Having considered a number of names such as"The Vacuum" and "The Blender", the director, Douglas Bronco, settled on "The Reaper" partly because of the evil connotations of the name and partly because he enjoyed many a romantic evening in a cornfield.
The dog's aggression was mostly due to its cocaine addiction. Throughout the film, the director deprived the hound of the sweet stuff and consequently aggravated its fierceness. Apparently the cat in the film was also.a coke addict.