Hollywood Animal Trainer on What ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Did Wrong
Veteran Hollywood animal trainer Bill Berloni said it was “gut-wrenching” to watch the leaked footage from the set of “A Dog’s Purpose” showing a German shepherd named Hercules being forced into turbulent water — and that the trainers didn’t act properly to get the shot.
According to Berloni, whose animal training credits include “The Wiz Live” and “Billions,” everything in the dog-training game is about positive reinforcement, repetition and making it fun for the dog.
[...] safety and comfort is an animal handler’s No. 1 concern, and that’s not what Berloni saw out of Gary Gero’s Birds & Animals Unlimited, the provider of Hercules and Hollywood’s go-to for all sorts of animal actors.
In a statement, Amblin said, While 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.
On the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.
No.
[...] everybody ethically would have backed us on it.
[...] if Hercules isn’t much of a water dog — German shepherd’s probably aren’t the best breed for such a scene, Berloni said — the production could have looked for more-willing participants.