Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jonathan Archer

Everyone on board a starship is important, from captain to crewmember, and this especially during Earth's first warp-five flight. Each has a vital role to play whether it's… Oh, who are we kidding? It's Porthos! Porthos is the best and most important good boy there ever was in Starfleet. Who else would be content with just a slither of cheese, even though he and Cheddar didn't get along! The first captain's pet on Star Trek, unless you count Livingston, Porthos was a constant and faithful companion to Archer throughout.

What you perhaps didn't know is that Porthos was played by three different dogs over the years: a male named Windy (probably all that cheese) in the first season, and thereafter two females called Breezy and Prada. Producers considered numerous breeds of dogs for the role but became enamoured with the beagle when they were brought in for 'audition'. The episode A Night in Sickbay also required two prop Porthoses — one for the super-hydration chamber and another for the quarantine box — designed and built by Harlow FX.

Forget his owner, Porthos was the star of the show. As André Bormanis (exec. story editor/writer) put it in the season four DVD extra Enterprise Goes to the Dogs: "She's a scene-stealer, so we try to use the dog sparingly. People have pitched any number of Porthos episode[s]." The four-legged pioneer was once even 'interviewed' by StarTrek.com, but it's way past April Fool's by now.