Marley and Me

We watched this movie again last night. It breaks one’s heart to see a dog put down. But the alternative is so much worse: watching your friend suffer.

The makers of this movie made it a little better by having Marley slowly close his eyes while the effects of the drugs kicked in. In reality this didn’t happen when we did the same to Cheeko. But that could have been because he was still in his prime: he wasn’t tired and old.

A Dog’s Purpose

I’ve written about this film before. Bailey’s final scene is heartbreaking, too. But the twist in this story is that he gets to reincarnate several times before he comes back to his original owner in a new body.

It shows just how evolved our understanding has come.

Ol’ Yeller

This is the film that broke my heart as a child. It’s now 60 years old. When I saw this scene as a 7 year old, I never truly got over it.

This is a depiction of how rabies (hydrophobia) was handled in frontier times. The dog, who defended and protected his young master from danger, literally put his life in harm’s way. The devastating bit is the young man having to kill his dog himself.

Golden Labrador

Image courtesy of 101 Dog Breeds

The common thread through these three films is the breed of dog. Golden Labradors are my favourite. When asked what breed of dog would I be, I always answer with this one.

We only had one in our house when I was a teenager: he was a stray, and we called him Sandy.

Angus, Ontario was our home then. I’m sure my sisters remember him fondly. I do.