Lana5, the jet-setting, car seat-shredding celebrity dog, calls Charleston home. She just turned 5 this summer, but has always had the five after her name. When asked what the five stands for, her owner and trainer, Julie Strang, responded that she never asked. She was too busy managing Lana5’s many movie roles.
Strang and Lana5 were introduced when Lana5 was training for the movie “Dog” in Los Angeles. In the movie, Channing Tatum plays Jackson Briggs, an Army Ranger tasked with driving a fallen soldier’s dog, Lulu, to her owner’s funeral. Briggs and the dog find happiness with each other after a string of adventures and conflicts including the infamous scene in which Lulu, played by Lana5, tears into Briggs’ car seat.
Strang, who has worked with movie animals since 2000, was one of the trainers who worked with the three female Belgian Malinois hired to play the role of Lulu. Lana5 was one and a half at the time and had just relocated from the Netherlands, where she was born.
Tatum was interested in adopting Lana5 after filming wrapped. At least, that was the plan until the film was shut down due to COVID-19. Lana5 serendipitously ended up spending three months in Charleston with Strang. The next time Strang saw Tatum in LA to resume filming, he asked if she thought she was going to keep Lana5. “She has a new tag with my real number on it,” she replied.
After “Dog” wrapped, Strang and Lana5 spent seven months in Europe working on “John Wick: Chapter 4.” From Paris to Berlin, Lana5’s high drive and work ethic were on full display. Dining al fresco in Paris, Lana5 inspired Strang to create a portable dog bed, which would later become the Vagabond Café Mat and flagship bed for her company, Anchor Pet Supply.
“While going to all the restaurants with Lana5 in Paris, I kept borrowing the hotel towels to give her a clean place to lie down,” said Strang, who has extensive experience traveling with dogs for work on commercials, music videos, television shows and films. After years of working, traveling and living with dogs, Strang knew she wanted to create a line of beautiful, functional dog products for celebrity dogs and couch potatoes alike. After a year and a half of product development and testing with Charleston-based manufacturers, Strang launched her first Lana5-inspired collection in 2023 with Lana5 as the face of the brand.
See Lana5 on the Big Screen
Watch Dog (rated PG-13) on Prime Video
Watch John Wick: Chapter 4 (rated R) on Prime Video
Lana5 continues to demonstrate her acting acumen and doesn’t show signs of stopping. She will appear in the first few episodes of “Fallout,” Amazon’s latest post-apocalyptic drama television series, when it is released in 2024.
Always up for an adventure, Lana5 approaches life with a kind yet rebellious spirit. She, like most “malligators,” has boundless energy. She is very social, loves visiting Sullivan’s Island beach and is said to steal like a packrat. “She is a master thief,” said Strang, “from heavy backpacks to shoes and tools, she will steal anything and take it to her bed. Luckily she doesn’t ruin anything,” she added. Unless, of course, it’s in her job description!
By Isabel Alvarez Arata
Leave a Reply