Forums Home » Dogster Lifestyle, News & Entertainment

Dog characters in TV & movies

Please be aware that while you are allowed to inform others about your product or service if it is in context and is part of an existing discussion, we do not allow unsolicited advertising in the forums. We will remove all posts that seem to be selling rather than informing. If you're interested in advertising on Dogster, please contact us.

Stella I'm from Broken- Bow, we don't- play that!     Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 4:15pm PST  Being a dog lover I've always had an interest in books, tv shows and movies about dogs. But one thing that gets me is home dogs are portrayed in certain films and tv shows. Some of them portray a dog's behavior as more human than their real life counterparts. For one thing, I've noticed pregnant dogs in some cases behave more like a human woman would. i.e. like having cravings and such. Having read about dogs and interacting with them, I knew right off the bat this not how mother dogs act. 2 years ago when my own dog had a false pregnancy, at first she wouldn't eat and when she did, she did have a form of morning sickness, but mostly she slept more and to a certain degree she had moodswings where one minute she didn't want to be left along and then half an hour later if I tried to pick her up she'd give me this look like: "Back off!". Pretty much her behavior was no different than what I read on different pet websites and in one of my dog encyclopedias. I understand most of the material on tv and in movies is fiction but it can't hurt to do research on dog behavior. Sure there are some things I see where I'm like: "Oh yeah, my dogs would do that," then other times I think, "No, that would never happen." Pretty much the only series I know of that shows how mother dogs really behave is Too Cute! on Animal planet. Granted it's more like a documentary but it's fun to watch and shows how dogs and puppies interact and behave. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Ava & Nix Suburban Farm- Dogs     Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 5:54pm PST  I think a lot of these media things portray them as furry people rather than dogs, because a lot of people will feel more connected to an animal character if it displays "human" characteristics. But portraying animals in tv/movies as furry people always seems to have negative consequences... like people expecting that their new puppy will understand everything, and then getting mad when it pees on the rug because it doesn't know any better. It would be fun to see a dog character actually acting more like a real dog would though. I liked the 90's remake of Homeward Bound a lot. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Stella I'm from Broken- Bow, we don't- play that!     Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 9:23pm PST  Good point. There are people who see certain movies like Beverly Hills Chihuahua and think the dog or puppy they buy/adopt has the same personality as the dogs in the film when in fact the real dog is just the opposite. I remember back in the 90s when shelters were overwhelmed with Dalmatians because people went out and got one after seeing 101 Dalmatians. I've never owned one but I've met some. One puppy I saw recently is almost 4 months old, very cute and friendly but has a lot of energy. I miss movies like the remake of Homeward Bound in the 90s and the sequel. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Sat Dec 15, '12 9:45pm PST  Fictional movies aren't very good sources for dog behaviors. I've never seen a fictional dog movie where the main dog would be behaving as a dog instead of a puppet. The dog is usually portrayed smarter than dogs usually are (the dog can, for example, understand human speech and use things meant for human use) or they are bad dogs that do things to irritate people (something that real dogs either cannot do at all or do only rarely). But, in common they often give the dogs human characteristics and replace dogs' own body language with human body language. I'd like to make a movie about real dogs but well, I know nothing about filming and have no resources to do anything. I would show real behavior and include training in the scenes. Wow, I remember one or two movies where animals were animals. One of them had dogs in supporting roles and a lynx as main animal character. The second was about wolves, used wolf hybrides or CSWs as wolves but there was less screen time for the canines than I expected. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Stella I'm from Broken- Bow, we don't- play that!     Barked: Wed Dec 19, '12 11:52pm PST  Interesting point. While films like Cats & Dogs and Marmaduke were funny, there weren't a lot of moments where they acted like... well, dogs. Though many dogs can be taught different tasks. One beagle owner in Florida taught his dog how to use speed dial to call for help if he went into a diabetic coma, then there's Uggie the Jack Russell from the movie, The Artist. I recently saw an episode of the show Too Cute and a Chinese Crested who gave birth to twins was very protective of anybody that got too close to her puppies including the family cat and the pup's Dad. While it showed dogs that dogs do have minds of their own and have different personalities, they were also acting like normal pet dogs. There was a case where a Border Collie knows over 700 words, she was featured in a 2007 issue of Nat Geo magazine. But for me if I wanted to know how dogs behaved, I can just watch mine which I've found to be helpful when writing fiction. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Alva BH I ordered the- best dog for me- & got her     Barked: Thu Dec 20, '12 5:50am PST  A dog can be taught many wonderful tricks but a dog doesn't know those tricks without some kind of learning process. And usually that learning is triggered by humans in the form of training. For example Alva didn't start to close drawers spontaneously. I trained her to do that. I also trained her that she doesn't get commanded by voice every time she has to close it but the command is me stepping away from the drawer or closet she should close. In the movies dogs are often shown doing complicated tricks like they would have figured those out by themselves and do those tricks on whatever command their owner decides to use in each situation. my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sanka The ground is my- newspaper.     Barked: Thu Dec 20, '12 9:15am PST  Disney taught me that all female dogs have curves and long eyelashes. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Toto, CD,- RN, CGC We don't do- doodles!!!     Barked: Fri Dec 21, '12 4:29pm PST  Sanka!!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Stella I'm from Broken- Bow, we don't- play that!     Barked: Wed Jan 9, '13 10:44am PST  Well, dogs do have eye lashes. Looking at the female dogs I've had, they to a certain degree had long lashes. Another thing that's often stereotyped in movies are certain breeds. Poodles for example have been portrayed as stuck up and posh. I met a standard poodle puppy recently. She was very friendly and playful. They make great service dogs too. Bulldogs are often portrayed as tough and I'll admit they're strong but they can be very sweet and love people. In some tv shows I've seen mutts are often frowned at by purebreds. When in reality, purebreds and mutts can be the best of friends. While I liked the movie Marmaduke I think they gave the dogs too many human characteristics. I can go to a dog park and watch dogs run around, bark and play. One thing about owning dogs is watching them is a good idea especially if a person is writing a fictional story about dogs. Same goes for cats. Also there's a lot of dogs who get along well with cats. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Opheila It ain't over- till the fat- kitty sings     Barked: Sat Jan 12, '13 8:03pm PST  For true to life depictions...Garfield and Odie...I've had both Garfield and Odie...and in the movies "Turner and Hootch"...Hootch is one of my all time favorite movie dogs. Oh another memorable cartoon scene that's true to life, if dogs could fly spaceships...in "Up" where they all scream "SQUIRREL!!!" and they crash the ship my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

(Page 1 of 2: Viewing entries 1 to 10)   Page Links: 1  2