A Newbury Park dog is set to make her latest network television appearance this fall.

Nika, a red chow, will appear in the first episode of a new ABC-TV show, "Pushing Daisies," created and produced by "Men In Black" director Barry Sonnenfeld.

Eighteen-month-old Nika was "discovered" while participating in puppy training classes at the Petsmart store in Westlake Village.

The store's trainer, Linda Voller, recommended Nika to Doree Sitterley, an independent animal trainer who works with Hollywood studios to find and train animals for TV and film projects.

Sitterley admits she was unsure about Nika at first because chows have a reputation for being aggressive.

"There are no studio-trained chows in the business," she said. "Nika really changed my mind about the breed."

Voller attributes Nika's talents in part to her owner, Cindy Homel, who has done a great job of socializing and training Nika, said Voller.

"My job is to train people to train their dogs," Voller said. "Cindy's obvious love for Nika and her dedication to training and socializing her made her just a great dog."

Homel, who was born and raised in the Conejo Valley, got her love of the chow breed from her husband, Richard, who died in 1999 after just eight years of marriage.

Just before his death, he had given Cindy a puppy as a gift — a red chow they named Kita. The death of her husband in a medical procedure that went wrong plunged Homel into a deep depression, and she admits the young Kita didn't get the companionship and attention she should have received.

"Kita grew up with me just being very depressed," said Homel, "and she was just isolated."

In December 2005, Homel decided to get another pet, both as a companion for Kita and as a new focus for herself.

She searched all over for a red chow puppy and finally found one at a breeder in Stockton.

She didn't know she'd also be getting a Hollywood canine star.

Sitterley cast Nika in an episode of the TV show "The Gilmore Girls" that aired in February.

Then, when Animal Actors of Hollywood received the script for the pilot of "Pushing Daisies," they turned to her for help.

"There was a chow in the script," Sitterley said. Having worked with Nika on "The Gilmore Girls," of course, she knew where to find one.

"Nika adjusted well to studio life as an acting animal," she said. "Not all dogs are cut out to be performers, and Nika never let us down."

It's not Cindy Homel's first brush with Hollywood.

Her father-in-law, Robert B. Homel, was given the first Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1956 for producing the Japanese film "Samurai," released in the U.S. the year before. Cindy Homel still has the gold statuette, which is one of her few remaining links to her husband's family.

Sitterley predicts there will be more moments in the spotlight for Nika.

"If anyone calls me again for a chow, I don't need to look any farther than Nika and Cindy," she said. "They are a great team, and the love and attention Cindy gives Nika shows on and off the screen."

Homel said the income from Nika's acting career is a great help. She is now a full-time student at California Lutheran University studying psychology. She hopes one day to work as a clinical psychotherapist, specializing in grief and tragedy counseling.

More importantly, though, Nika has turned out to be a large part of the healing process for both Homel and Kita.

Kita has a companion and playmate. Homel has a pet that helped her move on with her life.

"Nika's just been a ray of sunshine, a ball of laughs," she said. "She makes home just a more fun place to be, not just for me but for Kita. It was just too sad and serious for so long, and Nika changed all that."