Today, Bowpi met Obie, the tallest Basenji we’ve ever encountered. He has Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and is almost completely blind. I wondered if he could tell he was greeting another Basenji — or if he even cared?
And here’s an unedited photo of our tall guy standing next to Peeps, for comparison. Not the best angle, but you get the idea.
Last month, we ended up running into the July Basenji meetup because other things were happening at our usual weekend park. Bowdu didn’t have much fun, as he had to be kept on leash in the presence of food.
Hey! It’s THAT person! With the handouts!
Oh come ON did you see that?! Those Basenjis don’t even have their butts anywhere near the ground. They’re ignoring the rules and totally getting away with it. And those two IMPOSTERS on the right don’t even have curly tails!
What, he’s getting treats for THAT half-assed ‘sit’? W. T. F?!?!
And you people wonder why I get so cranky at these meetups. I’m the ONLY DOG in this WHOLE GODDAMN PARK with any shred of manners, and I get JACK SH*T for my patience. *clenches jaws and salivates*
Sorry Doobs. Life’s not fair, no matter how deserving you think you are.
I’m a terrible hoarder of library books… This is a real problem because grad students at my university don’t seem to have checkout caps on our accounts, and we can renew titles for up to three years. However, I’ve been making an effort to winnow down my stacks, typing and filing away notes so I can relinquish what I don’t absolutely have to keep on hand.
This one is so fascinating, it’s hard to let go. From Johan Gallant, The Story of the African Dog (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 2002), under the section “Thoroughbreds with African Roots,” comes the following:
My own experience with traditional Congolese dogs goes back to my 1957 travels in the country. My observation was that the dogs of the southern savannah were taller than those of the equatorial forest but were largely of the same type. Pricked ears and tightly curled tails were not a standard feature among either the savannah or the forest dogs. These details only became ‘fixed’ when the modern Basenji was selectively bred.
[…]
My more recent field work in southern Africa has confirmed for me that virtually all traditional African dogs carry an ancestral graioid [greyhound-like] streak. They inherited it from their forefathers who arrived on the African continent 7000 years ago and brought these genes from the protodogs from which they had evolved. It seems misplaced, therefore, when the canine-fancying world promotes the show Basenji as the prototype of the African dog. To the contrary, this pure-bred Basenji is a typical example of modern cynotechnical interference with the gene pool of a naturally evolving land race.
When, during the 1930s, Mpoa specimens were collected from the ‘natural’ dog populations endemic to the Congo forest, this chosen dozen formed the foundation stock for a new breed. Planned inbreeding within this isolated group ensured artificial selection towards set goals, defined (as is all too often the case) not by concern for the well being of the breed itself, but by fashionable standards of what is perceived to be attractive. The inevitable cost to the Basenji of such inbreeding within a small foundation stock has been the development of a host of hereditary defects associated with the breed. These have persisted despite the most dedicated efforts to eradicate them, for example, through the periodic introduction of new equatorial stock as recently as 1987. The American Kennel Club unfortunately since banned this practice.* The case of the Basenji is a sad illustration of the results that ill-considered genetic tampering can have. It seems that modern dogdom has simply accepted that this is the toll that modern breeds have to pay for their privilege of pleasing their eyes.
Gallant, p. 85, 87, emphasis mine
* Petitioned by the Basenji Club of America, the AKC has reopened the Basenji studbooks again, though for a limited time. More information can be found on the BCOA pages for the African Stock Project.
My random, scattered thoughts —
I think it’s interesting that Gallant was in the Congo at roughly the same time as Veronica Tudor-Williams was in Southern Sudan with her crew. It does not matter to me so much who was “first,” but that their journeys and motives overlapped even when their persons did not (or did they?).
It seems that Gallant does find some of the modern Basenji to be physically attractive. He acknowledges as much in a caption describing the 2001 Crufts winner and elsewhere in the book. But acknowledging their visual appeal is not enough to justify their production in a system that he finds thoroughly artificial, disabling, and disdainful (see, for example, his book S.O.S. Dog, which is fetching some unholy prices on Amazon for some reason, as is this book).
For Gallant, it seems that the only “true” African dog not only comes from Africa, but stays in Africa — breeding, heritage, and institutionally sanctioned notions of what it means to be thoroughbred are rather irrelevant. This, too, is a kind of purist’s stance that finds coherence in geography rather than genealogy. I think his words deeply wound those whose breed with romantic intentions to “preserve” what they regard as a “primitive” breed, while Gallant would argue that African dogs require neither preservation nor “cynotechnical interference” (I love that term), if one would just abandon the notion of a narrowly defined breed.
I don’t actually begrudge Gallant his harsh words. His agenda against kennel clubs is very clear. However, just as all our modern breeds, including our “primitive” Basenji and Shiba Inu, are configurations of historical contingency and contemporary fashions, so too do I think that ANTI-kennel club polemics can be located within particular circumstances.
The dog people I know who are invested in breed club activities find their efforts to be personally enriching, first and foremost, though they ultimately take pride in promoting or benefiting their chosen breed(s). Yet, the same, too, can be said for those who rally under anti kennel club flags. At the end of the day, I find the anti-club crusaders’ motivations to be just as deeply rooted in personal experience.
I don’t know enough about Gallant’s background to understand where he comes from, but I am indeed curious. Such deep convictions are not formulated overnight, after all.
I was flipping through Inu no Nihon shi : ningen to tomoni ayunda ichimannen no monogatari [犬 の 本 史 : 人間 と ともに 步んだ 一万年 の 物語] (Ed. Taniguchi Kengo 谷口 研語, Tokyo: PHP Kenkyūjo, 2000), a special volume on the working relationships between dogs and people, put out by the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples. Contained within was relatively little on Japanese people and any of the Nihon ken. What was included, however, was a broad span of material on working and hunting relationships between humans and dogs from indigenous cultures of other continents.
This series of photos caught my eye.
Hunting dogs of the Mbuti
Hunting dogs of the Aka
Photographs 8 and 9 (from 1990) were contributed by ICHIKAWA Mitsuko 市川光雄, 11 and 12 by TERASHIMA Hideaki 寺島秀明 (from 1978), 13 and 14 (from 1983) by 丹野正 TADASHI Tanno. They are researchers whose work concentrates on the Mbuti (p. 28), the Aka (p. 29) and other hunter-gatherer cultures of the Congo Basin.
The dogs are not identified as “Basenji,” but as hunting dogs. Function, not breed, is the focus of this monograph. The diagram on page 29 depicts how Central African net hunters use their dogs and beaters (helpers who make loud noises, always women) to drive game into nets. And yes, the dogs wear absurdly large bells so that they can be heard (and not harmed!) in the thick of the action, since they don’t bark.
My favorite shot is P13, not for the naked natives but the plump, arch-necked basenji who can’t help but be included as an underfoot critter in this utterly domestic campsite scene. While the humans look self-consciously at the camera, the dog knows only to heed the shins of her people. Similarly, P14 is a nice shot, too. Perhaps the photographers had not intended to specifically capture the dogs in those photos — but they were there, a constant presence and ineradicable part of life.
P9 is a very close runner-up for favorite shot. Most powerful to me is the juxtaposition of the hunter’s muscular forearm, as well-toned as his dog’s. In this moment of sinew and flesh and the promise of meat, a snapshot conveys the very essence and history of action, with all its chronology and fluidity. And that is a dog whose alert posture, erect ears, and abundant figure commands a central place in the photographic composition. All this is counterbalanced by the child in the back right. The boy’s grip on his bow suggests that he’s no anomaly; he has full claim to this hunt, despite his youth. Yet, I suspect the dog has already seen more of the world than the boy has dared to dream…
Anyway, sorry for the low-quality scans… but not really. Alas, stuff has a tendency to circulate without credit on the internet. These photos should definitely be traced back to the source, so here’s hoping that my low resolution scans just might encourage someone to do so.
About five months ago, I was invited to meet a local breeder’s litter of six-week-old, tri-colored Basenji puppies. None of the puppies were for me, and I was not on the waiting list. The breeder, whom I had gotten to know on the Basenji Forums, aimed to socialize the pups with as many visitors as possible, and was willing to let me sample the Basenji puppyhood that I had missed since Bowpi came to us as an adult from unknown sources.
one with a flipped-up ear is hiding in the middle
It was all I could do to contain my girlish squeals and tears of delight when all six puppies came marching up to greet me at the baby gated foyer. Though I was eager to dive into that puppy pit, entering the home was a challenge with the black swarm underfoot. It was like tiptoeing through bouncing water balloons! Popping a puppy right at the outset would surely have made a bad first impression. I know I made at least one squeak as I gingerly waded through the living room into the open backyard.
Apparently I was forgiven because they were still willing to play with me. Or maybe I was being punished for the offense with puppy fangs. At any rate, they bit and chewed me, the toy I brought, the backyard plants, and each other without compunction. I still trail a few shredded threads from the clothes I wore that day as a souvenir.
There’s no mistaking the fact that these are mouthy puppies, and that they explore the world with their teeth!
Momma and auntie (not father) were both on the premises to correct them as necessary. I got the sense that this was a constant, exhausting task…
These puppies might have added a few extra wrinkles to her brow… and they’re not even hers!
For all my idealism about how responsible breeders should be breeding, raising, placing, and following through with their puppies, this was the first time I’d met a litter that, in my opinion, was being done “right.” We chatted for a good portion of the afternoon about puppies, the breed, and more, until the entire litter was knocked senseless by our blather.
One thing that left an impression on me was how eager every puppy was to see who was at the door. When the breeder and I talked about this, she made an astute point that the Basenji reputation for being “independent” and “aloof” applies to mature adults — not developing puppies. An aloof adult raises little concern, but puppies should be sociable, curious, and brimming with confidence to accept new experiences. They weren’t necessarily ready to climb into my lap and would sooner chew than cuddle me, but they were evidently unfazed by my presence and ready to engage.
All this resonated with me, especially since these descriptors — aloof, independent, standoffish, not cuddly, etc. — have commonly been used to describe, and excuse, Shibas for being Shibas. It made me recall how we selected Bowdu in the first place. Of all the puppies in the bin, he was the only one sitting apart and watching from a corner. He didn’t appear fearful, but he had no interest in joining the puppy games; when a Golden pup tumbled into his corner, Bowdu nonchalantly extended a paw to hold the pup out of his space.
And we laughed and were charmed and chose him.
The night we brought Bowdu home and put him on the floor of the apartment, it took a brief moment to register that his environment had completely changed from the busy night market that he had known. Then he shuffled underneath the nearest desk and started whimpering. He couldn’t be coaxed out, so after a while, I gently pulled him out… He never tried to hide from us again, and seemed to forget his initial fears, though we would continue to deal with fear-based behaviors for a long, long time.
I doubt Bowdu was well socialized by his breeder or broker, and we didn’t do enough to bombproof him as a puppy. He’s fine now. But for months, and years even, I often excused his quirks as somehow related to either breed temperament or our misanthropic personalities, as his guardians. Oh, he shies away from strangers on the street because he’s being “reserved,” and that gives me an excuse to avoid people, too. He’s cowering from the constant stream of passing scooters because Shibas are highly alert and “sensitive,” and I wouldn’t want him to get too close anyway! He’s frantic and pulling on walks because he’s “stubborn” and “independent-minded” and wants to chart his own course home, even though he has a butt full of poop that should be eliminated outdoors, not on paper.
In my ignorance of dog behavior, my interpretation of those key adjectives in no way matched the spirit by which Shibas are often described. Or Basenjis, for that matter! There were details about Bowdu’s puppy behavior that were really not okay, in retrospect, but my misapplication of supposed breed temperament allowed me to mask, and worse yet, normalize certain kinds of anti-social behavior that really don’t befit the breed.
Bottom line is that my misinterpretation of those terms did not benefit my dog as an individual, over the course of his development.
There have been so many times on my dog forums (moreso Shibas than Basenjis) where someone’s fearful, aloof, non-cuddly puppy behavior is dismissed as somehow “typical” of the breed. Sometimes it’s a new dog owner having to face the crushing disappointment that they’re really not the center of their puppy’s world, and that’s part of the reality of owning a “primitive” breed. Yet other times, behaviors like hiding, running away in fear, a general listlessness and dullness to stimuli are excused as “typical” breed traits by well-intentioned folks who are just trying to reassure the confused dog owner that they did get what they signed on for.
However, so often the conversation is about puppies that have been home for days or just weeks, who haven’t even been alive long enough to develop personal preferences, let alone show stable breed proclivities! They’re still growing into the world. New owners are still learning to observe and describe them as individuals, not against everything they’ve researched about the breed (if at all). Puppies don’t consult the breed manual. And even the stablest pup from the most temperamentally sound parents can develop a mind of her own as an adult; indeed, “independent” is so vague a term here as to be useless.
What I’m saying is that a fearful, dull puppy is not necessarily a final judgment on the breeder, nor does this alone limit the dog’s potential to live up to breed hype. But having now met an entire litter of pups that seemed so alert, resilient, emboldened by adventure, and downright youthful, I am reminded of how childhood and adulthood are fairly demarcated developmental categories. Perhaps it is our anthropomorphic tendency to conflate the two. If so, that is our folly, and the child’s loss — of any animal species.
“They look like each other. So they must love each other very much.”
Disregarding the fact that they don’t look that much alike, this was strange logic to me…
“Basenjis are everywhere. There’s a little Basenji in everything. They’re little horndogs.”
This person was, I think, extrapolating from the “primitive” status of Basenjis to the perceived ubiquity of Basenji mixes. An amusing perspective (regardless of accuracy) that goes against the decline in purebred Basenjis over the years…
“What beautiful fur he [Bowdu] has! He would make a great pair of gloves!”
Most shocking to me was the nonchalance with which this sweet, old woman made this statement as she stroked his back and made kissyfaces at him.
Person A: “That’s a Basenji. They can’t bark.”
Person B: “They can’t? Really? Why not?”
Person A: “They were breeding their necks in such a way that they got their voicebox squeezed out of them.”
Oh really. Tell me more about how they bred Basenjis, please.
“Did you have to break their tails to get them to curl like that?”
Sure, I confess to some fetishization of canine curly tails, but I’m not sadistic enough to take it to the level of Chinese bound feet…
And finally, my favorite, totally politically incorrect quote —
“Shiba Inu are a bit like the Japanese. Charming, incredibly polite most of the time, but prone to sudden outbursts of violence.”
… as spoken (with great fondness, believe it or not) by a middle-aged Taiwanese woman who was probably channeling her own nationalistic education in colonial history.
(The Shiba depicted with Bowpi above is not Bowdu, and despite appearances, they are just playing!)
The House of Two Bows is truly honored to feature this guest post from a canine star and horror aficionado, Anubis the Barkless Dog. Anubis first caught our attention with a short video circulating on dog lists and forums, entitled Paranormal Activity. True to her Basenji nature, this petite pup packs some potent star power. Anubis is currently cultivating her acting and modeling profile, built upon an extensive background in the study of canine horror stars.
Without further ado, I hand today’s post over to Anubis.
Anubis, the Barkless Dog (photo courtesy of Anubis’ mum)
Many filmmakers are huge dog fans (my mummy is certainly one of them), but few have showcased their love the way Tim Burton has over the course of his extraordinary career. His first live-action short film, Frankenweenie (1984), recently remade into an animated feature (2012), is the most remarkable example of Burton’s passion for us dogs, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
“That sort of unconditional love that only dogs can give, people can’t do that,” Burton said in an interview; “but yes, that sort of thing where it’s very powerful, it’s kind of your first love and your first real relationship.”
Here is my homage to five of Tim Burton’s most fantastic canine heroes.
5. Scraps, The Corpse Bride (2005)
Kickstarting the countdown is part of a popular Burton sub-genre: the undead dog. Scraps is the childhood pet of Victor, the hero of the film, and is reunited with him when Victor visits the underworld. It’s a lovely scene, and a recurring theme in Burton’s work…
“I had this strong connection with a mutt we had named Pepe,” Burton once explained, “and it was a good connection. The dog was not meant to live very long because of a disease he had, but he ended up living quite a long time. So you have this strong connection, and then you think: ‘Well, how long is this going to last?’ You don’t really understand those concepts of death at the time.”
4. Poppy, Mars Attacks! (1996)
Not only did Poppy play the part of the Chihuahua whose body is switched with his owner’s during horrifying alien experiments in Mars Attacks!, he was also Tim Burton and then-partner Lisa Marie’s real life doggie. He put in a strong dramatic performance despite his lack of formal training.
Besides his film work, Poppy served as a model for numerous photos and drawings by Burton, who also often posed with him in interviews. You’ve got to admire his patience. I would have chewed these antlers right off.
3. Abercrombie, Vincent (1982)
In Burton’s first short film Vincent, Abercrombie is the titular character’s partner-in-crime. Little is known about him, but his look is really cool, and these wonderful verses are about him:
He likes to experiment on his dog Abercrombie
In the hopes of creating a horrible zombie
So he and his horrible zombie dog
Could go searching for victims in the London fog
2. Zero, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Zero the ghost dog belongs to Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. Though his home is a kennel grave in the cemetery, Zero is inseparable from his owner, who uses his own ribs to play fetch with him…
1. Sparky, Frankenweenie (1984; 2012)
Sparky is brought back to life by his young owner Victor after being run over by a car.
Although played by a bull terrier in the original short film, Sparky is meant to be a mutt, and to represent the very essence of a dog: loving, innocent, and utterly loveable. In both films, Victor and Sparky make little films together, like my mummy and I.
The animated version is adorable, but I have a soft spot for the original Sparky, who did really well with a challenging and emotional part.
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Screencaps and promotional photos courtesy of Anubis’ mummy. Extra screencaps for Frankenweenie supplied by the House of Two Bows.
Thanks again to Anubis (and mom) for sharing their knowledge. Look for more Anubis on a screen near you…
The House of Two Bows keeps a running index of movies blurbed on the site, annotated by breed. If you’re interested in writing a guest blog for a dog film, contact for details.
Under normal circumstances, this is a risky position for a first meeting of two Basenjis… We’ve met a few who seem rather touchy about strange Basenjis. All it takes is one misfired spark for someone’s fang to end up in the other’s eye!
In this case, both are of milder temperament, and tensions quickly subsided when gazes were diverted. This breeder’s dogs are remarkably consistent in their non-reactivity — making me believe that there’s something to be said for breeding for stable temperaments.
It makes me wonder if Bowpi’s breeder (whom we don’t know) knew what s/he was doing when she produced our gentle, easy-going lady. Her prickly B-ridge still can’t be helped though…
These pictures don’t do justice to the action, but considering that they were taken in succession at 1/3200 second on burst mode, I guess you get some hint.
Not sure how she’d pull it off if she was after a mechanical lure or hurdling over obstacles.
She seems more inspired to bust out her fancy maneuvers when there’s a live companion and she’s in the lead!
Because we know the holidays aren’t just about feelgood times in the company of family you can’t stand during the rest of the year, here are ten dog movies that will depress the hell out of everyone and totally ruin your holidays. If things are getting too jolly around the living room, load up one of these films and watch the mood plummet faster than you can say, “Hand me the flask.”
Spoiler alert: A prominent canine character dies in at least six out of ten of these titles. The descriptions below may or may not indicate which ones.
To avoid redundancy, I didn’t list anything that had appeared on my previous list of Top Dog Movies, compiled two years ago. That was my arbitrary reason to omit Journey of Natty Gann (1985), Amores Perros (2000), and Inu no Eiga (2005) which could easily have fit here. I also tried to stay away from some of the typical titles that top these lists like Marley and Me (2008) or Where the Red Fern Grows (1974 & 2003); those were probably better off remaining as only literary properties, anyway.
I will, however, begin with at least one obvious choice, primarily because I haven’t blogged it yet.
10. Old Yeller. Dir. Robert Stevenson. Perf. Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, Spike the Dog. Walt Disney Pictures: 1957.
Having recently rewatched this children’s classic after not having seen it in probably 20 years, I was struck by a few revelations. The biggest was that older brother Travis Coates, whose self-sufficiency and stiff upper lip in the face of emotional trauma seemed so crushable to me as a child, just seems petulant and downright brutish to me now. He may know how to plow and hunt and keep the household in ham, but he’s kind of a jerk — one who just happens to love a dog that even the cruelest kid in the west should be able to love. Screw you Travis, and your annoying little brother too.
The film’s primary redeeming quality is that they knew to give ample footage to Yeller, the hulk of a Lab-Mastiff cur who comes across as a superdog capable of any task you set before him. For Travis to gain a modicum of maturity at the sacrifice of Yeller’s life seems particularly unjust when one witnesses how badly he regresses in the failed sequel Savage Sam (1963). Yeah, Disney sure sent that sequel to the hogs…
9. Hachi, a Dog’s Tale. Dir. Lasse Hallström. Perf. Richard Gere, Joan Allen, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Chico, Layla, Forrest. Inferno/Stage 6: 2009.
I’m kind of allergic to most romantic leading males (e.g. Richard Gere), so I was initially resistant to this Americanized retelling of the famous story of the loyal Japanese Akita, Hachiko. One masochistic night, I decided to stream this on Netflix, and found it refreshingly sufficient for what little it aspires to be. Transplanted from Tokyo to Rhode Island, this version is relieved of the burden of nationalist authentication, allowing it to “just” be about a dog loving professor and the Akita of his affections. Because their relationship is so untainted and simple, it becomes more like a lament over the poor animal’s inability to process abstractions like death rather than praise for his unflagging loyalty, a sentiment I’ve never been comfortable taking at face value.
Could this spot have been replaced with the 1987 Japanese version (screenshot pictured above)? Well, they used actual Akita instead of Shiba puppies in that one, but it’s kind of hard to topple the downysoft duo of any Nihon ken puppy plus Richard Gere. The American version succeeds by being less moralizing, even gentler, and even more vapid than the predecessor. You don’t have to go into this expecting to think too much, just cry, dammit! Cry! The power of Hachi compels you!
And speaking of sentimental remakes of Japanese originals…
8. Nankyoku monogatari [Antarctica]. Dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara. Perf. Ken Takakura, numerous dogs. 1983.
In 1958, a Japanese expedition to Antarctica had to abandon their team of sled dogs for reasons unexpected and uncontrollable. Fifteen Sakhalin huskies (Karafuto dogs) were left tightly chained to a line with only a week’s worth of food, as the team originally had expected they would return for them. Eight dogs were able to slip or break free of their chains, but then they had to learn to survive in the severe climate and treacherous landscape. Eleven months later, members of the expedition were finally able to return, discovering that two of the original dogs had survived all that time. This film dramatizes that adventure.
With a soundtrack by Vangelis and a pseudo-documentary approach relying on an omniscient narrator to relay the dogs’ thoughts, I suspect the Japanese version strikes a more somber tone than its Disneyfied remake, Eight Below (2006). The Japanese version also presents a more eclectic canine cast than the uniformly purebred Siberian huskies of its American interpretation. With a greater emphasis on the dogs, counting down with each tragic death, there was little attempt to cover up the truth. In fact, a significant side story to the dogs’ survival plot involves one of the expedition members embarking on a grand tour of apology, visiting the families who had contributed sled dogs and personally accounting for his role in the dogs’ noble sacrifice.
At any rate, the austerity of the landscape is thankfully counterbalanced by many scenes of happy, off-leash dogs running fast, loose, and free.
7. Quill. Dir Yoichi Sai. Perf. Kaoru Kobayashi, Kippei Shina, Rafie the dog. Quill Film Partners: 2004.
Quill was raised from puppyhood to be a seeing eye dog, and to spend his life helping others. Due to no fault of his own, he never really gets to stay in a permanent home. His life is his job, such that he barely gets a chance to be a dog. Or rather, as a dog with a job, he has changed the very perception of what it means to be a modern dog. Such selflessness! Such devotion! Such an honorable, purposeful existence! Pass me another tissue, please.
6. Plague Dogs. Dir. Martin Rosen. Perf. John Hurt, Christopher Benjamin, Nigel Hawthorne. Nepenthe: 1982.
As much as we praise the functional dog who works alongside his human partners, there is also a dark side to this relationship, as in the animal testing laboratories of modern industrial societies. Rowf and Snitter are two dogs who escape from such a nightmarish world. However, their presence creates something of a government scandal, as local farmers fear they may be carrying the plague or other diseases created as experiments in bioterrorism. So the hunt is on to capture the errant pair…
Not having read the Richard Adams book on which this animated feature was based, I was completely unprepared for the soul-crushing heaviness of this story. While this is the only animated feature on this list, it is pretty exceptional as far as non-Japanese animation goes, and definitely a memorable title that fully demonstrates how evocative hand-drawn cel art can be.
5. Vidas Secas [Life is Barren]. Dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos. Perf. Átila Iório, Orlando Macedo, Baleia the dog. Luiz Carlos Barreto Produções Cinematográficas/Sino Filmes, 1963.
Poverty and pets don’t mix. Down with the exploitation of the agricultural peasantry!!
4. Umberto D. Dir. Vittoria De Sica. Perf. Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Flike the dog. 1952.
Poverty and pets don’t mix. Down with the oppression of the urban underclass!!
3. I Am Legend. Dir. Francis Lawrence. Perf. Will Smith, Abby & Kona the dogs. Village Roadshow: 2007.
A cancer cure gone wrong has turned into a disastrous virus, wiping out 90% of humanity and turning the remaining 9% into photosensitive mutants who feed on the 1% of humans possessing natural immunity. Will Smith plays a military doctor who is part of that exclusive 1%, occupying a depopulated New York City with his faithful German Shepherd, Samantha. She is the only other living thing that responds to language — except, unfortunately, his stop or recall commands when it really, really matters.
After her passing, it seems intolerable for life (or the movie, for that matter) to go on, but it has to conclude somehow. The unwatchableness of the last, dog-less third does its part to ensure some potent ill will towards the filmmakers, if not all of humanity.
2. Pedigree Dogs Exposed. Dir. Jemima Harrison. BBC One: 2008.
While we might fabricate good reasons to distrust science in the name of Hollywood fantasy, there are actually compelling reasons to heed science in our day-to-day transactions, including the breeding of our beloved pets. This British documentary is certainly not the first to have raised concerns about the ethics of purebred dog breeding, but its sensational manner created an unprecedented splash when it was first broadcast — all the better to get the public talking.
The 50-minute long documentary is not without its faults, as the director has no time to spare in airing the happily-ever-after pet stories that we take for normal. She has been targeted by some rather vitriolic breeders and critics, as her blog frequently reveals. Perhaps what’s most depressing is not what this documentary reveals about the health of some breeds as a whole, but rather what it exposes about the mindset of some people at top echelons who have completely warped visions of what it means to be breed stewards.
If the YouTube movie embedded above does not work, just search for another version. It’s readily available online, last I checked. The sequel, Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On (2011) continues the investigation with some extra footage to be found on the DVDs, available for purchase here.
1. Good-bye, My Lady. Dir. William Wellman. Perf. Walter Brennan, Brandon deWilde, Sidney Poitier, My Lady of the Congo. Batjac: 1956.
So here’s another iteration of boy-gets-superdog, boy-loses-superdog-and-gains-maturation theme. Though I didn’t rank this list in any particular order, I would put this one far higher than the title that began this roundup because the dog is a Basenji, and the Basenji doesn’t die.
TAKE NOTE, future screenwriters and directors! Contrary to convention, the dog doesn’t have to die for the characters to arrive at enlightenment. Leave the dog alone. If somebody’s gotta go, try killing off the boy or mom and dad or a few hundred mutants or half the town’s population first. Audiences and critics will hate you less.
More dog films, including happier ones, can be found by checking out posts filed under FILMS, or accessing the index of dog movies reviewed and screencapped on this blog.