At the height of her popularity, Gidget traveled by limo and first-class in planes. She even got a seat on the company’s private jet for a trip to Manhattan to open up the New York Stock Exchange. Sue Chipperton, Gidget’s trainer for Studio Animal Services, and with whom Gidget lived for most of her life, said the Chi was constantly mobbed by people even though she was careful to make sure very few people knew Gidget was the real Taco Bell dog. “They could come over and go ‘Oh that looks like the Taco Bell dog!'” Chipperton said. She added that Gidget was expected to follow commands and was never carried when she could walk on her own. As a result, Chipperton said, “her personality was that of a big dog.”

Gidget had previously done an ad campaign for Old Navy and kept working after her stint with Taco Bell ended, and she appeared as the mother of “Bruiser” in 2003’s “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,” and in a 2003 commercial for insurance company GEICO. Gidget was also the subject of the book, “A Famous Dog’s Life.”

Gidget lived a good life. In later years, the spunky little dog enjoyed a daily sunbath, and always had her favorite toys and beds. Gidget was released from suffering after a stroke in 2009 at the age of 15.