Certified Animal Action Overview

No Animals Were Harmed™ was on set to ensure every animal moment in this movie was treated with care, patience, and plenty of behind-the-scenes teamwork. Before each scene, trainers guided the horse and dogs to their marks, used calm verbal cues and surrounded them with familiar comforts like treats and shade. Even the more dramatic moment like a galloping horse, a tablecloth pull or a tense walk through a field were created through simple cues, props and delicate staging that kept the animals relaxed and engaged in natural behaviors.

Detailed Animal Action Report

In the scene where the actress walks out of a house and sees a horse standing in the middle of the field before it gallops off, prior to filming trainers set up a wire fence around the perimeter so the horse wouldn’t escape. Before filming, the trainer walked the horse to its mark. Another trainer stood nearby and off-camera. On action, one trainer removed the halter and lead rope and walked away from the horse, while the other called out to the horse. They shot this scene several times. The horse was checked between takes.

In the scene where the actor pulls up to the house and gets out of the truck with a new dog, prior to filming trainers placed the dog in the backseat of the car. On action, the actor got out of the car, opened the back door and lifted dog out, placing her on floor before she was visually cued by an animal handler to search for hidden treats that were spread around the porch. The dog subsequently looked for the treats while the actors exchanged dialogue.

In the scene where the dog runs around the house barking and the actress gets on her hands and knees and barks back at him, prior to filming trainers brought the dog to set. They also placed sausage treats around the set and placed the dog on his mark. On action, the handler cued the dog to run around and search for hidden treats. When the actor got on all fours and interacted with the dog, barking at him, the trainer stood off-camera and cued the dog to bark back at her.

In the scene when the actress goes in the bedroom and sees her husband sleeping with the dog, trainers placed the dog on the bed next to the actor and stood off-camera.

In the scene where the actors sit at the dining room table and the actress yells at dog before the dog tugs the tablecloth off the table, pulling its contents onto the floor, before filming, the props department placed tableware on a tablecloth on the dining table, which consisted of plastic utensils, cups, and bowls and a breakaway (sugar) glass cup designed to break apart on impact. Just before they called action, the trainer leashed the dog and positioned him on a sit-stay at the corner of the table while the wrangler stood out of the frame. On action, the trainer cued the dog to bite the tablecloths’ corner and pull it off the table, causing the tableware to fall on the ground. Simultaneously, the other trainer verbally cued the dog to run to him. Just as the tableware hit the ground, the dog ran to the front door to clear away from the area.

In the scene when the actors drive down a road and hit something that looks like an animal from their pov, before they get out of the car with their dog, see that they hit a horse, prior to filming trainers brought the horse to its mark on the road. In setting up the scene, the car was supposed to drive and stop on a mark while the horse stood twenty feet away from the mark.
On action, stuntmen drove a car down the road. The wrangler placed the horse on a mark in front of the vehicle. The vehicle stopped ten feet from horse, then cut. After they got that shot, they filmed the vehicle coming to a stop, before the trainer cued the horse to gallop down the street. We never see a car hit the horse, it’s only implied as a mystery.

In the scene where the actress carries the dog into a field, pulls out a gun and shoots him, we never see the actress actually shoot the dog, this occurs off-screen. Prior to filming, the trainer placed the dog in the actor’s arms with a fake gun.  The trainers remained out of frame. On action, the actress walked in the field while holding the dog and the rifle. They called cut, placed the dog on his side to make him look dead and filmed a one-minute insert shot of the dog playing dead.

Due to late notification, American Humane Society did not monitor some of the dog action.