Photo: Great American Media 2026 / Shane Mahood
Ten years ago, Niffy was a puppy living alone in an abandoned building in Saskatchewan. This November, she will appear in a Christmas movie alongside Stephanie Bennett and Trevor Donovan.
That is quite a career trajectory.
Niffy stars as Shep in A Christmas Rescue, a new holiday film built around a small-town Christmas celebration that grows to include a pet adoption event. The role is an especially fitting one for a dog whose own life began with rescue.
After being found as a puppy, Niffy was adopted and went on to build a life that has been anything but ordinary. She competes in flyball, has worked in film and television and regularly visits personal care homes, where she spends time with residents.
Her newest role adds Christmas rom-com star to an already unusually varied résumé.
Photo: Great American Media 2026 / Shane Mahood
In the film, Bennett plays Emma Ross, a physician involved in the town's annual Christmas Cares celebration, while Donovan plays veterinarian Matthew McGuire. As the event develops, pet adoption becomes part of the festivities, with Shep landing right at the center of the story.
There is a nice bit of symmetry in seeing Niffy in a film about helping animals find homes. Her screen character may be part of a fictional adoption story, but the reason Niffy is there at all traces back to a very real one.
What makes her story particularly charming is everything that came after. Rescue was only the beginning. In the years since, Niffy has become an athlete, a working dog and a familiar visitor to people in care homes, all before adding a starring movie role to the list.
A Christmas Rescue begins streaming on Great American Pure Flix on November 26 and premieres on Great American Family and GFAM+ on November 28.
By then, viewers will know her as Shep. But Niffy already had a pretty good story before Hollywood came calling.
Sources: Great American Media / PR Newswire and PEOPLE.
