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A few weeks ago, when I was in Pasadena for the Beverly Hills Chihuahua Blogger Event, we had a Q&A session with the director, producer, and animal trainers for the movie!

This was my first Q&A session with real people. I have had the opportunity via email before, but this was different. I was a bit excited and a bit nervous! The movie screening was held in a giant great room of the Langham Hotel, which was also in the movie.

After the movie screening, we were introduced to Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 director Lev L. Spiro, producer Sara E. White, and animal trainer Mathilde DeCagny. We then had the opportunity to ask all of our burning questions about working with the film’s stars!

Here are a few of the highlights from our session:

– Each trainer has 7-8 dogs that they work with

The goal was to make the dogs more human-like, so it usually took 3-4 takes per scene, sometimes 7-8 takes!

– A day filming is 12 hours, or at least that is the goal, but most of the time, it runs according to the dog schedule

– The movie took 26 days and five weeks to film at the Langham Pasadena

– Almost all of the dogs used in the movie were rescue dogs from Birds and Animals Unlimited of Hollywood

– The director wanted to be as authentic as possible during the Quinceanera. There were 27 dogs on the set for the three days of shooting

– There were 20-30 trainers on the set at any given time

– Director Lev L. Spiro’s favorite scene was the Dog Auditions for the Quinceanera. If you haven’t seen the movie, this scene is a good one!

– In Lev’s (I can call him Lev, I know him..Hehe) own words, ” This movie is wildly entertaining for 90 minutes. It is a movie that celebrates dogs.”

After lunch, we had a session with the dog trainers. Although I do not own a pup, my mother-in-law does, so I was able to go back to her with all these “professional” tips and tricks. Mathilde DeCagny was the trainer who owned and trained the Jack Russell, Eddie, from the hit sitcom Frasier. Some of the other bloggers brought their dogs with them to the event, and they were thrilled to get some of their much-needed questions answered.

A few of the tips that the trainers use on the set include:

– They used a round circle called a mark. This mark “marked” where the dog was supposed to be during the scene. The dogs are then trained to go to their mark when needed.

Another prop they use is a stick with a yellow ball on the end. They use it to focus the dogs’ attention on a person and make them look in a certain direction.

The trainers are in every scene; they are just hidden. When you watch the movie, watch for the dogs when they are in the Peanut Butter Closet. The trainers are actually behind the suitcases, directing the dogs!

– The dog on stage with the trainers is called Cosmo. He performed the demonstrations with the trainers.