A dog’s star turn in ‘The Dog Stars’

In his role, the Belgian Malinois has to navigate a defunct airport, is seen flying in a Cessna 185, and never leaves his owner’s side, following his every command—all of that action in front of lights and a camera.

Clearly, there’s a gifted trainer behind such distinct and elaborate behavior. Her name is Carolina Basile, owner of DogStudios, the company she founded 10 years ago in Rome. At age 18, she discovered her passion for training animals after watching a dog commercial that impressed her so much that she started working at the canine center owned by the trainer who had prepared that dog, “one of the best trainers in Italy,” she said.

DogStudios works mainly with dogs, but it has on occasion prepared pigs, crows, and hamsters to perform for television and movies. It supplied the wire-haired Jack Russell terrier Jean Gabin in the French television series Call my Agent, was involved in projects with Italian director Luca Guadagnino, and provided the dogs of Ithaca for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (though not Argos). The Dog Stars “represents the absolute dream of a lifetime,” Basile said. DogStudios is also a dog casting agency, evaluating and selecting future on-screen talent.

After reading the script and mindful of the director’s vision, Basile tries to find the perfect dog, not so much for looks, but for character and temperament, qualities that she finds one cannot teach. “The dog must be naturally social, calm around strangers, and confident in unfamiliar environments,” she said. Each dog gets introduced to the set gradually, making short appearances to see if it actually enjoys this kind of “game.”

Reading the script for The Dog Stars, Basile thought that few dogs would have the range required to play the role of Jasper, who would have to work through action scenes, display deep affection, master complex physical movements, and perform furious attack sequences. In her mind, only Rak, an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime dog, had that bandwidth. (Rak is actually a female, and she also had two stand-ins for small bits she wasn’t trained for, but she is Jasper.)

The movie was shot in Italy and is set in the Erie, Colorado, area. The movie’s language is English, so Rak had to recognize and respond to both Italian and English commands, as well as hand signals. In addition, Basile was always next to the dog. In scenes with Elordi, Basile would hand him treats so Rak would look at him as “her primary point of reference.” Basile’s “physical positioning on set, adjusted according to the specific dynamics of each scene, is also a fundamental part of the communication,” she said.

Off set, Basile and her team worked on technical preparation, behaviors, and exercises, some of which take years to perfect. “Naturally, over the years, some dogs have become highly trained and experienced,” Basile said. In spite of having a solid background and years of experience, for The Dog Stars, Rak was specifically trained to get effortlessly into the aircraft, and to sit on a riding mower without jumping off.

On set, the trainer's main task is to keep the dog motivated. Depending on the scene, treats or various types of toys are used to reward desired behavior. To get Rak accustomed to working with Elordi, Basile scheduled rehearsals between the two, and Rak would repeat the action during the actual take and receive a reward. From the onset it was clear, though, that Rak and Elordi had a connection with and true affection for each other. The reason for the visible bond between them in the movie is owed to the time Elordi spent building a relationship with Rak.

Rak never really got to fly, but she did a great job pretending. All of the scenes showing her in the aircraft were filmed on a soundstage. Basile trained her to climb inside the airplane and gave her a specific visual target to keep her seated, as well as a “look command” to make her look straight ahead and to wait for the release cue (and her treat). She was filmed in the moving airplane on the ground, but never took off.

Basile said that fortunately for Rak there weren’t too many retakes, but she remembers a funny moment in a scene where Elordi is fishing on a lake and Rak has to dive into the water. “The hardest part was actually keeping her still beforehand—she absolutely loves the water and going for swims,” Basile recounted.

Because of the busy environment and long days, Basile made sure that Rak had scheduled breakdown hours and breaks between scenes to rest, relax, or play.

Now that the movie is in theaters, Rak is at home with her family, getting “lots of cuddles, plays, and rest,” Basile said. She’s already preparing for upcoming projects.