Milo Ventimiglia briefly took a break from making us cry over the Pearsons in This Is Us to make us weep while watching him cuddle golden retrievers in The Art of Racing in the Rain. (Basically never watch anything he's in unless you're fully stocked up on tissues.) Based on Garth Stein's 2008 novel of the same name, the film follows an aspiring race car driver named Denny Swift (Ventimiglia) and his adorable dog Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner) as they navigate all of life's twists and turns. Enzo is played by a number of talented real-life pups, and we have an exclusive video that shows exactly how the film's production team got them to behave on set.

"Every scene relied on the dog doing something intricate and detailed, but I have to say, time and time again, Parker particularly delivered what we needed in the scene," director Simon Curtis says, noting that they didn't use as many dogs as you might expect to play Enzo. In addition to the puppy who plays young Enzo, there were also a few older, full-grown dogs who portrayed the adult version of the character. Fortunately, Ventimiglia made a connection with all of them, but especially with Parker.

Related: The Art of Racing in the Rain Is Based on a Book, and It's Just as Heartbreaking as the Movie

"Just because Parker's a dog doesn't mean he doesn't have the deepest, most beautiful soul," Ventimiglia says of his furry costar. "You see it! You see it in his eyes . . . the second I met Parker, there was a lot I got as [my character Denny] from Parker, the acting dog."

Watch all the sweet behind-the-scenes moments from The Art of Racing in the Rain above, and then be sure to pick up a copy of the film for yourself when it arrives on Digital on Oct. 29 and on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 5!