Chatting with the Director of Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3, Viva La Fiesta

While at the Langham Hotel of Pasadena screening Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3, Viva La Fiesta, I was able to participate in a Q & A with Director Lev L. Spiro, Producer Sarah E. White, and Mathilde DeCagny, one of the amazing animal trainers from Birds and Animals Unlimited of Hollywood (where all of the cute doggies you see in Beverly Hills Chihuahua are from!).

But first? I got to meet Papi and Chloe!!

Angel, the chihuahua who plays Chloe, was very sweet and tried to come over and give me a kiss…but her trainers told her to go back to her mark. I had a nice little giggle about that!

During the Q & A with the directors and producers, we learned quite a bit about the animals from the movie.

For instance, 95% of the dogs in Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 are rescue dogs! The makers of Beverly Hills Chihuahua are all big animal lovers and strive to promote dog adoption as much as possible – there were even some adoptions of the rescue dogs in the movie after the movie was filmed.

And did you know that dogs have stunt doubles? The dogs in Beverly Hills Chihuahua had stunt doubles, but not all of them were used. I think it's kind of funny that even dogs have stunt doubles!

When we asked the director and producer how long the dogs worked each day, they said that because the dogs only do their parts for about an hour at a time before given breaks, they work about a 12 hour day. The days are so long because the dogs needs a lot of breaks – and a lot of treats – in order to maintain their concentration.

Charlotte, the American Eskimo character, was not a very good actress…but she was so beautiful that they worked around her limitations!

There were a total of 27 dogs used in the making of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which provided very tricky at times. Why? Because each dog has at least one trainer – and the trainer is on set with the dog at all times!

Speaking of dogs and their trainers…did you know that all of the dogs that “work” for Birds and Animals Unlimited of Hollywood actually live with their trainers? That's right, the trainers take the dogs into their own homes and they are not only trained extensively, but given lots of 24/7 love and affection.

That made me very, very happy to hear!

After the Q & A, we watched a bit of a dog training session and the trainers taught us a few training tips!

The most important lesson I personally took away from the training demonstration?

Give your pups lots of love and affection. When your dogs feel loved, they feel bonded to you…and they want to please you. Of course you can train your dog to respond to commands with treats and tools, but it works so much easier if your dog loves you and wants to make you happy!

I received travel and accommodations in order to view the screening of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but all opinions are my own.

This is a post from the fabulous Jenn of The Rebel Chick. Jenn is a travel loving mom with a bit of rebellious streak (get the name?) who is very close to her family and has been married for over 11 years. She loves to eat, loves animals, loves punk rock but hates being called Jenny. Check out her blog!