"Dog" was Max Rockatansky's faithful blue-heeler in Mad Max 2.

History

At some point after Max left civilization following the loss of his family he encountered an Australian Cattle Dog, he took it into his care and it became a faithful companion of his.

"Dog" was eventually killed by a crossbow dart from one of Lord Humungus' Marauders.

Casting and on-screen performance

Miller originally thought that "Dog" would be a be three legged canine called 'Trike'.[1][2] Unfortunately it became difficult to find and train such a dog so a decision had been made to include a four legged dog, but with exceptional character. The filmmakers auditioned over 100 dogs to no avail until visiting the dog pound at Yagoona. There they found a two year old Australian Cattle Dog (according to Miller, a half-breed of wild dingo and sheep collie) scheduled to be put down. The dog fetched a rock Miller had thrown and brought it back to his feet. It was enough for the director to make the decision of casting the dog. It was later found out that the dog did the same to everyone.

The R.S.P.C.A. rule stated, however that the dog be de-sexed upon leaving the pound. Miller tried explaining that such a procedure would not be existing in his post-apocalyptic vision of Mad Max and it was decided in a questionable compromise that the dog undergoes vasectomy. Three months later the dog was ready for his first acting role, but immediately a problem occurred as he became very scared while filming. One of the crew members discovered that loud engine noises are what caused the dog to literally soil itself, so the solution was to put cotton in dog's ears. It worked.

The dog was very fond of actor Bruce Spence who played the Gyro Captain. It caused minor issues with the dog being virtually unable to bark at and be aggressive towards the actor. Miller solved this problem by clever editing techniques that give the appearance of hostility between the two. A prime example of this is a scene of the Gyro Captain fighting with "Dog" over a snake. It's visible that "Dog" was actually playing with the actor, but with help of overdubbed barking and slight editing it gave the impression that he was attacking the Gyro Captain.[3]

After filming, everyone wanted to adopt the dog because he was so affectionate. After a big argument[4], it was finally decided that the dog was going to be adopted by stunt coordinator Max Aspin and his wife Dale who was the animal handler, trainer and a stunt performer herself. The dog, being a Blue Heeler, continued doing what he did best - rounding up animals around the farm and also eating the chickens. He was eventually handed to the care of another Mad Max 2 stunt man - Gary Gauslaa with whom he lived out the rest of his days.[5]

Trivia

The fan film Mad Max: Renegade tells "Dog"'s origin story.

tells "Dog"'s origin story. "Dogmeat" from the Fallout series of games is almost completely inspired by "Dog"