The Art Of Dog.™

by Anna Cooke, Editor, The New Barker Dog Magazine.

What’s the message people are conveying to Hollywood when the theatre-release film about a dog outscores the billed-as-blockbuster movies in one weekend? Earlier this year, when A Dog’s Journey, the sequel to A Dog’s Purpose, was released, audiences gave it a 95% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was up against John Wick 3 and Avengers.Those are convincing numbers. Movie goers enjoy a good love story, especially one that involves dogs.

Centered on the premise that the soul of a dog continues to be reincarnated into subsequent dogs, the film picks up just a bit in the future of where A Dog’s Purpose left off. Bailey is now living in the body of a Great Pyrenees Bernese/Mountain Dog mix. Going into the film, especially if you’ve read the series of books by W. Bruce Cameron, you know the dog dies. Actually, it’s four dogs who die in A Dog’s Journey.  Knowing that, you prepare yourself, and of course, you still cry, as does the big strong guy watching the film with you.

The screenplay was co-written by Cameron with his wife Cathryn Michon, Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky. The film will be released on BluRay and DVD August 20, and The New Barker will be giving away copies. Be sure to follow The New Barker on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

After watching the film, I had the pleasure of interviewing W. Bruce Cameron by phone. His dog Tucker was in the room with him. Our dogs Rita, Dougie and Angel were in the office with me. The dogs must’ve known the importance of the phone call. They remained silently alert.

For a writer who’s seen several books hit the small and big screen, did you like the way A Dog’s Journey turned out on film? I loved the film. The director, Gail Mancuso, had the right heart. When Cathryn and I showed up on the set, Gail stopped shooting and ran over to show us pictures of her five dogs. I knew right then, we’d picked the right director for the job.

How much time did you spend on the set? We spent quite a bit of time – maybe four weeks. Then, they flew us out to New York City to do a cameo.

Wait, you did a cameo? How did I miss that? Yep, with Cathryn and Tucker, walking through Central Park. You’ll have to go back and watch the film. The performance is award-winning (laughing).

At what point in time in production or pre-production, did you meet the actor dogs who would play Bailey/Buddy, Molly, Big Dog, and Max? Right away. And each time we were on set, all I was doing was rolling around on the ground with the dogs. The dogs were the main reason I wanted to be on-set, to be able to roll around on the ground with them.

The first two films in the series, A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Way Home, were both surrounded in controversy. Did that have an affect at all in writing A Dog’s Journey? No impact whatsoever. I cannot allow myself to be distracted by these things when writing. We live in an age where there is always going to be controversy. I must stay focused on what’s in front of me. Writing this series of books has been rewarding for me spiritually. It’s easy for me to feel good about that.

What was the one scene in the film that took your breath away? Ahh, that has less to do with dogs and more to do with people. It’s when CJ and Trent show up at the farm, after many years. It dawns on Hannah and Ethan who these two people are, standing on their porch. I’m always drawn to the theme of reunion and redemption. It’s about finding our way back to where we belong. That moment in the film is so poignant to me because it’s taken CJ a lifetime to see her grandmother. I return to the scene over and over in my mind. You can go home again.

Describe what it was like to watch the film, for the first time with an audience. I had seen the film many times before it was released. So, when I was in a theater for the first time with an audience, I spent time watching the audience more than the film. I was obsessing on how other people reacted to different scenes. I know people are going to read the book. But, when I can participate in the making of a movie, then watch a whole family react the same way at the same moment to the same scene, well that has a big impact on me. It’s an amazing experience as a writer.

As a writer, you’ve described yourself  as being “a bystander to the magnificent dance. We record our witness.” What have you witnessed, over your lifetime, that inspired Bailey’s story to continue in A Dog’s Journey? When I wrote A Dog’s Purpose, I heard from so many people who told me the story gave them hope. It gave them a reason to adopt another dog. My message for the series is about moving on, and that finding the same kind of love you had, comes from having a dog in your life. There’s a continuum to a dog’s love. When we say the final goodbye, it’s important to know that the dog is most concerned with what you’re feeling at that moment. The dog wants to know that you’ll be taken care of, that you will be able to move on, and hopes to encourage you to find another dog to love and be loved.

Your next book, A Dog’s Promise, will be released this October. Are you able to say how you’ve kept the continuation of Bailey’s story fresh without revealing too much about the new book? In A Dog’s Journey, we say goodbye and watch Bailey crossing the Rainbow Bridge to meet Ethan. It occurred to me, right then, that there might be an important mission for Bailey: A boy with special needs and a family that has been torn apart. I had the idea that Bailey would return as an angel dog.

Growing up and throughout your adult life, have you had a heart dog? I will always have a dog in my life, and whatever dog I have with me, at that moment, will be my special dog. Right now, that dog is Tucker, and this is definitely his first trip with me (laughing). I have to say, though, that the first dog I ever had was as a boy. Cammie, a black Lab, was the one who had the most impact on me. Growing up with a dog, for me, meant that we influenced each other’s lives. That’s something that can never be duplicated. We’d lost Cammie after I’d gone off to college.

Over the years, I have met certain dogs, other people’s dogs, that I’ve felt some connection to, and it’s those moments, when I’ve looked into a dog’s eyes and asked, “Are you Cammie?”

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Meet The Actor Dogs

by Anna Bannon, DVM for The New Barker dog magazine. Spring 2019.

As a veterinarian, there are two things I see on a daily basis that I wish I could change – that pet owners can change – obesity and dental disease. Obesity and dental disease are the silent killers of millions of pets across the US. In this article, I want to focus a little on obesity, and also one of the life threatening illnesses that often occurs secondary to obesity: diabetes.

Obesity is the leading health threat to our nation’s pet population. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) conducted research in 2016 concluding that over 50% of dogs and cats are overweight, and that obesity rates are rising annually. Not only does obesity shorten the lifespan of your pet, but it can lead to a plethora of illnesses that are not only expensive and painful to your pet, but can be fatal, including urinary tract disease, heart failure, liver disease, asthma, painful joint disease or disc disease, diabetes and more.

To determine if your pet is overweight, the best thing to do is ask your veterinarian, who will be very familiar with a scoring system called the Body Condition Score. This is something that you can learn as well. The animal Body Condition Score consists of three main factors: Ribs, Waist, and Hips. Can you feel (but not see) your pet’s ribs? Does your pet have a waistline? Can you feel the hip bones? Some breeds have slight variations on this, and sometimes it can be difficult to judge your own pet, but most veterinarians will make a note of this during every physical exam, so if you aren’t sure, just call your vet.

If your pet is overweight, then the remedy for that is actually quite straightforward: reduce the calories they get, and increase the exercise they receive. This means that you should take note of how much food they are regularly getting. Is it 1 cup twice daily? Is it a solo cup scoop that you fill part way? Is it a bowl of food that you fill every few days?

Step one is to actually figure out how much food they are eating per day and cut it back by at least one third. Step two is get out and move. Take your pet for a few extra walks per week, or throw the ball in the back yard for 15 minutes a day. Just get them moving and burning calories.

Now, the hard part: treats. I know, I know, it’s hard not to feed your pet treats. My Doberman just has to have some pizza crust everytime we get pizza, and you know what? I give it to her (gasp!). But I also have her on a set amount of kibble and I weigh her regularly to make sure she is maintaining a healthy weight. You are always welcome to bring your pet into your vet’s office to get weighed.

Some people are surprised to learn that animals can get diabetes. In fact, animals get many of the same illnesses that people get. Diabetes is a little different in animals, since there’s not really a “type 1” and “type 2” diabetes, like there are in people. In animals, when they become diabetic, they all need insulin replacement (with rare exception in some cats). This can be a difficult lifestyle change for a pet owner, and it can be expensive.

When an animal is diagnosed with diabetes, the treatment isn’t as straightforward as an injection twice a day. The difficult part is finding out how much of the injection to be given twice a day. Every animal is different, and if you give too much, you can cause them to go into a hypoglycemic shock (which can be fatal), but if you give too little, it’s not going to work well.

The body needs approximately a week to adjust to every change in insulin dose, so one of the reasons diabetes is expensive is because every time there is a dose change, a blood glucose curve needs to be performed. This is not as simple as one pin prick to get a blood sample, this is a full 12-24 hour curve, which means we need multiple samples taken throughout the day. This is not easy to do as a pet owner (though some owners learn how to get blood samples at home), and as a vet, keeping an animal in the hospital all day to get multiple blood samples can stress them out and even alter the results of the blood sugar.

With the exponential growth of technology and medicine, there are almost always new avenues to explore. There is a human medical device, called the FreeStyle Libre, that is being used to help regulate diabetes in animals. This product is a small round flat sensor that can stick to skin and has a tiny stylet that pokes just under the skin into the subcutaneous fat. This little painless sensor can read and record the glucose in the body, and is fairly accurate in animals. This device replaces the need to pull blood every hour and spend the day in the hospital. As an owner, all you have to do is scan the sensor with the FreeStyle Libre Reader every eight hours to record all the data from the previous eight hours. This sensor can last up to 10 days on your pet, and will give your veterinarian valuable information regarding the days and nights glucose curves. Plus, this is less expensive than having a blood glucose curve performed in the hospital. And it gives you up to 10 days worth of information. It’s a win-win. A lot of vets and pet owners aren’t aware of this new technology, but it can be lifesaving for pets who are difficult to regulate or for pets who don’t tolerate blood draw. If your pet is diabetic, ask your vet about using the FreeStyle Libre to get glucose curves.

Dr. Anna Bannon graduated from the University of South Florida in 2007 and Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. She worked in a private practice in the Tampa area for five years before opening her own practice, Family Animal Hospital.  She may be reached at 813.512.7336.