When they read my plays, people ask me all the time what horrible things must have happened in my childhood. Nothing horrible happened. Another Rule with only a handful of exceptions . . .
Real animals work even less well in the theatre than little kids .
They're one more thing best left to Film where the camera makes Fido seem as professionally reliable as Maggie Smith or Jeremy Irons. Rely on a performer's pet dog if you want the real thing This way, you may avoid the cost of a handler and it might even follow directions. As with Kids, only do this if you're driven by the story you want to tell and can't think of writing anything else. But here's one of those critter-rule exceptions . The dog was played by a very compliant Labrador Retriever and the playwright was clever enough to only give him one scene.