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Cassie Okenka plays Dorothy in the national touring production of "Wizard of Oz," playing at Overture Center Dec. 12-14. Toto the dog was rescued from the Humane Society. -

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If you'd visited the Humane Society a few hours before Bill Berloni, you might have adopted Toto.

Berloni, an animal trainer for Broadway, film and television, makes rescue dogs into stars. From the shaggy dog who played Sandy in the first stage production of "Annie" to Elle Woods' adorable Chihuahua, Bruiser, in "Legally Blonde: The Musical," all of Berloni's canine actors come from humane societies or other rescue organizations.

"I want to show people that animals in shelters aren't damaged," Berloni said. "Everyone idolizes them onstage. I want people to think about what they're looking for in a pet."

Two dogs trained by Berloni are currently working on the national tour of "The Wizard of Oz," which plays at Overture Center this weekend, Dec. 12-14.

Berloni started as an actor on the original production of "Annie" in 1976, where he agreed to train a dog in exchange for a part in the show. (He was good with dogs but had never been an animal trainer.) When the play found success on Broadway, his unexpected career as a theater animal trainer took off.

He's placed animals in films like "Charlie Wilson's War" and on television shows like "Reading Rainbow" and "Sesame Street," but Berloni's focus is theater.

With his company, "William Berloni Theatrical Animals," Berloni trains mostly dogs but has also worked with cats, rats, sheep, pigs and birds. His "actors" have included a cat in the 2006 Broadway production of "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" and a pig in "Alice in Wonderland" in a 1980s Broadway version of the classic fairy tale.

Rats, he said, are easy to train for a reward. Cats are very unpredictable, so he looks for animals with "atypical feline behavior."

"You have to create a situation that's very appealing to them," Berloni said. "You have to really find a cat that thinks it's a dog.

"You can walk into an animal shelter, and most of the time there's a cat sitting on the reception counter," he added. "That's the cat I take. I don't even bother going in the back. If a cat can handle being in the front like that, once I teach the behaviors, it won't be stressed out."

Berloni's dogs are more than just accessories to the action; they're characters themselves. In "Legally Blonde," Bruiser enters in the first scene and "tells" the sorority sisters where Elle is. That's the kind of thing that 50 years ago producers would have pegged as impossible, Berloni said.

"Prior to 'Annie,' animals were props in theatrical productions, led on leashes or carried on," Berloni said. "But no one told me and the director of 'Annie' that an animal can't be a character. We proved an animal can be dependable, repetitive, do eight shows a week."

For Toto to be onstage during the entire length of "The Wizard of Oz" would be exhausting, Berloni said, so the dog has carefully choreographed crosses (movements across the stage). These give the appearance of the dog constantly being there while giving her time to rest.

"It would be different if this was a (nontouring show), but you can't expect a dog to learn how to do a show in Washington and the same show in Philly" because the facilities are different, Berloni said. "We had to simplify it a little bit. They're going to play 75 cities in 10 months.

"Keeping the dogs healthy and happy without overtaxing them on this tour is the biggest challenge."

"Wizard" tour manager Joel Herbst said his Totos have been consistent performers.

"These dogs, compared to any other dogs I've ever worked with in shows, have to do things on their own, independent of the people on the stage," Herbst said. "In 'Over the Rainbow,' the dog has to move up ramps. It has to sit there while the actors are moving away. It has to pretend to be asleep. These dogs ... they're amazing."

Berloni and his wife, Dorothy, own 21 dogs, three cats, three horses, two llamas, a pony and a donkey. Eight of the dogs are currently working. The dogs travel with a handler; Berloni will not be in Madison himself.

One dog, who is 15 years old and has cancer, played Sandy years ago and was recently recruited for a Connecticut production of "Of Mice and Men."

"He had to walk on the stage and lay down," Berloni said. "He was just so happy to be working again."

Berloni's book, "Broadway Tails: Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars," written with Jim Hanrahan, was released in paperback this summer. He also collaborated with Jennifer Brilliant on "Doga: Yoga for Dogs" in 2003.

For more, go to theatricalanimals.com.