While it's the actors and the actresses who often get paid the most and who often get more for their career on most TV shows and movies sets, it's often their four-legged counterparts who often end up stealing the show and the hearts of fans.

We just can't help it. Whenever there's a pet on a show or a movie, our focus immediately lasers in on them and no one else.

Half the time, we're just focused on how adorable they are, how sassy they are, or how funny they are. And when there are pets involved, the story somehow gets a lot more emotional.

Remember films like Hachiko or A Dog's Journey? Yeah, those films made us bawl like toddlers more than any other movie starring humans.

Pets just have a different effect on us especially when it comes to movies and shows. While they may make it seem effortless on-screen though, working with pets on these kinds of things isn't the easiest thing in the world.

While a lot of pets may be smart and may be able to take some directions, they're not really at the level yet to understand the many intricacies of a film set so it's the humans who need to adjust. Many actors and actresses have went through this and while the animals may be adorable and friendly, there are some things you really have to work on as well.

Here are the experiences of actors and actresses who've worked with pets on set.

1. Bridgerton

In the second season of Bridgerton, a corgi named Austin played Newton, the Sharma family's dog who had this strange fixation with Jonathan Bailey's Anthony. Apparently, though, the actor and the dog just didn't click.

“Austin played Newton and it’s a sterling, stunning performance, but do you know what? We didn’t get on,” Bailey told EW in February 2022. “He just loved sausage, and there’s nothing wrong with loving sausage, but it was more the way we had to hold little crumbs of sausage in my hand to try and get him to jump in my lap. … It’s amazing that I got to work with him because he’s obviously going places, but we didn’t really click.”

2. Dog

The film Dog was inspired by Channing Tatum's bond with his late pooch Lulu.

“We thought about [calling the movie] Lulu, but there was already a movie with that title,” Tatum explained during a W magazine interview. “But my character specifically tries to not say the dog’s name for so long — he’s just like ‘Dog! Dog! What’s up, dog?’ because he’s trying not to personalize the animal. But he obviously starts to have a connection with her and in the end, she becomes something to him.”

For the film though, the actor worked with a Belgian Malinois and he described the breed as an intense one. He admitted that they're a lot of energy and he thought it was going to be a simple movie.

At the end of the day, however, he said that he could only really get the pup to accomplish one task at a time.

3. Black Beauty

Mackenzie Foy learned to ride horses for her role in the film.

"It was probably like two weeks of training, but I knew that I was going to do this film a couple months earlier,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I actually wanted to start riding anyway once I finished high school, so this movie encouraged me to do it. I probably got ten lessons in on my own before I started filming. Once I got to South Africa, I worked with FilmEquus and they taught me everything I needed to know to do the film.”

4. The Art of Racing in the Rain

“I’m kinda f—ing crazy. I’m not one to be afraid of a role, and actually when roles are a bit frightening, that’s where you can find the most truth in the character and the story because we’re pushing ourselves,” Milo Ventimiglia said about taking on the lead role in the film. “We’re pushing our boundaries. It was a very human story, kind of like This Is Us, where you have real-life stakes that were happening to this guy — his career as a race-car driver, his life with his family. It’s so deeply human, and the angle where you have a dog who happens to be an elevated soul and is watching his owner go through the trials of life, it felt like a unique story. It had magic without it feeling like it was trying to push the magic.”

In an effort to be closer to the pooches, he also admitted to spending a lot of time with them. “I spent a lot of time with the [two golden retrievers that played Enzo] before we started filming. When we were on set, I was the only one who was allowed to give affection and play with the dogs aside from the trainers because we needed that familiarity." he said.

5. Marley and Me

Marley and Me is one of the most memorable pet movies out there. It's a classic that just remains in the hearts of many.

Talking about working with a dog though, Jennifer Anniston admitted that it wasn't always easy. "There were times when he'd perform the best in the scene, but you'd feel like you haven't gotten it. But that's what you get for working with a dog,” she said adding that sometimes, her canine costar would break character at the most inopportune moments.

6. Turner and Hooch

“Dogs force you to get out of your plan and out of your comfort zone, which is really great for a guy like me, who likes to run his scenes in the shower the night before,” Josh Peck said about his experience working with five French Mastiffs on the Disney+ film. “The dogs would certainly pass gas sometimes in the middle of a scene, and usually I could power through it, but I’m not that professional. I’d be like, ‘I’m sorry, can we just take a moment and let the air literally clear?'”

7. Full House

The sitcom brought in not just one but an assortment of pets for various episodes which actually helped kickstart Candace Cameron Bure's affinity for animals.

“Being on Full House and being around so many animals, more than just dogs, we had a chimpanzee on the show and a donkey and a ferret and so much more,” the Fuller House alum told Today in 2018. “So, I’m sure all of that contributed to my love of animals."

8. Frasier

The dog Eddie was actually recast during the run of the show, Kelsey Grammer revealed about working with a Jack Russell terrier on Frasier.

“So, the last appearance of Moose — the original Eddie — they actually did makeup on him because he got so … and gray that they sort of painted his markings back on him. [Production also] let him sit on the couch because he couldn’t really do tricks anymore,” he said.

Grammer also added that the pup used to bite his costar John Mahoney whenever he was on Mahoney's lap. Unlike his character on the show, the late actor, unfortunately, hated the dog, Grammer revealed.

If you're not really trained to work with animals, working with pets can be a big challenge, especially in a place where there's also added pressure to do well in your job. You have to juggle both your performance and also your relationship with the pet to make your scenes together believable.