CTU EXCLUSIVE: Channing Tatum Hanging Out with the Dogs of 'Fighting'

Animal trainer and dog breeder David Frager of Wildline American Bulldogs was nice enough to send me some really cute and exclusive photos of Channing Tatum on the set of his upcoming film 'Fighting'.

The adorable pictures were taken with Chan and cast mates after David's dogs finished filming four days worth of night shoots at a location near Jerome and 175th street in the Bronx, New York during the week of October 22nd.

David has been training and breeding dogs as a hobby since 2001 and even started the North American Bulldogs Club, but believe it or not, is actually a teen drug and rehab counselor by trade in New York City. Ironically, the dogs and Channing have a lot in common, because David's dogs started out modeling for designers like J Press Clothing and organizations like the ASPCA of New York before they broke into acting.

I personally can't get enough these pics that seem to show Chan in his true element playing with David's prize-winning pooches Chunk (aka Champion Wildline's Chunky Lover) and Chunk's daughter Mable (aka Wildline's She's the Bomb).

Although the gorgeous American Bulldogs may look intimidating and were hired by the film to do just that, 2 year old Chunk and 1 year old Mable seemed to have stolen Chan's heart. You also see Chan in pictures with David's dog Pimp Daddy (aka Blue Rivers of Wildline's Pimp Daddy), who is a smaller dog breed called a Shorty Bull. Chunk, Mable, and Pimp Daddy weigh in at 85, 65, and 30 pounds each.

During the four day shoot, the animals were required to do what's called a sit/stay for 6 hours at a time where they are required to be on the set during takes. When filming with animals, David explained that it is important for cast and crew on set not to play with the dogs for safety reasons so they can focus on the job at hand. David performed decoy work with the dogs which required him to wear protective gear as he enticed the normally docile dogs to bark and look vicious on cue for the scene.

He also said it was difficult to keep Chan away from the dogs during the shoot, because he liked them so much. The pictures he sent me were taken when Chan decided to stay two hours after he and the dog's final night shoot wrapped so he could play with the lovable animals. The phrase "lucky dogs" comes to mind....Sorry. I know that was bad, but I couldn't resist. :-)

Much like everyone else who has ever met Channing, David felt that the friendly actor was extremely down-to-earth and really great to work with. You can check out some of the photos of Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Luis Guzmán, Casper Martinez, Peter Anthony Tambakis, and others with David's dogs on set...

You can also find all 24 of the pictures David sent me in the Channing Tatum Unwrapped photo gallery. I would like to give a huge thanks to David, Chunk, Mable, and Pimp Daddy for allowing me to share all of these great photos with everyone!!!

Channing Tatum's movie 'Fighting' currently has a tentative August 2008 theatrical release date. CLICK HERE to learn more about the street fighting drama.

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