This was the first New Zealand produced film to attain general release in the USA.
Actor-writer Ian Mune has said of the casting of Warren Oates in this picture: "We couldn't pay him anything by international standards, so we offered him a sort of working holiday, flying him down here and sending him for a South Island holiday after about ten days shooting. Oates said: "Anytime anyone wants me to go somewhere exotic, I'll go!".
When Warren Oates gets out of his jeep after arriving at the motel, the paper he is holding (apparently a sheet of directions to the motel) is actually a page of the script which he used as a prompt for this scene.
The film's DVD special features state: "Sleeping Dogs (1977) was a major factor in convincing New Zealand politicians that a Film Commission financed with public funds should be established".