The Ben Mulroney Show - Was Wayne Gretzky barred from Team Canada dressing room? Also, movie star dog and cats!

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

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This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. All right, everybody, we have to correct a historic mistake. Yesterday was a day deserving of celebration, and we missed it. We missed it. But because it was a day of such a day. deserved celebration. we're going to celebrate it today.

So let's assume it was yesterday and allowing to say to everybody listening and everybody watching it on YouTube, happy Pete Weber Day. Let me say it again. Happy Pete Weber Day. Who is Pete Weber? Well, Pete Weber is a legendary

Hall of Fame professional bowler known for his intense and colorful personality. 37 PBA tour titles, including a record tying 10 majors. And in case you think, well, so what? I'm going to play for you his most famous moment where he won some tournament. And I just want you to listen to what became his catchphrase. Everybody in the world wishes they had a catchphrase this iconic.

Let's listen to the words of the great Pete Weber. Who do you think you are? I am. Yes, Pete Weber. Yes, I am here for it each and every day. Every day should be Pete Weber day. Thanks so much for joining us on the Ben Mulroney Show. I woke up today, or maybe it was last night.

I saw a clip on social media, and it was from the Barnburner podcast. So it's a hockey podcast. And former NHHLer, Mike Commodore, had what he felt were insights into the lead-up to the gold metal hockey game that saw us defeated by the U.S. team. And let's listen to Mike Commodore. Who runs hockey Canada? Catherine Henderson or something?

Think it is? President CEO? Wayne Gretzky wanted to come in and rally the troops before the game and it was a hard note. Really? That's dusty. Wayne Gretzky was told us. Hey, guys, this is from a rock solid source.

Wayne Gretzky wanted to come in and rally the troops before the gold medal game and he was told you're not welcome in here. Well, that just furthers the idiocy that is Hockey Canada. Thank you, Red. Thank you. So I heard this and my initial reaction based solely on that rock solid reporting, I was kind of angry. I was like, I got to find it like, if this is true, this is terrible.

And, you know, I've been talking a lot about anti-Americanism versus pro-Canadianism. And so that's where my head was at the time. And so I said, we got to confirm. We've got to see if this is true. And then I realize, I know Wayne Gretzky. I'll check with him. And I want to read to you because I want to be honest about where my head was at. And I said, Wayne, there's a story out there that you want to fire up Team Canada prior to the gold medal game.

But you were told, you're not welcome. wondering if you can tell me if it's true or not. If it is, I'm going to tear a strip off of those clowns on today's show. I want to be honest. That's where my head was at because it's an emotional thing, right? And this is what he wrote back. Verbatim. Not true.

They couldn't have been nicer to me the whole time I was over there, me and my boys. I had dinner with Coach Cooper and Rick Talk it a couple of times while I was there. And I said, that's great to hear. In that case, I will correct the record because there are still some out there. pushing that story out there, to which he then continued. I went to go down there at one point because I was doing some interviews, and the IOC security guys kind of asked me not to be standing there. That's really what happened that I'm aware of.

Hockey Canada couldn't have been nicer to my family. It was the IOC security people just doing their job. Some people took it that it was Canada stopping me, but that's not true. So there you go. I want to correct the record, and I was glad we checked that, right? But, you know, in the aftermath of that loss, I think people are leading with emotion. And for the record, also, Hockey Canada denied that story.

I've got my intrepid producer, Mike Droulet here as well. It was, the story went, I don't know about viral, but it was viewed millions and millions of times. Yeah. And so it went all over the place. And people took it as not the one from Commodore, but just in general. He was jumping on top of it.

But the fact that he said that he had rock-solid sources is different than, oh, I've read this somewhere, I heard this somewhere. He's saying he's getting it from like first person account, which made it a little bit more serious. Yeah, well, yeah, but that's why when he said, when he said he really leaned into rock solid. Oh, yeah. To Mike Commodore, I would tell you, you know,

I'm sure your intentions were good. I would not ascribe ill motivation, but your sources suck. But he also just released a video, which we just watched about like an hour ago. Yeah. that saying that, you know, he said that they're, oh, I thought the people I was talking to was real and were legit and were giving me real information. But he didn't backtrack.

He didn't say that it was wrong. He just said, you know, he'll look into it more. Dave Spargal, you want to jump in? Nah. Yeah, whatever. Honestly, this whole week, I'm just done with this story in general, you know. Well, listen, I'm glad that we were able to go directly to the source and get the information. Hockey Canada, like I said, they denied it as well.

So hopefully that puts it to rest. But it is hard to, it's increasingly almost impossible to believe anything you read online or see with your own eyes. And we'll go so far as to the drama around Team USA, poor Brady Kachuk. You know, the White House posted an AI video of him saying things he didn't say. Let's listen. And hold on, but Brady Kachup is the captain of the auto senators and also one of the USA players. Yes, I apologize, yes. I just assume people know, but you're right.

I should have said that. So let's listen to Brady. Let's listen to words that were put into Brady Kachuk's mouth. They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fix a lesson. Canada, we own you, little bro. Okay, so. That was the White House that shared that. The White House shared that.

And Brady was unhappy with it. Let's listen to Brady now. Actually, Brady Kachuk, in his own words. It's clearly fake because it's not my voice and not my lips moving. So, I mean, I'm not in control of any of those accounts. And yeah, so I know that those words have never come out of my mouth. So I can't do anything about it. He was asked if he liked the video and he said he did not.

He said, quote, I would never say that that is not who I am. Look, the only tell a lot of times in the... these videos is sort of like the dead zombie voice, the tone sounds like it's bereft of life, right? There's no, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, is, is a lack of dynamism in the intonation. And, and, but beyond that, if you're not paying attention and if it's something you want to believe, you're likely to believe it.

And so, um, yeah, the fact, the fact that the, that the, that the white house is trolling people like a, like a, like a college student. I just don't, I don't understand. It's unhelpful. You won the Olympic gold. Act like you've been there before. That's what I would say. Act like you've been there, man. I know it, I know it doesn't happen often in hockey, but you've won things before. Act like you know what it's like to be at the top of the mountain. That's what I would say. We got time for this last story. And we're, I love how you wrote this, but not everything in the world of sports is Luxick sludge. It feels like the story of the Toronto Blue Jays that ended sadly the way it did, but the emotion that we experienced, the joy, a team that really liked and loved each other, and they gave that energy back to the fans, and the fans returned it to the team.

It feels like it's continuing in this preseason and spring training. Because Max Scherzer's back. You'll remember he's like the journeyman. How many World Series does he have? He's got two from two different teams. Arizona and Washington. Yeah, he's got two from two different teams, right? Did he win one with Arizona? I think he's got two from two different teams.

I think he might have three now. But anyway, but he was a spark plug, right? He was a, he's kind of a crazy man when he's pitching, and people love that energy from him. And we're happy to announce that he's back. Yeah, twice with two different teams. And his, I guess, the, the, I think it was him or his family who released a letter written by his young daughter.

And it says, Dear Blue Jays, I am so sorry that you didn't win the World Series. I hope that you win next time. I hope my dad is back on the team. My whole family loves spending time in Toronto with our dad. We loved the aquarium. And it goes on. The Sea and Tower. And the Sea of Tower.

I am looking forward to coming back next season. I think, what does that say? Mac? Max Scherzer's daughter. I was going to tell you that she was 18. But it's... A penmanship isn't what it used to be. And anyway, it's nice to see, and I really do hope that that moment

that we experience as a nation continues through this entire season. All right, don't go anywhere, because when we come back, we want to take your calls, because there's no filter for stupid comments on the internet. and wow, this one is a hot take amongst hot takes.

Don't go anywhere. You don't need AI agents, which may sound weird coming from service now, the leader in AI agents. The truth is, AI agents need you. Sure, they'll process, predict, even get work done autonomously. But they don't dream,

read a room, rally a team, and they certainly don't have shower thoughts, pivotal hallway chats, or big ideas. People do. And people, when given the best AI platform, they're freed up to do the fulfilling work they want to. do. To see how Service Now puts AI to work for people, visit ServiceNow.com. I want to play some audio for you. Listen, we know that there is, I think, some undue friction

between the men's Olympic gold winning hockey team in the U.S. and their female counterparts who also brought honor to their country by winning gold because one team decided to go to the White House and the other didn't. And there is footage of Donald Trump making a poor taste joke about the women's hockey team and the men laughed. A couple of days ago, I explained what I think. I think I explained away why they would have done that. I don't think it's something that anybody should carry any animosity towards them for. But anyway, there is friction out there.

And of course, leave it to the social media to want this to be a hill to die on. But of all the hot takes, you could possibly imagine, here is the hottest of those hot takes. listen to this TikToker. Really only one way to solve this and we're all thinking it. US men's hockey team, if the women's hockey team is such a ha ha ha he-he joke, men versus women. I want to see the Olympic gold medal winning teams play each other. Okay?

Men versus women head to head two best teams in the world. Winner gets voting rights in the next election. Winner gets voting rights in that. The first part was an intellectual exercise, right? And a silly one, I think. I don't think the women would think that they would do. do fare particularly well against men's professional hockey players.

It's the throwing in of the voting rights at the end of it. But so she since deleted that, by the way, because I think even her friends told her, yeah, that's not going to fly. And look, it's not to disparage the women. These are two completely different sports and two completely different skill sets.

And that's why we have separate sports for men and women. women. But I guess I wanted, I wanted you to call in, and let me know your take on that, but also, you know, the take on the war between the sexes. It's, I just, I'm kind of done with it. I don't want to live in that world. I'm not looking to pick fights with anybody. I don't know why fights would be picked. And sometimes, sometimes a joke is just a joke. And sometimes when you make a, when you laugh at a joke, you're laughing at it to get past it. You know what I mean? And, and I honestly don't describe any ill motivation to the men's the men's hockey team and I think those who do are looking

for fights that we don't need to be having and I kind of I'm kind of not here for that and I'm kind of tired of it. I'm kind of exhausted and I think there are other things that we can find common cause on and fight together. It's not we are we're not the problem to each other. We should be looking to be working together against other problems but that's just me. let's welcome Ron to the conversation. Hey, Ron, welcome to the Ben Mulrini show. Hey, Ben. Hi.

So, 46 years of winning, they won once. Eh, we'll get them next year. Everybody should get over it and calm down. I mean, you know, they are our neighbors, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, look, yeah, it is. I think, you know, and I've had a conversation with Own the Podium, you know, and amateur sports are different.

This was a team made up of professional. national athletes. So I think that's exceptional. It's not part of that larger conversation. But I don't think, and of course you want to reward and celebrate all the achievements as well as the journey of all the Olympians, even those who didn't meddle. Like it's a sacrifice. And those people are sacrificing on behalf of their dream, but also their dream includes representing this country. That absolutely deserves to be celebrated. That being said, should we be happy with the result that we achieved? And anybody who says yes is a low expectation Canadian.

We should strive to be the best at everything that we do. And just being at the party shouldn't be enough. That's my take. How do you see it? I agree with you. We should always try to do better. But we played a really good game. I mean, you watched it.

The whole country, I think, watched it. Well, for the most part, we played a really good game. We, you know, yeah, we should have been better, but the long faces afterwards. I mean, the team should be proud of themselves the way that they played. It was just amazing. Well, you know, they had a better goalie.

No, I, and yeah, listen, every dog has his day. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I get all that stuff. I get all that stuff. But, you know, we are living in a time where there are forces in Canada that very much want us to be on an aggressive footer. towards our southern neighbor. And, you know, our former prime minister tweeted,

you can't take our country and you can't take our game. Okay, well, you don't say that unless you really know you're going to win. You know? Right. And you don't say, you don't say dumb stuff like that. And again, like, in that case, it wasn't Donald Trump saying we were going to be in the 51st state. It was our former prime minister reminding everybody that he said that. And that's, you know, that's adding kerosene to the fire.

Like I said, a lawyer does not ask a question that he doesn't know the answer to already. And you don't say something like that unless you know you're going to win. I have a question for you, Ben, quickly. Of course. I tend to agree with you most times, 99% of the time. When are you running for prime minister? I'm not. I'm absolutely not.

I don't think I'm suited to be a politician on that level. not my cup of tea. I prefer interviewing the people who make those decisions. I prefer having conversations with them. And I prefer being part of the conversation from this vantage point. Fair at all. Hey, thanks so much for calling in. All the best to you.

Yeah, look, we've had the conversations about own the podium. And yes, what our prime minister tweeted after the Olympics, celebrating the achievements that we had. important sure that it was very nice sentiment but that what he actually wrote i wish i had in front of me it could have been written after any olympics there wasn't anything specific to this olympiad uh that that that was in there it was very generic because yeah of course we celebrate the olympics and we celebrate the olympic spirit and we celebrate our athletes and the winners and and those who didn't make it to the podium but that's not enough it's just not we can't we can't just be happy with

that. Let's say how to Mani. Mani, thank you for calling. Yeah, hey, Ben, great to talk to you. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. And I like what you do. Thank you. Thank you. Listen, I watch the games. Both of them. It could have gone either way. You could be on the other side and they would say

it's them and vice versa. They have learned a lot from us over competitive sports and it's great. And also, are you there? No, I'm here. I'm listening to you. Oh, listen. I've watched women's hockey for quite a while now. I love it. It's feisty. They give a lot, they got a lot of vigor. Sometimes it's more than the men. And I don't know why the men lasted them. They should have applauded them to know how far they've come. I love it. I mean, I love watching these women play. Look, I think we've all been, many, I think we've all been

in those situations where somebody tells a joke that is in no way reflective of our own values or sense of humor. But you chuckle so that you can get past the joke and move on. Like, okay, this is uncomfortable. I'm going to laugh. And also, let's not forget these guys were in that moment, in that moment, Manny. They were celebrating. They were full of endorphins and adrenaline.

and probably a little bit of alcohol as well. And so you put that all together. And I don't know why anybody would look to it and just automatically ascribe ill will. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you very much, Manny.

We've got to move on from this. And we're going to applaud the women as well. Of course. No, of course. Absolutely. Thank you so much for the call. Thank you very much. All right.

We had a text that said, The War of the Sexes will never be won because there's too much fraternizing with the enemy. I love it. I love it. Well done. Very, very good point. All right. We're going to take a quick break when we come back.

Oh, my goodness. I have a guest who's brought some special guests with her in studio. We'll discuss next on the Ben Milrini show. Oh, my gosh. Every now and then end of a week like this, you want to have a couple of segments like the ones we're about to have. I heard somebody say on social media once that one of the reasons, dogs, the short lifespans they have is because they love so much.

Their hearts cannot take it. And let me tell you, every single morning, I wake up and I see my dog and she welcomes me as if it is the greatest moment of her life. And I get down on the ground and we have 60 seconds, 60 seconds of love. And I get more love for my dog

in those 60 seconds than I get from my teenage boys these days. Dogs are a gift. Dogs are angels. dogs are, dogs make everything better. And we have one in studio with us right now because Melissa Millett, the dog handler and trainer and, but not just dogs, all sorts of animals is here with us. And she brought Jelly Bean as well. Melissa, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having us. So tell me about Jelly Bean. Tremendously well trained puppy right here. Yeah, he's an amazing dog. I adopted him when he was five months from death. Dog Rescue of America. He's deaf. Yeah. And he's an actor. So he's actually been in a few movies. He has two Guinness World Records.

So I want to talk about training, but then I also want to talk about the specifics of training dogs to be actors. Yeah. So first of all, how did you get into this? Completely by accident. I was very good trainer in my classes and then I opened a school. And I was teaching tricks because I enjoyed it. Yeah. And then I opened a trick show by accident. I actually did a show and got an agent on the first day. And then I was discovered into film from The Trick Show. Oh, wow.

By the way, what films or TV shows has Jelly Bean been in? He's been typecast as a villain. No! Yeah! And it's not him. No, of course not. It just talks about what a good actor he is. He's got range.

Right. I like that. I like that. He was in Pet Cemetery Blood Lines as evil. He was in Fractured with Sam Worthington as an evil dog. And he was in Orphan Black Echoes as a stray. Really? I might have seen him.

I might have seen it. That's fantastic. But there are so many different, I guess, pathways that you have in ways you can train dogs. How would you describe your method? I'm a positive reinforcement trainer. It is based on the science of applied behavior analysis. To sum it up, it's a all behavior has function. Everybody's behaving for outcomes.

If you like it, reward it. Okay. And you'll see it again. And if you don't like it, provide an alternative behavior and reward that. And reward by way of? Rewards can be anything. I use food and toys, but can also be environmental rewards. Okay.

Getting say hi to a human, clipping on the leash, opening the door. Those are all reinforcers. And what happens prior to that is a behavior that you're strengthening. But is there not a fear that if you reward with food, they will always expect food? And the second you stop giving them the food, won't they say themselves, well, why would I continue with that behavior? It's true. It's true. So you would use food in context like when you're out in public, and the distraction level is high, the pay level has to be high.

But when you're inside the house, you don't need to use food because other things are reinforcing like attention. Yeah. So if your dog's barking at you and you say, quiet, that could be a reinforcer. Sure. Right, right. Right. So our dog, her name is Miss Bruce Wayne Mulrooney. I like it.

I like it. Yes. She's a mini English golden noodle. Okay. And we got her right before the pandemic. and I think we, I picked her from the, I'm actually going to have to wash my hands after because I'm allergic to long-haired dogs. Okay.

But I don't care. I don't care. It's worth it. Yeah, totally worth it. But so I had to get a hypoallergenic dog. And she went to a trainer for three months after, after she left the kennel. And then she came into the house. And I think because she encountered three kids under the age of seven instantly, she, if she,

She forgot a lot of what she learned. And one of the things I can't get her to stop doing is jumping up on people. Okay. I mean, she does it because she's excited. Yep. But I don't know how to, I've been told like knee her when she, not to hurt her, but just to get her to stop, but she never stops. I don't know how to stop it.

Is the context people coming over? All the time. Oh, yes. So when people come over, that's the problem. No, it's any people. Anybody. Anybody. Anyway.

She wants to say hi to people. She jumps up on them. Okay. So me, she'll see. She always, always jumps up. Okay. So step one, we're going to manage the environment. So if guests are coming over, we're going to know that they're coming.

Ring doorbell is great. You can see it. Put the dog on a leash. Tell the people what you'd like to do. Only pet her and four are on the floor. And if she jumps up, you can use the leash to take her away. So she learns jumping means distance from the people and sitting means petting. Okay.

And you can teach an old dog new tricks. Yes. Okay. There's no such thing as set behavior now and forever. No. Interesting. And that's a benefit of a golden retriever cross. They're very friendly.

Well, she's very friendly. I think we've got, like, I think she has high emotional quotient. I think she's a high EQ, not so much. And I don't care, though. I don't care. And she also likes people a heck of a lot more and she likes dogs. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, the greeting is reinforcing. So you just reinforce the part of the set her up for success and then have them only reinforced four. And then to get what she wants, she has to stay with four on the floor. Oh, interesting. Okay, I'll try that. I definitely will try that.

Typically how long, if you're dedicated to it, You do it really religiously and you don't derogate from it. How long does it take to set new behavior? I've heard it's something similar to humans forming a habit, which could be, what, six weeks? Six weeks, yeah. Yeah, but a lot of repetition. So if you have a border collie, it's less of you. Or if you have border collie, it's less.

But with the management, you're preventing practice. So when you do management with the leash, it's almost instantaneous because you have her on the leash. Okay. And are there certain breeds that respond better than, others. Yeah. Yeah. Like a, like a cattle dog does what a cattle dog wants, right? Because they're bred to go after a cow. So if you have the tenacity to tell a thousand pound animal what to do, you know, that tenacity is a bit harder to train. And can you, I've heard the argument, there are no bad dogs, are only bad owners. Yeah. And I think I believe that. Have you, can you spot a

bad owner a mile away? Well, I can spot a good owner. I can tell by the leash you have. I I like to see treat pouches when you're out and about, you know, how people interact with dogs. I can usually tell. Bad owners, I could see. I mean, I think everybody loves their dogs and they're doing the best, but I could see, oh, that person could use some tweaking for sure. You need me. Here's my card.

That's almost an offensive thing to say, though. Now, so you've got cats as well. Yes. And your cat was in a big movie recently? Yeah, yeah. He was in caught stealing with Bad Bunny and Austin Butler. Yeah. The director was Darren Aronovsky.

from the whale. He searched across North America for a cat that could play, you know, like that could, was on the run from gangsters in New York. It's insanity for a cat. My cat's in a live show, so he's always working outside in crowds. And he also was in Pet Cemetery in another movie. So, yeah, I went to New York to audition. I thought, I have the cat he's looking for. I know this is going to be mine. Have, have, is there anything different in terms of how you train cats? I have to believe it's not the same process as dogs. It's very hard to train a cat. I do train the dogs the same way as I train the cats.

Really? My style is clicker training. It's progressive steps. But you have to have more skill with a cat because a cat, they can survive without you. You let your cat out into the wild. They'll feed themselves. They'll survive. They're smart enough not to get hit by cars.

They don't need you. See, I need my pet to need me. Yes. I heard somewhere they say, when a dog looks at their owner, the dog thinks I'm looking at God. And when a cat looks at their owner, they think to themselves, my owner is looking at God. Yeah. That is very true. And when we worked on that last project, I said, this cat doesn't eat any more ego.

He's got enough. Yeah. So what, how many animals do you have in your house? I have 14. I'm sorry. Yeah. Obviously, I'm single. Okay, so you have 14 animals.

Yeah. Break it down for me. Okay, so I have nine dogs. Yeah. So two cattle dogs, border collie, lab, crows. a Chihuahua, rat terrier, and three Bostons. Yeah. And I have five cats.

They pay my mortgage, though. Yeah, I'm sure they do. Yeah. And I have to believe you have a pretty big backyard. I do. I live in the country. Yeah, yeah, I live in the country. That's great.

And all the animals get along with each other? They do. They all get along. Was that automatic or did you have to work on it with them? That's a management thing. So I make sure, like, when we're on the couch, everybody's got a spot. And I make sure that they're not fighting for spots. That's not your spot.

That's his spot. And I do have to manage them in certain situations when there's high excitement. Some don't like it. So one of the secrets to training is management. It's not all about the training. So you have a website in Dogs We Trust. Yep. And that allows you to help people train their dogs remotely.

Yeah, I do remote training. I've had students all over the world. Oh, yeah? Yeah, for dogs and cats. And then I have in person in London, Ontario. But yeah, all over the world online training. I may ask for your help at some point. We're going to take a quick break.

When we come back, we're getting to the meat and potatoes of acting animals. Amazing. That's coming up when we come back on the Ben Mulroney show. We are getting our karma in order on this show today with Jelly Bean, the best behaved dog I've ever seen. And we're joined by Melissa Millett. She's an animal trainer to the stars.

One of the stars is Jelly Bean. Jelly Bean, Melissa, has been called the Brad Pitt of Dogs by People magazine. Yes. That's a heck of a compliment. That is a heck of a compliment. Does Jelly Bean know he's deaf? You know what?

I don't think that I have three deaf dogs. I don't think that they miss it or seem to care or feel sad about it in any way. Yeah. Yeah. What about, yesterday I was at the coffee shop and I saw a dog who was missing one of his front legs. Is that happy as any dog I've ever seen? They don't know what they're missing necessarily, huh? No.

But I did have a dog that I think knew he was deaf because, you know, they growl at each other to communicate. And she stopped growling. She started making ugly faces. Oh, and I thought, oh, brilliant. That's interesting. Do you have any dogs that have any other disabilities? I actually fostered a dog that had spina bifida. I was going to help her go into a wheelchair. And she was motivated by chasing my other dog. She learned to walk and run. Oh, come on. People used to cry. Yes. Stories are just going to affect me all day long.

Okay, so at what point do you know that you have a dog or a cat in your midst who could be trained to be an actor? Because I have to believe that's a very specific skill set that I can't, can any dog do that? You need a lot of environmental confidence. Yeah. But any dog could do. So I have like, I have him, he's see how he's calm and he's just sitting here and he's behaving. I have another dog, same breed, very high energy. So I match the role to the dog.

Okay. Yeah. So he's the sweet, loyal one. And the other one, he did a commercial where he was digging and the neighbors built a fence to block him out. I said, have I got the dog for you? And that's the hyper dog. But talk to me about, so you have to train them certain skills, yes? But then there is the scene.

And the scene requires very specific movements. I mean, the director has a vision. I need my actress to do this. And then the lighting changes. And then the dog has to come in. So how does that work? And I have to believe that you play a part in those scenes as well. Yeah.

So what happens is I get a script and I break it down. I look at the animal action and I submit a series of dogs that are a match. Okay. They choose the dog. And then we have a certain amount of prep. And in the prep, we take the script and we have our interpretation of it, but we'll have a director's meeting or go to the location and look at what it is. And then we recreate all the scenes at home with stand-in actors.

That's a big- Oh, interesting. interesting. So when it's almost like muscle memory, when they get to set. Yeah, that's my secret, my secret sauce, like the secret to success. Because a lot of dogs, they only look at their trainer, right? Yeah. So I need them to look at the actor. Sure.

So I have the actor and I recreate them looking at the action. And then you know what happens. I bet you know what happens. You show up and the director changes it. Yeah, of course. There you go. To mine, in your experience, as you've, I'm sure you watch other animals, on camera in the and they're like Eddie to me Eddie did the dog on Frazier to me was the best that

that dog rest in peace. He wasn't his name wasn't Eddie. It was something else. But on the show he was, how do you get them to respond to a name that isn't theirs? Well, it's not jelly beans problem because he's deaf. Correct. Yes.

So you can call me anything you want. Yeah, I know I do do that in the prep or condition it. Yeah. And yeah, if you can get the wide, that's the great thing because I can actually tell the dogs to listen to me while looking at the actor. And I could say, look, sit, and I can get him to do everything. Oh, that's right, because I'll cut the audio from the first scene over that one. How intimidating, though, to give cues in between actors' dialogues.

You're like, oh, my God. Well, they always say, never work with kids or animals. And you've decided to throw in entirely with the animals. I suspect you would have a counterpoint to that argument. You know what? As long as the animal has the training and you give the prep. And then, of course, they can feed off your energy because it can be high pressure. It can be time as money.

So you get really good at always looking calm. And when we were shooting with the cat on the first go, Darren Aronofsky looked at me and he goes, what's up? You don't look scared? And I'm like, because we're about to go in with a cat. And I was kind of scared, but I was kind of like I knew I had the coolest cat. You must have some really fun stories from being on set. I do, I do.

Share. Okay, I was telling, I was just telling this one today. So Jelly Bean played an evil character. So his character was supposed to be covered in blood. So we had blood all over his muzzle and his chest. And he was going after a little girl as an evil dog. And so we do the scene. We're in Winnipeg where it's cold.

Yes. And so we were going to wash the blood and the dirt off when we get back to the hotel. So we go back to the hotel and he saw a guy, a man that was a little, he thought that man was a little shady looking. So he started barking at him, which is totally out of character. We're like, oh, that's weird. And then we walk away and we go, oh, my God, he's still covered in blood. that must have looked so bizarre.

Have you, what's the schedule like on set? I know that one of the reasons they use young, like, babies who are twins a lot is because they can double up the amount of time that these kids are allowed working. What's it like for a dog? What are the contractual obligations and the rules around how much you can work a dog on set? There are no rules for that, but there is an animal advocate, like an American human. Maine. But what we do is because you can't make a dog do something they don't want to do. It's particularly

a cat. Jelly Bean has a double that looks just like them. Oh, really? Yeah, and so then they share the role. And my cat has like eight doubles over the course of the career. But what about the coloring and everything? Oh, you can match the coloring. And we color them with chalk and things. There's like an animal coloration artist in L.A. That's her whole job. Could you imagine? How unique is that?

So you're saying if this jelly bean double were here right now, I wouldn't be able to tell a difference? You would if they were side by side. Okay. But listen, I tell people, because jelly bean is a cattle dog, and I don't know if you know about them. They don't quit. Like, they're bred to run the Ustra and now back all day. So I said to them, hey, would you like to be a double?

We're going to do the training. You're going to get a paycheck. But you're going to be a benchwarmer. And jelly bean bit a bee out of the air while we were shooting. And we're like, oh, my gosh. And then he bit a second bee. And we're like, oh, my God. Like a Mr. Miyagi with catching the fly with the chopsticks.

Yeah. So we're like, get the double. And by the time the double, he was like, no. Like he was really upset at losing his turn. So we let him do the work and he did it anyway. Like he's in it to win at this dog. When do you decide that it's time for retirement for these dogs? Because you said jelly beans 10.

Now I'm sure still in the prime of his life. But at some point, you know, time to rest. Yeah. You know what? That is a tough thing because I can identify with a lot of owners. We hesitate to see our dogs in that light, right? We don't want to admit to ourselves. So yes, but I do start questioning about 11 to 12 is when I'll start to retire.

But we have a live performance as well and I find a place for them in the show. Tell me about that. Yeah, so we travel around Canada. So Jelly Bean can bounce past a basketball like a human. He can catch a ball in his paws like a human. Yeah, it's amazing. And yeah, so he's got two Guinness World Records. What are the Guinness World Records?

Bounce pass in a basketball and pushing it under his paws. Okay. Yeah, and that's how we travel when we do those tricks. And what are your five? My five. So those are his two, too. We share them. Okay, yeah.

The other two is the fastest four meter and ten meters. So we did the same one twice of a cat and dog on a scooter. So they ride the scooter together, the cat and the dog. Adorable. And then I have very low expectations for Bruce. I'm telling you. I've got to shoot higher. I've got to aim higher.

Yeah, because Jellybean pays my mortgage. So that's his greatest trick, I think. My dog has gone to the doctor more often than I have. in the past few years. She has better health care than I do. But God, I love my dog. Yes. We love our dogs.

No, the job is to love you. And that... Have you ever been able to tell if your dogs aren't having fun on set? Yeah, I think so. They would just... Well, for one, there's a lot of repetition. Yeah.

So they're going to get to a place where they've had enough. Yeah. So what I'm looking for is how fast do they come back. So let's say they go to their mark, just like a human. And I release them from their mark, and I watch to see how fast they walk back to their mark.

When they're in it to win it, and they're still having fun, they run back, they're ready to go. When they are sauntering back, then I say to the director, you get one or two more. Yeah, yeah. Make sure you have everything as you want it. So that was going to be my next question. I mean, look, I think a director who decides they want to pursue a project that involves animals, that comes with, not risks, but it comes with, well, it comes with scheduling risks for sure. But there might be a director who says, look, we're not, we're not leaving here today until we get that shot. do you sometimes have to go to the director and say,

you're not getting that shot today? Yeah, I set up the expectations in advance before they hire me. And so then if he's wanting the shot, usually, I mean, I always deliver the shot. So I don't know that. I don't know that situation that you're talking about. But I actually had a situation. I worked on Pamela Anderson's latest movie with directed by Michael Sarah.

Oh, my God. My cats were like Pam's cats. And I'm working my cat, but I get. down and bam my pants take a walk they rip open oh my god and i'm like oh my god and you know we know we got we got sadly we got we got to end this here has been a wonderful conversation with melissa millet and if you want to learn more about her you go to in dogs we trust dot ca thank you for being here thank you for being jelly bean all the best to you yes my name is mickey fox friday february 27th on global i'm sheriff of edgewater for her keeping the peace cartels moving in means every investigation

People are getting threats. It's close to home. At the end of the day, I'm responsible for this town. Secrets, loyalties, and small town justice collide in the new hit drama. I'm a damn good sheriff. Sheriff Country returns Friday, February 27th on Global. Stream on Stack TV.