, has received remarkable support from internet fans eager to see the Academy Awards acknowledge his on-screen prowess.

He's even been sent on a goodwill tour, traveling to Britain this past week to make appearances on two of the nation's biggest shows, "BBC Breakfast" and "The Graham Norton Show."

In fact, Uggie is being held in such high esteem this year that he will be co-announcing the nominees with his "Artist" (human) co-star, Penelope Anne Miller, at a press conference in Hollywood on January 18th. The awards will be presented at the dog-friendly Hotel Palomar in Los Angeles on February 13th.

Cosmo, the dog from the Ewan McGregor/Christopher Plummer indie hit "Beginners," should also receive a nod in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category; in fact, perhaps both Uggie and Cosmo can be honored if "The Artist," with its French director and stars, is deemed a foreign enough film for this ceremony. Who else do you think deserves a nomination?