The dog's real name is Lucy. She also played the dog Lucy in Wendy and Lucy (2008) - a film also directed by Kelly Reichardt from a story written by Jon Raymond.
In order to finance this film, Kelly Reichardt had to work on a full season of America's Next Top Model.
The small New York distributor Kino International spent roughly $40,000 to transfer the film from 16 mm to 35 mm; $24,000 on 22 prints; $6,500 on 200 trailers; $4,000 on 50,000 postcards and about $3,000 on Web advertisements.
In Jon Raymond's original story, there is no mention of Mark listening to talk radio in the car. The book also does not include the dog.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #1008.