Great Dog movies tend to have four great things in common:

1) compelling friendship;

2) great adventure;

3) tears

4) laughter

I have always loved dogs and I have always loved movies so, naturally, if you love both there are bound to be some great dog movies out there for any dog lover/movie lover to enjoy. Here is my top 10 list: (Spoiler alert — if you have not seen all of these)

10) Iron Will (1994)

Iron Will is a great adventure film that introduces viewers to the world of sled dog racing. It has all the classic elements of a great dog film, the bond between the dogs and their human, particularly the lead dog Gus and Will Stoneman, the main character; the challenges and adventures that arise from sled dog racing, the antics and hilarious moments that accompany humans and animals in close company and the sadness around the main character, Will Stoneman’s loss of his father that he must overcome throughout the film.

9) Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Who doesn’t love a love story about an upper-class well-bred young lady and a scrappy working-class kid from the wrong side of the tracks? Screen Rant called their first date one of the most memorable date scenes in cinematic history. The Notebook, Endless Love — derivative after Lady and the Tramp for sure, is absolutely one of the most romantic movies in history and has all four great elements of a dog movie in spades.

Lady is the prized purebred spaniel of an upper-class family who loves and adores her but when the family has a baby, Lady is uncertain as to what her role in the family will be. She makes friends with the neighborhood dogs and that is how she meets Tramp. Initially, sparks fly between the two. Lady’s family decides to go on vacation and the aunt moves in to take care of the baby and brings her cats. The cats are clearly troublemakers and create all kinds of problems for Lady who is trying to protect the baby from them. Ultimately Tramp and the neighborhood dogs get involved in trying to help Lady as she gets kicked out of her house, sent to the pound, and all kinds of other adventures, and, of course, Tramp and her fall in love.

I love this dog story because of the two great characters. I also loved how this story created a world unto dogs themselves where they had their own struggles and friendships apart from humans, and yet, it still seemed somewhat plausible. It made me a more empathic pet owner to try to imagine what it was like to be a dog living in a home from the dog’s perspective and how humans might misinterpret a dog’s intentions or behavior.

8) Eight Below (2006)

It seemed appropriate to put Eight Below here. It is the Americanized remake of a 1983 Japanese film about a true story of a pack of sled dogs that miraculously survived a winter alone in Antarctica in 1957. The original Japanese film focuses primarily on how the dogs survived. In the US version, the human characters play a more significant role in the story. Sweet hunky Paul Walker (may he rest in peace) in one of the sweetest roles in his film career plays a convincing dog handler who moves heaven and earth to get back to his dogs and rescue them after having to leave them behind. The other half of the film focuses on the dogs themselves, and while it is ridiculous that there are several daylight scenes in Antarctica, in winter, it is possible to suspend your disbelief and invest in the story of these dogs.

All four elements are present; the friendships between Paul Walker and his dogs and his determination to get back to them and the bond between the dogs themselves, the adventure that the dogs have to survive, Jason Biggs for some comic relief, and, of course the tears because not all of the dogs make it through the winter.

7) The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

So this is not really a dog movie but I still think of it as one. This is another film that I included for nostalgic reasons. I watched it repeatedly on VHS and recently watched it again after many years and still found that I loved the film. The story focuses on a young girl and her father living in Chicago during the height of the depression in the 1930s. The father, like many men, is struggling to find work and the girl’s mother is no longer living. The father is offered a well-paying job in the logging industry across the country in Washington State but has to temporarily leave his daughter behind until he can earn enough money to send for her. Unfortunately, he has to decide to take the job on the spot and does not get a chance to tell his daughter who is out of the house when he comes to say goodbye. He requests the boarding house manager to watch over his daughter for a few weeks and she reluctantly agrees. it is clear though that she has little to no intention of watching the girl and so “Natty” ends up in trouble with the law after running around with her friends. Dismayed by the abusive treatment of the boarding house manager, Natty decides to escape the boarding house to go find her father. She jumps on the freight trains heading west and that is where she meets her first real friend, a “wolf-dog” with whom she shares food and who decides to protect her from unscrupulous and dangerous people she meets along the way. She also makes some friends, including a young teenage John Cusack in one of his early roles. Eventually, she reunites with her father and they presumably live happily ever after.

This movie is a great dog movie because of the adventure aspect and the friendship between the wolf-dog and Natty. It has tears as well because throughout the film it is clear that the wolf-dog is only there temporarily to help Natty get to her father and that he will not be with her forever. It is sad when they finally part but poignant as well. There are not as many laughs in this film but there are enough pranks and one-liners to make a viewer smile.

6) Old Yeller (1957)

I had to include it but unlike Screen Rant, I am not listing it as my number one. I realize this is the Granddaddy of dog movies (other than Rin Tin Tin) and that it basically created the formula for great dog movies, I just had such a hard time with Old Yeller having to be shot because he had rabies at the end of the film. The film traces the classic story of a boy and his dog and the bond and friendship that is created between a dog and its human. There. I included it. I could never watch this movie again after I saw it the first time. It was too painful and any movie I cannot watch more than once cannot be my number one.

5) Best in Show (2000)

A mockumentary from Christopher Guest and one of his best and most critically acclaimed, Best in Show is a smorgasbord of unusual characters and their dogs. It follows five couples whose dogs are entered in a prestigious “Westminster” style dog show documentary style. The film riffs on the similarities in personality between dogs and their human counterparts and skewers the dog show industry. It is a great dog film because it reminds us, dog lovers, not to take ourselves too seriously. I will admit that it's the only dog film on the list that does not have the traditional friendship, tears, and adventure elements of great dog movies but it makes up for it in spades with comedy and originality.

4) Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)

I had a coonhound for eleven years named Scout so I am partial to any film that includes a tenacious coonhound and this film had two. Where the Red Fern Grows is a love letter to all coonhounds anywhere and everywhere. Where the Red Fern Grows was also read to me by my mother so I have childhood nostalgia for the film as well. Where the Red Fern Grows is just as painful as “Old Yeller” in many ways but I was more at peace with how the story ended than I was with “Old Yeller.” I was heartbroken that Ann could not go on living without Old Dan at the end. Similar to “Old Yeller,” Where the Red Fern Grows follows a boy and his adventures training his redbone coonhounds to be the best hunting dogs in the region. Along the way, adventures ensue and the story also has several compelling villains. While hunting, the dogs are attacked by a mountain lion, and Old Dan dies from his injuries. Little Ann eventually dies of a broken heart not long after Old Dan’s passing. The devastating ending aside, Where the Red Fern Grows is one of the crown jewels of great dog movies and has all the classic elements of adventure, friendship, humor, and tears.

3) Benji (1974)

I chose this one for nostalgic reasons. It is one of the first dog films I can remember watching over and over again on VHS when I was a kid and I think I liked it because, unlike some other dog films that were popular at the time, it had a happy ending. In this movie, Benji, a stray dog living off of the kindness of people in the neighborhood, lives in an old abandoned house and befriends a doctor, his wife and housekeeper, and their children. Initially, the doctor refuses to let the children keep the dog but when kidnappers take the children and Benji helps rescue them, the doctor adopts the dog and they all live happily ever after, through three more movies apparently. I don’t remember the sequels though.

This movie was made for $500,000.00 but grossed $45 million. The filmmakers originally could not get any film companies to distribute it so they had to form their own company to get it distributed. Despite these challenges, it was the #3 box office film of 1974.

The dog who played Benji in the movie truly was one of a kind. He was a rescue dog from an animal shelter in Burbank CA and Frank Inn, the animal trainer who “discovered” him, believed him to be a mix of a miniature poodle, cocker spaniel, and schnauzer. he was originally named Higgins and came out of retirement in order to play Benji, his final role after a 14-year career in show business. Other dogs would play Benji in the sequels.

Benji did have all four elements, a strong friendship with the children in the film, plenty of laughs with all of Benji’s antics, and lots of tears when his “love interest” in the film was injured by the kidnappers (I still remember being horrified at that scene of animal cruelty) and an adventure rescuing the children.

2) Marley and Me (2008)

Marley and Me is based on the memoir by columnist John Grogan and follows the life of the Grogan family through dating, marriage, and the early years of their growing family with their dog Marley, the world’s worst-behaved dog. Marley and Me is a great dog film for me because it is one of the only dog stories I have seen popularized that accurately portrays what it is like to juggle the demands of family, career, and pet companionship in our modern era. The relationships between the dog and his family members, often hilarious and relatable, mirrored my own experiences of dog-human companionship as a child and as an adult. I also think the film did an excellent job of portraying the role that our dogs play in helping raise a family and bond a family together. The scene where Marley is put down, in the end, was especially heartbreaking to me because it reminded me so much of when our first family dog was put down and how much of our lives to that point he had witnessed and been a part of. It was poignant because it showed the ways in which dogs become integral family members in their own right and a significant part of family history.

The adventure elements in this story are different from traditional dog movies in that it does not have a large sweeping adventure. The “adventures” are more immediate and smaller in scale, as when Marley attempts to escape out of the vehicle on the way to the veterinarian. Marley constantly challenges his humans and disrupts the normalcy of everyday life, forcing everyone to be more present and live in the moment, and that is the adventure aspect of the film.

1) Turner & Hooch (1989)

This film is simultaneously a “buddy cop” film (similar to Jim Belushi in K-9 that same year but much better)a riff on “The Odd Couple,” and a classic dog movie. It had unique, well-developed characters and the funniest dog ever put on the screen. Tom Hanks was in an unusual role as a fastidious, slightly nerdy, classic Type A detective who lives quietly in an upscale beach town where crime is generally very low. He meets Hooch when Hooch’s original owner is murdered and Tom Hanks is assigned to investigate the crime. No one will take the dog but Hanks realizes that the dog might be important to the case and decides to take him home.

Hooch is a massive Dogue de Bordeaux, or French Mastiff with sagging jowls, and a giant head, and he has not been bathed in a long time. he has absolutely no manners as a dog and no understanding of boundaries and generally terrifies everyone who encounters him. Once he moves in with Tom Hank’s character Scott Turner, a well-ordered, well-mannered, quiet solitary character, hilarity ensues. He and Hooch have to learn to work together despite being complete opposites, in order to solve the mystery of what happened to Hooch’s owner and have an adventure together in the process.

This movie has a great adventure and great laughs, and I loved the on-screen chemistry between Hooch and Tom Hanks who eventually bonded and become great friends over the course of the film. Of course, like all great dog movies, the main dog character dies in the end and I cried buckets, but there is a happy ending as Hooch has managed to get his veterinarian’s dog pregnant and one of the puppies is just like his sire.

What are your top ten favorite dog films? What dog films would you recommend? I am thinking of checking out the animated film “Isle of Dogs.” Let me know what you think of it if you have seen it and you love dog movies.