June 2024

• In the film Cujo, the title role was played by four St. Bernards, several mechanical dogs, and a black Labrador–Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume.

• The baloney drop was first used in the Broadway production of Annie in 1976 by trainer Bill Berloni to get the first Sandy dog to stop mid-stage. Tossing a dog biscuit on the mark would have made a noise so Berloni came up with the idea of using a soft, silent piece of the lunch meat instead. Berloni has more recently worked with a Great Dane named Bing to star in a film based on the novel The Friend by Sigrid Nunez.

• The dog in the 1974 film Benji was played by Higgins, whose previous credits included the TV show Petticoat Junction.

• If you’re worried your dog might have a fever, ease your mind with the fact that a typical dog’s temperature runs at a steady 101-102.5 Fahrenheit. If your pup’s head feels a little warm to your human touch, it should; it’s a sign your furry friend is right on their target temperature.

• Animal language expert and author Con Slobodchikoff is using AI to create a dog language translation tool he hopes to turn into a phone app (learn more at zoolingua.com). Slobodchikoff has also studied many other animals and their languages, including prairie dogs and squids.