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Molosser Moment #2

The Dogue enters pop culture

Tom Hanks may have been the headliner of the 1989 flick “Turner & Hooch,” but it was his slobbery canine co-star who really turned heads. “Barry,” the mud-spattered Dogue who played sidekick to Hanks’ neat-freak cop character, was bred in 1978 by Peter Curley of TNT Kennels in Merrimac, Wisconsin. One of the first people to bring the Dogue to the U.S., Curley sold Barry along with three others – Beasley, Vigo and Cristo – to Disney to star in the movie, though the latter never made it to film.  

British-Canadian director Roger Spottiswoode recalled filming a stakeout scene with one of the “Hooches” and Hanks, who fed the big red dog to keep him interested: After an hour of shooting – and drooling – the Dogue had sunk so deep into the slobber-saturated seat that it had to be replaced. And with the release of the film, the “Hooch dog” – and the breed – settled just as definitively into the public consciousness.  

 

 

 

© Modern Molosser Magazine. This article may not be reposted, reprinted, rewritten, excerpted or otherwise duplicated in any medium without the express written permission of the publisher.

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