VOTD: An Animal Trainer Explains How Good Dogs Act In Movies

There are plenty of good dogs that audiences have fallen in love with on the big screen over the years. Even the canines who play very bad dogs are good dogs. Obviously, they're very well-trained, and if you've ever wondered exactly how filmmakers get the dogs to pull off key moments in movies, an animal trainer breaks down a few scenes featuring prominent canine actors being very good dogs. Find out how training dog actors makes for movie magic in Marley & Me, A Dog's Journey, and more.

Bonnie Judd worked as animal coordinator and head trainer on the recently released family drama A Dog's Journey, and here she explains how she gets the canine actors to do what they need to do in movies like Marley and Me, Air Bud: 7th Inning Fetch, and more.

The animal training for movies include teaching them how to hit certain marks with props in their mouth, which requires someone like Bonnie Judd to be on set and help guide the dog properly through a scene. She also explains how you can tell if a dog is stressed out by what they're doing so concerned parties can see that the animals trained on these movies are enjoying the work they're putting in as animal actors.

But animal acting isn't just about hitting marks and carrying stuff. It also includes showing emotion and doing real acting in pivotal scenes with actors. Judd explains that this can be difficult since actors talking to dogs and touching them often makes them perk up rather than sit still and keep quiet for a scene like the emotional one in Marley and Me.