5 Lessons For You From a Popular Dog Movie

Posted by donna@pethangout 08/20/2019 0 Comment(s)

5 Lessons for You from a Popular Dog Movie.

 

Have you heard of the movie, The Art of Racing in the Rain?

 

Spoiler Alert!   If you are planning to see this movie, then STOP reading.   

I don’t want to spoil the movie for you!    I will be talking about specific parts of the movie and talking about what happened.

The movie struck so many emotions with me that I wanted to share on The Tale Wagger today.

The whole movie is told from Enzo’s perspective.   Enzo is the precious Golden puppy than was adopted at a very early age.   Denny, his new human and race fanatic, was looking for a faithful companion.

Puppy Enzo.

I want to explore some of the emotions that Enzo experienced during the movie to just get ya thinking….

Do animals have thoughts about their humans?

Do they have affections for us?

Denny greeting Enzo.   

Do they actually love us?    

If you are an animal lover, then my guess is you are thinking YES to all of those questions.  

Before I share my thoughts on the matter, let’s talk about some of the scenes in the movie.

 

Here are 5 Lessons For You From a Popular Dog Movie:

 

1 - From a puppy, Denny takes Enzo to the race track and Enzo clearly seems to enjoy all the activities surrounding the race. He locks his gaze on his human and his race car always.   He seems so happy and excited to be a part of this invigorating sport.

Isn’t that all any doggie wants to be?  Happy and excited to be a part of whatever you are doing.   I say make sure you are building special bonding time with your dog.  

Take them along on some, if not all, of your adventures.

Your dog can be taught to be obedient in almost any circumstance, especially if you start them off at an early age. 

 It will become their life!  

Much like racing became Enzo’s way of life.

Denny and puppy Enzo.

Denny's race car.

 

 

2 - His human eventually meets a girl.  

Uh oh.   Enzo is not # 1 in Denny’s life anymore.    

Can you imagine what the pup thought?     His human had been doting on him every step of the way.  Now, Enzo has to sit by and watch his human appear to switch his affections somewhere else.

Every time Enzo looked up, there she was.   And she wasn’t even a "dog person"!   Well, of course, it took time for them to develop a relationship but they finally did.  

Enzo even learned to be her defender.   But it was an emotional roller coaster for a while for him.

Denny and the girl, Eve,  gets married and has a baby too. 

Enzo adjusted from just the two of them to the 4 of them.   He learned new roles and a new way of life.   Denny also started leaving Enzo with the family when he had a race.  

I’ve got to believe that just like humans, Enzo had to go through an adjustment period with all of these changes.    They say nothing ever really stays the same and it seems it is true for our pets too!

It’s important to note that if you are going through changes in your life, be sure to be aware and sensitive to your dog’s needs during this time.  Change can be very traumatic for animals.  

 Make sure to give lots of attention, playtime, and cuddle time to ease any anxiety’s that your pet may have.

Denny meeting Eve.

Denny and family.

 

 

3 - The wife is getting sick and Enzo is the first to sense it.   She got so sick that she quickly gathered up the baby and headed out to Mom’s house one day.   Denny just happened to be away at a race.    

The sad thing is she didn’t have the clarity to even think about what to do with Enzo while she was away.  

She chose to stay at her parent's house for about 1 week.

Yep, you guessed it…what about poor Enzo?   Who is going to take care of him?   Who is feeding him and taking him out to potty?

For me, this was a very sad and stressful event in the movie.  I so felt sorry for Enso.    

He waited at the door everyday thinking someone was going to come through it.   He finally decided to go potty at the mat at the front door.    He scoured the floor looking for scraps that may have fallen from the table.    He found a few leftover morsels of his food in his bowl.

And that was it.   No freshwater in his bowl and no more food he could get to.    

 

Can you imagine what was going through poor Enzo’s mind?   

Our pets get used to a routine in 2-3 days.   When you break that routine, it can create all kinds of stress in their life.   

Enzo did find some water in the toilet thank goodness.  This is the only thing that kept him alive.   A dog can only go a couple of days without water.  That’s it!

If a dog cries, I bet Enzo cried over this treatment,    Now, no, the wife did not leave him behind on purpose,   She was truly very sick with a brain tumor.   But no one knew it yet.

But no worries, Denny did finally get home and discovered the situation with his sweet Enzo.   

This was his first clue that something bad was going on with his wife.

Please always be mindful of your pet’s basic needs for fresh food and water.    Taking proper care of your pet means thinking of their basic needs just as you do for yourself.

 Always make arrangements (and check-in to see how your pet is doing) to ensure that your pet is properly cared for when you are away.

Enzo comforting Eve.

Denny saying sorry to Enzo for being left home alone for days.

 

 

4 - Enso gets hit by a car.      It isn’t a terminal hit, but it does impact the quality of his health.   He had some internal bleeding but made a full recovery.    Well,  for the moment anyway.   The accident did impact his health long term and began a downward spiral for his longevity.  

Can you imagine how Enso must have felt?  One minute, he was jogging in the rain with Denny.   The next minute he is sprawled out in the streets because a car hit him. 

Now, Denny did rush him to the vet and got him proper care no doubt.  

But the teachable moment here is dogs do not understand the danger of streets and cars.    You have to treat them much like a 2-year-old around roads.    

You have to be watching constantly and holding their hand (paw) to make sure they remain safe around these types of things.

Enzo walking in the rain.

 

 

5 - Enzo got to ride around the track in a race car.   Toward the end of Enzo’s life, it occurred to Denny that Enzo had never ridden in a race car!   

Denny decided to load him up and take him on a wild ride with the top down.  Enzo had always watched racing on the tv with Denny and seemed to really be intrigued with it.

And he had seen Denny race many, many times.     

You know how your dog always wants to go where you are going?   Well, yes, then, of course, Enzo wanted to go where Denny was usually going - to the race track and in that car!

So, Denny did exactly this.    It was a magical moment in the story where Enzo was the star and got to see his lifelong dream come true.      We all relished the moment with and for Enzo.    We were so happy for him!

It makes you feel like you could reach for your own dreams too!

What dream do you think your dog has?    Where do you think he would love to go with you?

Don’t we owe it to our faithful companions to help them realize some of their lifelong dreams too?

So,  get out there and make some precious memories with your loyal companion.   

Our dogs are special creatures that always think nothing but the best of us.  

And we owe them so much back for their unfailing love, devotion, and faithfulness to us.

Enzo and Denny driving in the race car.

Enzo and Denny driving side view.

 

So to revisit the first questions I posed to you.

Yes, I do feel animals have feelings, affections, and love for their humans.    

You can see it in their eyes.   You can see it in their responses to us.   You can see it in their desire to be near us.    

I think if all pet owners look at situations from their pet's eyes and hearts, then animal abuse would become a thing of the past.    

We would treat all animals with kindness, respect, and love always.

 


 

Do you think animals have feelings?

Let us know your thoughts below...

For more thoughtful reads from Pet Hangout, head straight over to 9 Ways You Can Stop Animal Abuse in its Tracks7 Reasons Why Your Kitty Pees in the Wrong Place, and Why is My Poor Dog's Hair Falling Out.

Learn more about the movie, The Art of Racing in the Rain, now.

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