Good People, Good Pups: Lisa Ann Walter on Her Dogs’ 'Parent Trap' Connection and Finding Her Pack

We all know Lisa Ann Walter from her iconic role as Chessy from the '90s classic The Parent Trap. But one other role stands out, and that is her role as a dog mom to two very different, albeit very loving rescue dogs. 

We caught up with the actress and author to learn more about life with Steve and Buster and how they became her tribe. 

Good Dog: Full disclosure, I did a little social media stalking to learn a little bit more about your dog, and I didn’t see much, so that story remains largely untold. So to start off, tell me a little about your dog.

Lisa Ann Walter: Well, first of all what you should know, I have two! So I’m wondering which one you saw pictures of. 

Actually, funny story. The way I found out you have a dog is I saw an interview you did in 2020 on Zoom and I saw some little ears poke up in the corner. 

[laughs]

So yeah, that's how I figured it out. But of course, we can talk about both dogs!

LAW: Steve is the first one. People always say “What kind of dog is Steve?” And I just say “He’s orange.”

We LOVE Steve. He’s a riot. Just one of the funniest dogs I’ve ever seen. Just goofy as all get out. His tail wags so hard his whole back end just won’t stop moving. He’s his own guy. He doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. 

Then there’s Buster. My daughter says he’s like one of those movies where a businessman gets trapped in a dog’s body and just wants to get home to his wife and kids. That’s how he looks, always: like he has something really important that he’s gotta take care of and he’s worried about it. 

Buster is unlike any dog I’ve ever had or that a friend had. He is serious. He’s a serious dog.

They sound like total opposites. How do they interact with one another?

Buster refers to Steve for treats and Steve refers to Buster for toys. Like if there’s a ball, I throw it and Buster runs to get it, Steve will be like “uhh…” and let him do it. I think they decided very early on what their domain was and they stuck with that.

They’re very good with getting treats, but Steve is better than Buster. Steve will do it immediately and then he looks at Buster like “Dude, come on, lay down. You’re gonna get a treat!” and then Buster will do it.

Buster is protective in that he’s always with me, but he’s serious about it. He’s not silly. You know what I mean?

Yeah totally. I imagine he was the one I saw in that video then. 

Oh yeah, he’s never far from me.

Has that made your relationship that much more special? Just having a dog that wants to be around you all the time?

Yes and I will say this, too — I always say this to Elaine, they’re the ones that I talk to. Especially in quarantine but even before that. I have 20-year-old twins. Weirdly identical twins born on the same day as the twins from The Parent Trap.

I have heard that fun fact before!

Yeah, it’s true! But they’re always in their room. They’re 20. They’re boys. They don’t want anything to do with me. They’re gaming and talking to their friends and doing their own thing.

You said you got your dogs when your boys were pretty young. What was their relationship with the dogs like?

They love them. They had this great puppy energy with Steve. Running back and forth. Playing with him and stuff like that. Buster, of course, is a much different dog but he was such a cute puppy. They absolutely adored him.

And now when they come into the room, they have to love both of them up. They hug and kiss those dogs non-stop. They won’t do it to me. I don’t get hugs and kisses, but the dogs do. All the time. 

How did you end up choosing Buster and Steve?

Well, interestingly enough, both of them have a great story. My best friend is Elaine Hendrix, who plays the mean girlfriend [Meredith Blake] in The Parent Trap. We started being best friends on set and just never stopped. She’s an animal rights activist and one of her rescues was a pregnant collie/shepherd mix. So she took the dog in and kept it until it gave birth to 6 puppies. She gave them only to people that she knew and trusted. She kept one and she gave me the other one. So that’s how I got Buster.

Going back a year, I hadn’t had a pet in a number of years and I really missed it. But I would do movies, so I would be away on sets for 3-4 months, so I couldn’t really get a dog at that point. I had a boyfriend who was allergic.

Then I got to the point where I wanted the dog more than I wanted the boyfriend. He was just disappointing me. A lot. And I thought, a dog never will. 

Were you right? Did the dog disappoint you less than the boyfriend?

100%. The dog never disappoints. The bad behavior is much reduced and all of the good behavior is amplified times ten. [laughs]

This might be hard, but if you could pick one favorite thing about each dog, what would it be?

I think with Buster...if I could pick two things I think one would be his loyalty. His constant love. And the other thing is how soft his fur is. I cannot stop kissing his head. It’s just the softest and it smells so good. 

People think I’m so crazy because I love sniffing their paws.

That’s a thing! We call it Frito paws because it kind of smells like Fritos.

[Laughs] Yeah! I don’t know why we’re obsessed with it. It must be some animal behavior. Because I heard that it smells like that from residual fecal matter. I don’t know if that’s true, I’m just reporting.

I will look into that.

Editor’s note: I did, in fact, look into that. “Fritos feet” are caused by bacteria called Pseudomonas and Proteus, which give off a yeasty odor that smells a bit like corn chips. Pets also sweat through their paws, so that could be what you smell! 

But with Steve, I think it’s how responsive he is when I pet him. When I’m loving him up. I’ve just never seen a tail wag that hard on a dog. Ever. He will like, knock you over with it. He’s just so effusive. Goofy and effusive with his appreciation for being loved on and pet. 

What’s it been like having them around in quarantine? Has having them made this time a little better? 

I have to say, honestly, I don’t know how I would have survived. I’m luckier than so many people that I’m making my rent. 

In fact, today was the first time I felt like I had to fight off feeling down. But up until today, I never had that thought. I have them to take care of. It’s so funny because they aren’t children. I don’t call myself a “fur mom” or anything like that. Maybe because I have four actual children. But I care for them and they are my people. They are my tribe. And vice versa. 

I think that we are each other’s pack. And because we are each other’s pack, we are there for each other. We’re all in this together, including them.