Actress and animal behaviorist Isabella Rossellini reveals Top Dog Tips

Many know Isabella Rossellini as a legendary model and actress, but some don’t know her second act as an animal behaviorist.

Rossellini, 72, performed on Tuesday, October 22 at The Science Museum in Boston for a discussion with Dr. Brian Hare, author of Puppy Kindergarten: The New Science of Raising a Great Dog.

In the discussion is Death becomes her the actress opened up about her love of training service dogs and revealed the unexpected canine guest she received one Christmas while volunteering for The Guide Dog Foundation.

“Generally they send me a dog that is pregnant two weeks before she has the puppies. Then she has the puppies and I send them all back to the Guide Dog Foundation when they are six weeks old (for training),” Rossellini explained to the crowd. “Two years ago they called me on Christmas Day, and I’m Catholic. They said, ‘There’s a breeder dog that doesn’t have a place to live.’ I said, ‘Sure, Rosie can come!’

Rosie had 12 puppies in her first litter and 4 in her second. Rossellini plans to adopt Rosie as his beloved pet when the pup retires from breeding future guide dogs through the Guide Dog Foundation.

Daughter of actress Ingrid Bergman and filmmaker Robert Rossellini, the Conclave star says she’s “never been without a dog” in her life.

“I’ve always had dogs, cats, hamsters and little birds,” Rossellini told PEOPLE. “As I got older and I worked less as a model and actress, I went back to university and completed my master’s degree in ethology, which is the science of animal behavior.”

Never miss a story – sign up PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to keep you updated on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

For 20 years, Rossellini has volunteered to help raise future service dogs. The animals help people ranging from veterans with PTSD to those living with a visual impairment. In addition to the dog Rossellini cares for the Guide Dog Foundation, she owns two mixed dogs: Darcy, who is a trained acrobat, and Pinnochio, a rescue dog Rossellini found on the street.

Although she is not dedicated to a particular breed, Rossellini said she would like to have a sheepdog one day to help with the sheep she raises on her farm, where she is also joined by chickens, goats and even bees. (“They’re not very friendly,” she notes.)

In terms of her expert dog-raising tips, Rossellini recommends that people choose their future puppy based on the dog’s temperament rather than its looks.

“I think there’s a lot of ignorance about dogs and we generally choose them today for looks, which is bad. Choose for temperament over looks,” Rossellini said. “We’ve created bulldogs, French bulldogs and English bulldogs, but these dogs suffer enormously because they can’t breathe. But we’ve bred them this way because we just like the way they look, and the dog has an enormous difficulty.”

PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How fast can you solve it? Play now!

Rossellini advises those adopting their next dog from a rescue to discuss with the shelter what kind of puppy would be a good fit for their family.

“If you adopt a dog, you can say, ‘I have kids, I have cats,’ and they can find a dog that fits your lifestyle instead of just picking the dog that looks cute,” Rossellini noted .