Inside the mind of a dog, and a pig named Habib

Luke Hura has an innate ability to understand and communicate with animals, and for decades he's been training them for film, television and the stage.

You’ve probably seen one of Luke's dogs in action — he trained Bouncer, the labrador from Neighbours, the kelpie from the film Red Dog, and the maremma who starred in Oddball.

Luke has trained cats, chickens and even earned the trust of a big, black pig with tusks, whom he says was a dream to work with.

Training takes patience, discipline, and endless repetition but Luke says building trust and being able to understand body language, energy and emotions is the most important.

This episode of Conversations explores dog training, how to train dogs, Muster Dogs, how to train cats, dog behaviourist, pets, animals, vets, stage dogs, acting, Red Dog, neighbours, the television industry, working with animals.

Luke and his groodles are currently performing in the musical Annie, which is touring Australia this year. You can find out more about the production online.