The secret process that helps this trainer prepare dogs for stage and screen stardom

When Luke Hura is trying to figure out how to train a dog to complete an unusually complex task on stage or screen, he sometimes turns to his furry charge for inspiration.

“I will quite often go into a little room, bring the dog in, sit down and meditate and think, ‘OK, how can I teach you this?’ Amazingly, the ideas come to me and I think, ‘Oh my god, that’s a great idea’. I believe the dog is trying to give me an idea of how we can do it – and it works.”

Dramatic paws: Luke Hura with Daisy in the foyer of the Capitol Theatre.Credit: Steven Siewert

Hura is our pre-eminent dog whisperer. From the eponymous Red Dog in the award-winning 2011 movie to Bouncer in Neighbours, chances are if you see a dog perform, Hura will have had a hand in preparing it for stardom.

And now Hura is in charge of groodles Sandy and Daisy who play the key role of Sandy in the musical Annie, which started previews this week at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. Each night, he is standing in the wings, treat bag at the ready, overseeing his canine students.

It’s his second Annie – he also worked on the 2012 Melbourne production – and he loves the musical.

“It is such a beautiful show. There are not a lot of things for the dog to do but what he does on stage is critical. It could make or break the show. If the audience loves the dog, you’ll sell tickets. If they don’t, you won’t.”

Both Sandy and Daisy are placid, confident dogs or, as Hura puts it, “steady”.

“You don’t want a dog that that gets distracted,” he says. “You’ve got to get him used to the orchestra, the clapping and all those other little things.”

Since his earliest days, Hura has had a natural affinity with dogs and other animals.

“My mother gave me a photo album of us many years ago, of all us kids growing up,” he says. “And in all the photos where there is an animal it’s always with me, not my three brothers. ”

And, while he doesn’t exactly think like a dog, Hura says he is constantly looking at the world from the dog’s perspective.

“I’m trying to feel what the dog is feeling – whether it’s confused or worried about something,” he says. “Whatever is going on with the dog, I’ve learned to take it on board and connect with it. And they do the same with me – if I’m stressing about something, they start to go a little haywire, too.”

At the end of each night, before Hura faces the inevitable stage-door scrum of fans eager for a selfie with the canine superstar, he has a special routine with his dogs.

“At the end of the show, I say: ‘Mate, that was fantastic. You did a great show.’ I honestly believe they feel it. You have to tell them how they are doing.”

Annie is now playing at the Capitol Theatre now.