Animal Abuse On The Set of "A Dogs Purpose"

[2007 5,291]

People are over reacting, I don't see something out of the norm. They didn't push the dog into the pool, they literally just got him wet, dogs fear water that's why he's terrified, our dog act the same when we give him a bath. The only difference is the purpose, we get him wet to be clean and they got him wet for a movie. It's not gonna kill him. Chill.

[Reality 65,741]

Philip DeFranco did a whole video about this. I personally haven't been following up on the story all too much, but he did bring up some interesting points. 

[TheKillerQueen 1,983]

I can see there being another side to this story. The dog doesn't look like it's being abused. There were people on site to get the dog back out of the water when it went under. 

[Manul 7,377]

The dog was abused no more than any ordinary person ~abuses his dog when he makes the dog go through the first shower, the first walks with a leash on, first vaccination etc.

[teo 609]

This is nothing. If you own a cat you know what I'm talking about. If you don't go and watch on youtube how sometimes it takes two adults to force one small cat into taking a bath. I have scars to prove it.

[Dominic 11,922]

4 minutes ago, Mood Ring said:

The dog was abused no more than any ordinary person ~abuses his dog when he makes the dog go through the first shower, the first walks with a leash on, first vaccination etc.

Usually there is a benefit for the animal in these situations though. First time on a lead - walking/exercise.  First shower- cleaning. First vacation - new experience, sounds and smells. 

The only benefit was the filmmakers pockets in this situation. 

[Haroon 49,685]

@DiscoHeaven23 @ryanripley merged your topics here  

[Dominic 11,922]

22 minutes ago, teo said:

This is nothing. If you own a cat you know what I'm talking about. If you don't go and watch on youtube how sometimes it takes two adults to force one small cat into taking a bath. I have scars to prove it.

Two people to force one small cat in a bath? Right...

An animal should never be forced into water if they express fear. You have to ensure the animal is comfortable and at ease. It takes time and patience otherwise you're making things worse for the animal and yourself in the long run as they will associate water with that ordeal. 

I feel sorry for your cat tbh as judging by your scars it wasn't at ease.  

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

23 hours ago, Omar Vela said:

yup, not animal abuse...just poor choice of things in the set...they could have stop the motors right before the dog ended the scene.
Also:
"

Hi yes, ACTUAL dog trainer and dog behaviorist here. Sorry to interrupt your pitchforks and torches fest but this article is extremely misleading and is presented as a shock actor rather then presenting an actual, studied opinion of the video.

If you watch the clip, which I did, there is a lot of subtle stuff going on. First of all, rushing water is scary to ANY sort of animal, let alone a German Shepard who isn’t really a water dog like a Lab. You can see how the trainer is constantly touching the dog gently on the side and loin. He is reassuring the animal while keeping a snug grip on the collar. (Which is a flat collar btw so it can’t really do any damage to the dog even with him holding it) He is also down on the animals level, 
not hovering above the dog. And if you look closely, you can see that this man is constantly talking to the dog, obviously reassuring the animal. Furthermore, this is a movie dog, they have dealt with all sorts of scary situations before. This is probably the very first time that this animal was introduced to this situation and I bet you money that if we saw more of the clip, you would see them repeat this process slowly and gently until the animal relaxed.

Finally, you see the animal try to pull away. Again, perfectly normal for an animal that is scared, 
but again, you see the trainer pull the dog back (not yank it sharply back or drag it back) and then place the dog in the water. The actual time in the water is extremely brief and you can see that the trainer doesn’t let go of the dog and immediately pulls the animal out again 
after a few seconds. Just like putting a child in the bath tub for a little bit, the trainer is establishing that the water won’t harm the dog and kept the training session brief. Convenient that the clip stops before it shows you the trainer rewarding the animal in some way, which I can guarantee you they did.

Finally, I will leave you with two things. One, if the dog was actually being abused it would be responding by trying to snap at the person holding the collar and the body language would be pure terror with the tail language and hackles. German Shepards are not scared to tell you when they don’t want to do something and this dog is no different. Two, there are so many laws and regulations in place to stop the abuse of animals in movies. There is ALWAYS a representative of these organizations on site during filming whenever there is any sort of animal involved.

Don’t spread misinformation and misunderstanding please. 
Just like your mom forced you to eat your veggies when you were young, sometimes working with 
animals means encouraging them to go into situations that is way outside their instincts."

"and then place the dog in the water."....

[DeleteMyAccount 11,881]

This movie will flop anyway.. Clearly, that dog wasn't trained well enough for this shot.

[MJHolland 12,723]

oh my god the theatrics 

[DrewStevens 5,249]

5 hours ago, Mood Ring said:

The dog was abused no more than any ordinary person ~abuses his dog when he makes the dog go through the first shower, the first walks with a leash on, first vaccination etc.

Except taking a bath and being vaccinated are necessary for any dog. Being a stunt prop is not necessary.

Same thing goes for kids. Dragging  your child to school is not the same as forcing them to be part of a beauty pageant.

[Dorothy Gale 7,575]

I can't at people defending this.  

Clearly forcing a dog into turbulent waters for entertainment purposes when the dog is clearly fearful is just cruel. I think the dog's size and our view of animals as commodities paints our views of this. If a tiny dog was in the same situation we'd have more sympathy.