“It’s been fascinating to see this side of the military,” Tatum told Men's Health at the Los Angeles premiere. “These soldiers and their dogs are super-human...it’s very, very special to see that. The connection they have is greater than what we can ever capture in this film.”
The film tells the story of how the U.S. military trains and deploys multi-purpose dogs to find and disarm enemies, while also providing emotional support to troops in their darkest hours. Working with their dogs pushed the soldiers to their limits, both emotionally and physically, noted Tatum.
“People may have a point of view of what a soldier is: a tough machine who is going in to do a job," said Tatum. "But [then] you see them really be vulnerable...to someone who is not a human, not a brother or sister, but a dog. But the soldiers view them as someone they would give their life for...just to see that vulnerability is definitely pushing the bounds of what we can expect to understand about our own consciousness."
The dogs are exceptionally physically fit; according to the film, fewer than one percent are chosen to participate in the K9 program. Donovan Hunter, one of the soldiers interviewed in the film, said his dog, Nuke, challenged him to be exceptionally fit.
“Knowing that as part of my job, I had to carry around an 80-pound dog—half my body weight— on missions, that kept me in better shape than I would have [otherwise] allowed myself to be," Hunter told Men's Health.“
While Nuke has since retired from combat and has become Hunter’s pet, the two still go running together.
For retired Army veteran, Dave Nielsen, his dog Pepper made him try harder to be fit.
Marine Fitness Trainer:
“We would let them off the leash...there we were, walking 10 miles to the target and the dogs would be zipping around, going twice as fast. So we really had to keep up with them. They are so agile, it was all I could do to stay in shape enough for them!” Nielsen said.
Sadly, Pepper died in the line of duty. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of her," said Nielsen.
War Dog premieres on HBO on Monday, Nov. 13 at 10:00 p.m. EST.
