Strays director Josh Greenbaum adopted one of the dogs from the movie

When Strays director Josh Greenbaum learned that two of the dogs working on his inappropriate comedy wouldn't have a home to go to after the shoot he decided to act, by adopting one of them.

The film charts the journey of Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell), a border terrier who is abandoned by his owner Doug (Will Forte) and goes on an epic journey with new friends to get revenge on him.

Several dogs star in the film, the pooches playing Reggie, Bug (voiced by Jamie Foxx) and Maggie (voiced by Isla Fisher) had stand-ins while Great Dane Hunter (Randall Park) was played by one dog. Most of them had a loving home to return to, but there were two who didn't.

Read more: Strays review: Inappropriate dog comedy has more bark than bite

Greenbaum said of this: “When we brought in two adorable puppy border terriers to play young Reggie in an early scene of the film, it was made known to me that these dogs wouldn’t have a home after the shoot.

“So, I decided to adopt one of them and asked my kids to name him. They immediately said we’ve got to name him Reggie because he played Reggie in the movie.

"I came home after shooting the film, introduced Reggie to the family, and now I have Will Ferrell in my house.”

The other dog to play Reggie was also found a permanent home after the shoot.

While the film sees puts its characters through some tough situations, the Strays team were determined to make sure the dogs playing them never felt uncomfortable.

Read more: How the Strays team got its dog stars to do R-rated acts on command (Entertainment Weekly, 11-min read)

Veteran animal safety expert Janice Caputo was on board to ensure the dogs were treated well, and she helped oversee the shoot and worked closely with head animal trainer Mark Forbes to do so.

Watch the trailer for Strays

Cooling and warming tents were kept on set in case it was ever necessary to use them, and every night the dogs were taken to their trainers or owners homes, or they stayed in four-star resort hotels or the compound built by set with a nighttime caretaker.

Several scenes also relied on using visual effects so that the dogs were not put in a difficult position, a scene that sees Bug get picked up by an eagle and Reggie try to save him was achieved through VFX, for example. While a scene where the dogs had to eat hallucinogenic mushrooms the dogs were actually eating specially prepared chicken patties.

Strays is out in cinemas now.