Animal Behaviorist Bill Berloni Talks About Dogs During Pandemic
The quiet woods surrounding the home of Bill and Dorothy Berloni are showing the first buds of spring as they take small groups of their dogs out for rounds of walks. As they follow the winding trails and take in the fresh air of a recent rain, it would seem—at least to these much-cared-for animals—that all’s right with the world.
The Berlonis—legendary animal trainers and behaviorists for the stage, movies, and TV—certainly know that the world is a very different place as a result of the pandemic. But while so much is still unknown and uncertain, they have a singular focus: caring for a menagerie of dogs and other creatures at their expansive Haddam enclave.
“We don’t have time to think about it,” says Berloni. “When you have 40 animals to care for you get up at 6:30 a.m. and you take care of them until 11 p.m., so we’re going all day long.”
Caring for these animals throughout the day has put the Berlonis through their paces.
“A new routine,” he says, “is that every day we each take two or three or four dogs out to the state parks both for their exercise and for ours.”
Being home for this long stretch and not working on film or TV shoots or in theaters across the country, Berloni says, “I’m very happy being amongst them.”
He says that he’s been getting many more calls from friends and other work associates in the entertainment industries saying, “Bill, I’m ready. I’m lonely. I want to adopt a dog now.”
While he says it’s wonderful that more people are of a mind to adopt pound or rescue dogs, “It’s tough now because the bricks-and-mortar shelters can’t allow people to come in.”
Berloni says he’s lost multiple filming and theater jobs because of the national shut-down. Because of that, he’s laid off his two employees.
