As audiences begin to buzz about the early “Marley & Me” trailer, star Jennifer Aniston is talking about acting opposite a dog in the big-screen version of John Grogan’s popular memoir.

“Children actually [are] trickier than dogs!” says Aniston, who portrays Grogan’s wife, Jenny, to Star magazine. “It was so funny, because in a lot of the takes you hear Mathilda, the dog trainer, saying either ‘back, back, back, move, sit!’ while we’re literally doing our dialogue. We had to tune it out.”

One downside of appearing in the film, which opens Christmas Day, was saying goodbye to the main Labrador Retriever who played the mischievous Marley, Aniston says. “Oh, that was hard. I was quite emotional,” she says. “We really bonded. The whole experience was special and extraordinary. We did sort of become a family. Everyone was so invested in the story.”

Besides Aniston’s own dog, Corgi-terrier mix Norman, what makes the actress happy these days? “A sunset makes me happy,” Aniston says. “Really silly things, like being with my friends with a bottle of wine and some nice cheese.”