“Great Danes are very sensitive,” the trainer explained.

And for that reason, Bill Berloni, the only animal handler who has ever won a Tony Award, told filmmakers that the movie they wanted to make based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel,  “The Friend,” couldn’t be made the way screenwriters wrote it.  The filmmakers, however, were adamant. And so the search was on for the right Great Dane to play Apollo, a grieving dog inherited by Iris (Naomi Watts) after the death of his owner, Walter (Bill Murray). It took five months between late 2019 and early 2020, and contacting a whole lot of breeders.

They found the dog in Iowa. “Bing,” a fourth generation Great Dane bred and owned by Bev Klingensmith, was a busy boy. Bing (registered name CH Flighty Foto White Christmas CD RA CA DCAT TKI CGC TT CHIC)  completed his championship title with his final major at the Great Dane Club of Des Moines specialty judged by Cathy de la Garza, and then got busy in earning his CD, RA and CGC.  Bev Klingensmith had been breeding Great Danes for decades and was well-known in dog circles, and it was just a matter of time before Berloni heard about her.

As the story goes, Klingensmith initially dismissed the email from the production team. She lived in Iowa, filming was to take place in New York, and it just didn’t seem do-able, so she offered to help the filmmakers find a suitable dog. When Berloni met Bing, however, he was struck by the 18 month old dog’s charisma, and after talking more with Berloni, Klingensmith came to feel it might be feasible. She sent Bing’s photos to the team for consideration, but they already knew they had the right dog. Bing’s nature matched the character described in the book, and Klingensmith’s own training style aligned well with Berloni’s own positive training approach.  The stars had aligned.

If there was a problem, it was that Bing was still young, and lacked the maturity of the 150-pound five-year-old described in Nunez’s’ book. Enter a pandemic, throw in an actors and writers strike, and the associated delays gave Bing time to grow.

Bing’s performance led Diane Orson of Connecticut Public Radio to call him the, “Cary Grant of dogs.” See if you don’t agree after watching the trailer below:

Response to the movie premier at the Telluride Film Festival was positive, and AwardsWatch called it “a beautiful tale of friendship, grief, trust and community.”  Fearing a “101 Dalmatians” fallout, however, it would be understandable if the Great Dane dog community is leery.  After the release of 101 Dalmatians, a surge in demand for Dalmatian puppies led to many dogs being relinquished when owners realized they hadn’t had a clue about the breed, let alone its needs.  To their credit, filmmakers included a message at the end of the attributions (credits) advising anyone interested in getting a Great Dane to do their homework before committing to the breed. One hopes that audiences pay attention.

Read more about “The Friend” at this article by Nicole Baxter appearing in Iowa Public Radio.

Image: Great Dane Triangle illustration vector created by shekularaz/iStock