I would say that is true of a lot of breeds and owners.

Unfortunately, it's not just dogs who are treated as novelties after being featured in the media. I'm the owner of a 12 year old black and white cat who was given to a child as a gift because he loved the 'Felix' cat.

Suffice it to say, at 5 weeks (far too young to be from his mother, but that's another story) he didn't perform the tricks the cartoon cat did and within days the child was bored of him. When his owner handed him over to me (after I had threatened her with the RSPCA and police), his tail had been broken (the child had decided she didn't like the white tip and had tried to snap it off) and she and her siblings had been throwing him back and forth between them like a ball. It took many months of hard work and visits to the vet to repair the physical and psychological damage done to him. I too wish people would look beyond the cute factor of both highly trained animal actors and cartoons and realise that an animal is a living creature who will require time, attention and care for it's entire life.