15 Movies That Are Better To Watch With Your Dog
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Dog lovers, vote up the movies that make you and your dog say, 'Bow WOW!'
One of the favorite pastimes of anyone who is a dog owner is curling up on the couch with their furbaby and watching their favorite films together. Next time, instead of watching what you want to watch, consider some movies for dogs. Dog movies will always touch your heart — there is plenty of love, laughter, and tears in them to go around — and we believe your pooch will love them, too.
From Disney's The Aristocats (because what dog DOESN'T want to watch a family of cats) to more current, darkly funny fare like Strays, there is something for every canine and their owner out there. Which of the following films do you think you and your dog will like the most?
Premise: The Seaver family leaves their pets in the care of a friend while visiting San Francisco. Shadow (a golden retriever), Sassy (a Himalayan cat), and Chance (and American bulldog), believing they were abandoned, set out to make the journey home. The trio sets off into the wilderness, where they face everything from wild animals to harsh weather conditions.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Grab your tissues — the climatic finale will leave you overjoyed and in tears as Shadow, Sassy, and Chance finally reunite with their owners in an emotional and heartwarming moment.
What Will Your Dog Love? Through the animals' incredible journey across country, they learn the true meaning of love, loyalty, and friendship.
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Premise: Beethoven is a playful puppy who escapes a pet store during a robbery. He finds himself in the home of the Newton family, whose patriarch, George, is reluctant to take him in. He does so anyway to please his wife and kids. As Beethoven gets bigger, he causes plenty of chaos, but remains a beloved member of the family.
The Newtons take Beethoven for a routine visit with a shady vet, Dr. Varnick, but do not realize he wants the the dog for conducting unethical medical experiments. He tricks the family into believing that St. Bernards are Cujo-level dangerous, convincing George to put him to sleep, which causes a rift in the family. When all seems lost, the Newtons discover Beethoven has not been euthanized but taken to a secret warehouse for experimentation, and take it upon themselves to get him back.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Beethoven, the other dogs in the lab, and the Newton family, overpower the evil Dr. Varnick. Beethoven returns to the family, as do all the dogs from the lab.
What Will Your Dog Love? When George, who believes that he has no choice but to put Beethoven down, says his final goodbyes, he reveals he loved Beethoven as much as anyone else in the family and says in tears, “You were my dog, too.” Their bond ends up being the strongest.
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A Dog's Purpose
Photo: Universal PicturesPremise: Before a feral puppy is euthanized in the 1950s, he wonders about his purpose. He doesn't find it in that lifetime, but he's reincarnated every few years where he lives out his purpose (loving and enriching the lives of his various owners) and takes it with him to the next life.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: In one of his lifetimes, he meets a young boy named Ethan in the 1960s, and reunites with him in 2014. Ethan, now in his 60s, recognizes the dog to be his boyhood canine friend, Bailey.
What Your Dog Will Love? The message of bonding with your chosen human and learning to “be here now” for them.
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Premise: Preteen Josh Framm moves to a new town with his mom and sister after his dad dies. He struggles to fit in until he meets a golden retriever in an abandoned church parking lot where he plays basketball. He names the dog Buddy and soon discovers his canine pal has a talent for the sport.
Josh and Buddy bond and join the school basketball team, leading to unexpected success. However, the pair are met with challenges along the way, including the disapproval of Josh's less than understanding coach (who doesn't want Buddy on the team) and the efforts of Buddy's abusive owner to reclaim him.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Josh attempts to set Buddy free to find someone who can take care of him where he won't be chased by his former abusive owner. Afterward, his team is losing the championship, and Josh's heart is not in the game — that is, until Buddy returns and drives the team to victory.
What Will Your Dog Love? Dogs love balls, and Air Bud is filled with them! This movie is like Christmas every day in terms of playtime. Your dog will also love Buddy's bond with Josh and the message that every dog deserves a second chance at love.
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Premise: German Shepherd Charlie B. Barkin dies at the hands of his nefarious canine business partner, Carface. Even though Charlie was never on the straight and narrow, all dogs typically go to heaven upon death. But Charlie wants to stay on Earth and exact his revenge. Charlie meets an orphan girl named Anne-Marie who can talk to animals and decides to use to her in his scheme. He ends up wanting to protect her from Carface instead.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Charlie drops by an abandoned church to bring a poor family of dogs pizza and sings them a song — “What's Mine is Yours." This gets little Anne-Marie to trust him.
What Will Your Dog Love? The bond between Anne-Marie and Charlie is so heartfelt, it makes him reconsider his selfish ways. As he learns the true meaning of love, he is, once again, granted a life in heaven.
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Premise: The courageous Puss in Boots (you'll remember him from the Shrek franchise) embarks on a journey to find the mythical Last Wish of the fallen Wishing Star. Whoever possesses it will be granted their ultimate desire, which for Puss is the restoration of eight of his nine lives.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: When Puss faces Death (who comes to him in the form of a wolf) he accepts his fate and learns to appreciate the life he has. His humility disarms Death, who tells him to go and live — at least for now.
What Will Your Dog Love? Perrito, the sweet, overly optimistic therapy dog to Puss in Boots. They meet at Mama Luna's where he disguises himself as a cat just so he can have a home (and friends).
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Premise: Best In Show follows a few quirky dog owners on the way to the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show, where they will compete to win the “best in show” title. It is a dog eat dog world, with the owners going to just about any hilarious length to win the competition.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Gerry Fleck and wife Cookie make not-so-beautiful (but catchy) music in honor of their dog, Winky, a Norwich Terrier and the winner of the Mayflower. Song titles include “God Loves a Terrier” and “Terrier Style.”
What Will Your Dog Love? The elite dogs making their way to the dog show and the pampering they receive by their owners. Think of them as the Kardashians of dogdom.
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Premise: The Sandlot follows a group of boys who play baseball at a neighborhood sandlot in 1962. One of their biggest challenges is from the person living next door to the sandlot who owns a terrifying dog known to the kids as “the Beast.” The Beast has claimed many baseballs, including one signed by Babe Ruth that they were not supposed to be playing with.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: When one of the boys attempts to retrieve the Babe Ruth ball, he gets cornered by the Beast — only to get a sloppy kiss. It turns out dog is big softy, and his owner actually knew Babe Ruth.
What Will Your Dog Love? The Beast, whose name is really Hercules, eventually becomes the mascot to the boy's team. He stays until they grow up and, one by one, move on. His legend lives on in the generations following theirs.
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Premise: Bolt is the lead in a popular TV show of the same name. In the show, he possesses superpowers. In real life, he's a normal pup but believes his superpowers are real, unaware that everything is staged for TV audiences.
Bolt is accidentally shipped from his cushy life in Hollywood to New York City and embarks on a cross-country journey back to LA to reunite with his beloved owner and co-star, Penny. Along the way, he encounters Mittens, a street smart feral cat whom he “kidnaps” to help him on his journey and a hamster named Rhino, who just happens to be Bolt's #1 fan. Together, the threesome navigates the real world as Bolt grapples with the revelation that he is just a normal dog.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Bolt becomes a hero by saving Penny from the studio fire. While his powers are not what he thought they were, his unconditional love for Penny is the superpower that drives him to stay behind and save both of them.
What Will Your Dog Love? The family made from necessity by Bolt as he embarks on his journey. He comes to rely on Mittens and Rhino, and the three share an unbreakable bond that continues when, at the the end of the film, Penny adopts them as well.
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Premise: Max, a Jack Russell Terrier, lives a comfortable life in a New York City apartment with his owner, Katie. He spends his days with other animal friends around the building, but his world is rocked when Katie brings home another dog, Duke. Instead of becoming friends, they are instant rivals, and through a series of unfortunate events, get lost in New York City.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: Snowball, the bunny gang leader (who was once trying to kill Max) teams up with him, turning from enemy to necessary friend to rescue his gang (and Duke) from the clutches of animal control. To do this, he hijacks a bus, Speed-style.
What Will Your Dog Love? Through their New York City adventures, from outrunning animal control to run-ins with Snowball's gang, Max and Duke find common ground and learn to love each other, making their reunion with Katie all the more sweet.
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Premise: This animated classic tells the story of a family of cats (a mom and her three kittens) who live a comfortable life thanks to their wealthy owner, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, a former opera singer. She loves her cats dearly and plans to leave them all her money, but her butler, Edgar, has other plans for the loot. He abandons the cats in the countryside, and it's only with the help of a stray named Thomas O'Malley that they can make their way back to Paris to thwart Edgar's plans.
Scene: That Gets Tails Wagging: When Madame is reunited with her precious furbabies, she welcomes Thomas O'Malley to join the family and happily awaits the next litter of kittens.
What Will Your Dog Love? Napoleon and Lafayette, two bumbling large dogs who live in the countryside near an abandoned windmill and spend their time chasing cars. They are woken up by Edgar as he abandons the cats and give him a real run for his money.
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Premise: This dark comedy follows a terrier named Reggie who learns that his owner, Doug, has been doing his best to abandon him. Once he's out on the streets, he decides to get back at Doug by biting his johnson off. A group of strays join him in this endeavor.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: On their journey back to Doug, the dogs eat psychedelic mushrooms. Their trip turns dark when they unknowingly maul a rabbit family. Once sober, they attempt to bury the evidence and say a prayer. (It's funnier than it sounds!)
What Your Dog Will Love? The strays band together to mete out revenge against Doug. Everything that goes wrong for the human villain does — he loses his manhood to a dog bite and his house burns down all in the same few minutes.
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Premise: Directed by Wes Anderson, this quirky stop motion film is set in a dystopian future in Japan, where dogs have been quarantined on Trash Island (AKA, the Isle of Dogs) due to a canine flu outbreak that we find out later was man-made by a cat lover. A young boy named Atari ventures onto the island to find his dog Spots and gets help from a pack of strays who assist him on his journey.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: During the journey, one of the dogs (Chief), who is leery of humans and didn't want to involve himself in Spots's search, gets separated from the pack with Atari, and they go it alone. After Atari gives Chief a bath, he discovers just how much the dog looks like Spots and the two begin to bond when Atari gives him his first treat.
What Will Your Dog Love? The dogs rely on each other to survive the island, living up to their true pack mentality.
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Premise: Two foster siblings move into a home where pets aren't allowed and rush to to find a home for their dog, Friday, before he's taken to the pound. They stumble upon an abandoned hotel and turn it into a home for stray dogs from all over the city.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: The kids build a variety of contraptions at the hotel to make the dogs lives easier. These include access to a golden fire hydrant and a food conveyor system so they can all eat at once.
What Will Your Dog Love? All the bells and whistles the hotel has to offer. By the end of the film, the hotel becomes a legit business that city leaders chip into to make it work. There's plenty of pampering here for the discerning pooch.
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Cats
Photo: Universal PicturesPremise: The Jellicles are a group of stray cats who come together each year for the Jellicle Ball. During this event, Old Deuteronomy (a cat who has lived multiple lives and is the wisest of the bunch) decides which Jellicle cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer (basically heaven) and be reborn into health, vitality, and a new life. Victoria, a recently abandoned cat, gets to know each Jellicle as they tell their stores.
Scene That Gets Tails Wagging: When old and scraggly Grizabella, desperate to be put out of her current misery and be a Jellicle once again, gets chosen to go to Heaviside Layer and begin life anew. (She also sings the movie's most touching and well-known song, “Memory”.)
What Will Your Dog Love? Though this film primarily features cats, not dogs, the felines inhabit a world that will look very familiar to your furry friend. Also, there's no denying that this infamous flop is - for better or worse - hard to look away from. You and your dog will likely have your eyes glued to the screen, though probably for very different reasons.
