A dog is used throughout the film. It sits on a bed or couch, plays fetch with the actor, rides in a truck, etc. For all of the above action, the trainer placed the dog on its mark and cued it with verbal and hand commands with a food reward. There is one scene where a man is trying to remove a tick from the dog's upper torso. The actor merely simulated removing the tick. An actual tick is not seen on the animal.