Hooch is a Dogue de Bordeaux, one of the most ancient French breeds.
A line from this film where Turner yells at Hooch to not eat the car was used in animation test footage for Toy Story (1995). When Tom Hanks saw the test footage, it convinced him to take on the role of Sheriff Woody.
When asked about being fired from the movie, Henry Winkler said "Let's just say I got along better with Hooch than I did with Turner."
To get the dogs to react to Tom Hanks while filming, he had to spend time with his canine co-stars in the weeks leading up to filming to build a relationship that would be evident on camera.
Scenes with Turner walking Hooch took a lot of takes as 'Beasley The Dog' was so strong, Tom Hanks frequently dropped the leash.