Veteran Hollywood animal trainer Bill Berloni said it was \u201cgut-wrenching\u201d to watch the leaked footage from the set of \u201cA Dog\u2019s Purpose\u201d showing a German shepherd named Hercules being forced into turbulent water \u2014 and that the trainers didn\u2019t act properly to get the shot.
\u201cIf an animal isn\u2019t willing to perform, you have to stop there \u2026 for whatever reason,\u201d Berloni told TheWrap.
That\u2019s not what appeared to happen on the set of \u201cA Dog\u2019s Purpose,\u201d which prompted an insider to expose the footage and PETA to call for a boycott of the Amblin Entertainment feature, which Universal plans to release on January 27.
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So what is the right way to film that scene? According to Berloni, whose animal training credits include \u201cThe Wiz Live\u201d and \u201cBillions,\u201d everything in the dog-training game is about positive reinforcement, repetition and making it fun for the dog. Oh, and you have to have the right animal.
\u201cWhat I would do is have a swimming double dog, who loves jumping into crazy water,\u201d he said. \u201cNot knowing the situation, [Hercules] might have been that dog. But what I want to have is a dog that I\u2019m holding back [from jumping in].\u201d
\u201cIf that dog in that moment isn\u2019t telling me, \u2018I want to go in,\u2019 then it\u2019s like, \u2018OK, guys, I don\u2019t think we shoot this today.’\u201d
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That takes guts because it costs the production money. In addition, Berloni noted that the trainer tends to be the lone advocate for an animal\u2019s interests on most Hollywood sets.
Still, safety and comfort is an animal handler\u2019s No. 1 concern, and that\u2019s not what Berloni saw out of Gary Gero\u2019s Birds & Animals Unlimited, the provider of Hercules and Hollywood\u2019s go-to for all sorts of animal actors.
(Birds & Animals Unlimited did not immediately respond to TheWrap\u2019s request for comment. In a statement, Amblin said, \u201cWhile we continue to review the circumstances shown in the edited footage, Amblin is confident that great care and concern was shown for the German Shepherd Hercules, as well as for all of the other dogs featured throughout the production of the film. There were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts. On the day of the shoot, \u202aHercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.\u201d)
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It\u2019s important to prepare animals for scenes that might frighten them or put them in danger. \u201cNo animals walk into my life and say, \u2018Hey, I want to be put in stressful situations,\u201d Berloni explained. \u201cAnd so I believe if we\u2019re going to use animals we have a moral obligation to keep them safe.\u201d
\u201cReplace that dog with a child,\u201d he continued. \u201cWould we have done that with a child? Would we have struggled that much to push a child in? No. And everybody ethically would have backed us on it.\u201d
And if Hercules isn\u2019t much of a water dog \u2014 German shepherd\u2019s probably aren\u2019t the best breed for such a scene, Berloni said \u2014 the production could have looked for more-willing participants.
\u201cGo to Long Island Sound \u2014 you see them jumping in the water all the time,\u201d he suggested. \u201cThat\u2019s what you would double that dog with.\u201d
Beyond being heart-broken over the footage, Berloni is also just plain bummed. He said he had been looking forward to seeing \u201cA Dog\u2019s Purpose\u201d in theaters next Friday, but now he\u2019s among planning to boycott the film.
Read original story Hollywood Animal Trainer on What \u2018A Dog\u2019s Purpose\u2019 Did Wrong At TheWrap<\/p>\n

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