Howard Stern talked about the following story on his show this morning.

Japan- Puppy love may be all right, but this is barking mad! Loads of Japanese porno actresses say their line of work is going to the dogs because they only make half the wages of their canine co-stars, according to Tokusatsu Shinsengumi

Bestiality is a beastly business, but Japan has long had an affliction for so-called Butter Dogs, who earn their name from the butter they’re supposed to lap up from labia belonging to their mistresses.

Works such as “Butter Dog Story DX,” which features a dog performing orally on eight women, who the pup later reciprocates in a reversal of usual roles by giving them a bone, are gaining popularity in Japan’s saturated porno market. But the rarity of hammy and horny hound stars has seen them appear for a hefty price that would put stars such as Lassie or Benji to shame.

Labrador Retrievers are a favorite of these flicks because of their obedient nature and popularity throughout Japan.

“It’s not like we breed them to be Butter Dogs,” Takayama-san from Alpha International, the company that produced “Butter Dog Story DX” tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. “We mostly use dogs from canine talent agencies. We have to have dogs that are used to being around humans, as well as movie studios. By the way, it’s not butter that we lather over the women anymore, either. We use non-sugar yogurt. When we used butter, the dogs ended up getting too fat and we were worried about their health.”

Few canine talent agencies are keen for their charges to appear in bestiality movies, so producers have to exploit personal ties to get trainers willing to toe the line.

“There’s no real special training for the Butter Dogs. The most important thing is their nature. Basically, we want dogs that are friendly toward humans and that’re obedient. It’s important that they don’t bark. We do train them not to bark unnecessarily. We also teach them not to bark if they’re touched by somebody other than their trainer,” a canine talent agency official tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. “These conditions don’t apply just for the adult movie world, but for any dog that’s going to appear on screen.”

Considering all the work put into training the puppies for their lip-smacking roles, it shouldn’t be surprising that their payment weighs in fairly high. In fact, at an average of 200,000 yen per flick, it’s about double the amount handed over to the women who get hot under the collar with them.

Sukeo Yamane, Japan’s most prolific director of bestiality movies, notes that Butter Dogs pose a number of production problems.

“Sometimes it takes a full day to do a shoot. Just like humans, dogs aren’t always able to rise when they want to, so we can be stuck around waiting for hours at a time until the pooch is properly aroused,” he tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. “It’s hard to arouse a dog when it’s not on heat. That’s why we sometimes start a shoot early in the morning and don’t finish it until the middle of the night.”

Yamane continues, “And it’s only natural everybody’s a bit worried about diseases when it comes to dogs, even if they’re pets. But I’ve never experienced any sort of illness-related problems. Trainers would make sure they never delivered us an infected dog. In fact, trainers are more likely to be worried if the actresses have got a venereal disease. You hear stories of actors being infected by actresses. That’s why we always make sure we only choose girls who’re clean. Unlike humans, you can’t put a condom on the dogs because they hate ’em.”

Even when dogs are ready to perform, it’s not always that easy.

“Dogs’ lives are shortened if they ejaculate too much. Labradors generally live for about 10 years, but if they’ve appeared in adult videos, their lifespan is generally halved,” a canine talent agency source tells Tokusatsu Shinsengumi. “It seems dogs don’t like being made to ejaculate when they’re not on heat. That’s why we insist that a dog can ejaculate only once per day while shooting an adult movie.”