15 Movies That Are Better To Watch With Your Dog (2024)

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

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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Beethoven

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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Air Bud

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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All Dogs Go to Heaven

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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Bolt

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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Best in Show

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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