As a Saturday Night Live cast member beloved for her hilarious celebrity impressions and perky presence, Chloe Fineman always makes us laugh, and she finds much comic inspiration from a surprising source: her adorable Shiba Inu, Peach. Fineman’s pup is a regular on her Instagram page, @chloeiscrazy, and he even has a page of his very own, under the handle @peachiscrazy.
The devoted dog mom recently partnered with Hill’s Pet Nutrition to share how their Science Diet Perfect Weight food is helping her fuzzy friend shed a few extra pounds. “I think anyone with a dog is always on a journey for the best food,” she says. “A couple of months ago I took Peach to the vet. He was kind of agitated and grumpy, and it turned out he had put on a little bit of weight. I had some guilt, but since eating Hill’s, he’s dropped 3 or 4 pounds, which is a lot!”
Read on to see what Fineman has to say about her sweet relationship with Peach, how she balances pet parenting with her busy schedule, Peach’s scene-stealing turn in an SNL sketch and more.
First for Women: How did Peach come into your life?
Chloe Fineman: I’ve had weird career goals, and one of my first career milestones was definitely just “Get dog.” I’ve wanted Peach forever, and I had a Shiba Inu growing up.
He truly was a COVID puppy. I got him in Pittsburgh and he’s just made my life so much better. It definitely also came about because my boyfriend at the time was like, “You’re treating me like an emotional support animal,” and then I was like, “Oh, I should just get one,” and that’s where it started.
FFW: What is Peach’s personality like?
CF: Gosh, I always say he’s like a f–kboy. He’s very cute, he’s independent, he gives you a little bit of love, but not too much. He’s really weird, and Shiba Inus are definitely a weird breed. They’re really funny and smart and I’d say they’d be rated a 10 in terms of high difficulty for a new puppy. They really are their own people.
FFW: How do you balance taking care of Peach with your chaotic SNL schedule?
CF: It’s definitely been a lot of trial and error. He really can’t do daycare. He doesn’t like it and got kicked out of a couple of them, and he went through a few dog walkers. He needs routine, like a little kid, so I take him out on a morning walk and then, around 3 or 4, he goes on a big 90-minute walk, and he’s good. Shiba Inus are great city dogs because they’re very independent. He’s not needy and never cares when I leave, kind of like a cat.
FFW: Peach appeared in a hilarious holiday SNL sketch. How did he come to make his screen debut?
CF: That sketch came about in a crazy way. He was really little, and a couple of us were bringing our dogs to video shoots, because we weren’t using the studio. We were shooting in Brooklyn and everyone just loved Peach. He was so cute.
At the last minute, something happened with a different dog and I happened to have Peach there, so it was truly a day-of game-time decision, like, “Can he do it?” They made him a little robe within an hour, in classic SNL fashion. A lot of it was peanut butter acting. They put peanut butter on a bunch of stuff and that got him to look curious about the props.
Shooting that with the crew was so special. I still work with all those guys and Peach as a puppy is something we all like to talk about and remember. He likes the camera, and he’s been held by Kristen Wiig, which is very cool.
FFW: And he even has his own SNL photo shoot!
CF: That was another magical thing. He was a puppy, and what I did was bad. I snuck him in the back, because no one could know. Jason Bateman was the host and Mary Ellen Matthews, our staff photographer, was like, “Here, let’s get Peach really quick!” And we just popped him on a stool and did this amazing shoot. I’ll always have these pictures, and they’re so special. They look like a greeting card.
FFW: Do you have a favorite pop-culture dog?
CF: I think Snoopy is so funny, and Kenan Thompson doing Snoopy on SNL recently really made me laugh.
FFW: What’s the funniest thing Peach does?
CF: You can pet Peach for a little bit and then he walks away, so I always like to joke that Peach has to go take a business call.
