The 15 Best Dog Movies Of All Time, Ranked

A dog is a man’s best friend, but do we really deserve them? It’s a rhetorical question. Of course we don’t deserve dogs, cats, geckos, or any other animal you can think of — just look at the state of the world we’re giving them! Let’s forget about that for now, though, and simply appreciate the joy that our canine friends bring, both in the real world and on the screen. They’re our companions, guards, workers, friends, and occasional arbiters of our own demise, and we love them for it.

Dogs have been a part of the movies since the early days of cinema, and it might surprise you to learn that it was a dog who won the very first Oscar for Best Actor! (Okay, that’s not true.) While they’re usually mere supporting players, plenty of movies have had the wisdom to feature our canine friends in leading roles for comedies, thrillers, dramas, and more. When it comes to deciding upon the best dog movies, we’re focusing on the dogs themselves and what the movies tell us about them — and ourselves.

Here are our picks for the best dog movies!

Life on a ranch in mid-19th century Texas is hard, but it’s made a bit easier when a family welcomes in a stray dog. Like America itself, though, all good things must come to an end.

Okay, “Old Yeller” isn’t actually a good metaphor for a once scrappy, courageous country heading into its painful twilight, but that’s only because the poor dog doesn’t willingly choose to get rabies. That’s not a spoiler, by the way, since that’s basically what the 71-year old movie is remembered for today. That’s a shame though, as the film also drives home the importance of love, bravery, and mutual respect in the form of an extremely sad family adventure.

The dog selflessly saves the lives of various family members, earning trust along the way, and it’s one of the purest distillations of the “man’s best friend” colloquialism. Speaking of things you’ve probably forgotten about the film, Walt Disney also made a sequel called “Savage Sam” that you definitely do not need to watch. 

Thomas is a family man who dedicates far too much time to his work, but he only realizes it after he’s killed in a car accident. He’s given a chance at redemption, though, when he’s reincarnated as a rambunctious puppy.

The odds are good that you won’t find “Fluke” on many other “best of” lists, but this goofy romp is filled with enough heart, suspense, and playfulness to deserve a spot on your watchlist. The film’s themes run the gamut from the importance of family and friends to headier topics like personal accountability and the purpose of reincarnation, but the throughline here is a fun adventure unafraid to touch the darkness.

“Fluke” is based on a novel by James Herbert, a writer oft described as the British Stephen King, and it shows his softer side with cute puppies, pratfall hijinks, and emotions dialed all the way to eleven. Characters die here, a surprising number of them actually, but the film celebrates the joy of lives well-lived and the lack of finality at life’s end. There’s also a fantastic anti-animal testing sequence that sees Fluke release dozens of imprisoned animals, so that’s nice.

A young woman unknowingly adopts a stray dog that was previously owned by white supremacists and trained to attack African Americans, so she takes it to a Black dog trainer hoping to reverse the behavior before it’s too late.

The great Samuel Fuller had previously tackled racial issues with his post-World War II romantic thriller, “The Crimson Kimono,” but 1982’s much-maligned “White Dog” was a whole new breed of social commentary for mainstream audiences. It’s as mean, cynical, and blunt a look at race relations in the United States as you’re likely to find, and its bite is no less severe for its exploitative trappings as “animal attack horror.”

Kristy McNichol stars as the initially doe-eyed woman whose ideals are steadily chewed up and spit back out by too many of her fellow humans, but it’s her hope that fuels our own with the belief that racism and hatred can be unlearned. Paul Winfield co-stars as the trainer, a man desperately needing to believe the same, but Fuller’s film wants it known that hope and a quarter won’t even get you a single doggie biscuit in today’s America.

A young couple decides to sell their beloved dog, Lassie, to a wealthy neighbor, but it leaves their son incredibly distraught. Lucky for him, Lassie has no intention of staying away for long.

Lassie, first played by a collie named Pal, still sits amid pop culture’s canine pantheon, but “she” was a major movie star back in the mid-20th century. “Lassie Come Home” was the first of seven films released by MGM during the period, and while Lassie remained front and center, the human co-stars across the franchise include the likes of Roddy McDowall, Elizabeth Taylor (who was actually paid less for her role here than Pal), Peter Lawford, June Lockhart, and more.

The film follows a familiar formula as Lassie is carted miles away from her beloved Joe (McDowall) only to brave the dangers of nature in an attempt to return home to him. There are some thrilling beats here, but the focus sits more on Lassie’s interactions with other people whose path she crosses. It’s all about kindness, making it the obvious choice for a double feature with “White Dog” if you’re hoping to regain those rose-colored glasses.

A bull terrier is adopted by an elderly woman, but while she’s happy, the dog is utterly miserable. This is the story of his attempt — his murderous attempt — at finding the perfect owner.

It should probably be clear by now that this list was never going to focus solely on the cute and cuddly puppy dog tales beloved by viewers. I’d apologize for that, but variety is the spice of life, and expectations should be challenged now and then — and few dog films are as challenging as “Baxter.” Leave it to the French to adapt Ken Greenhall’s merciless but bleakly humorous novel that gives voice to a callously hopeful dog looking for a home.

Baxter craves structure, authority, and mutual respect, and finding it means attempting to kill the old woman, a newborn baby, and others with varying degrees of success. Voiceover narration reveals a dog who wants to be loved and accepted, but like too many humans, he doesn’t quite know how to go about finding it. As a metaphor for the human condition, it doesn’t get much more damning.

It’s the year 2024, and the world is a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Food, water, and shelter are all in limited supply, but both Vic and his telepathic dog refuse to go hungry for long.

At the risk of putting two blackly comic gems back-to-back on this list, it feels fitting to chase the French film above with this weirdly wonderful and equally mean adaptation of a Harlan Ellison novella. “A Boy and His Dog” can be read numerous ways: as a dry but gnarly post-apocalyptic survival tale, as a bitter commentary on the social mores surrounding a man’s role in a marriage, as a cautionary tale about fear driving societies towards extinction, or as a story about the extremes a dog will go to remain a man’s best friend.

They’re all as accurate as not, but the punchline at the end of the film’s 90-minute runtime might also suggest this is nothing more than a shaggy dog story. What is certain, though, is that Ellison — a sci-fi legend who also penned the best episode of “Star Trek” — delights and offends here in equal measure while delivering thrills, grim laughs, and a unique take on the end of the world.

A fancy lady meets a roguish tramp, and sparks fly. Society says they’re not compatible, but the heart (and one long piece of spaghetti) says otherwise.

It’s easy to dismiss “Lady and the Tramp” as a simple little romance between opposite characters, something far too many romantic comedies think of as the entirety of their plot, but that shouldn’t take away from the film’s effortless charm and appeal. Things get a bit stickier, maybe, with some of its dated sexism and stereotypes — I’m looking at you, Siamese cats — but art is best viewed, understood, and appreciated as products of their time.

To that end, this mid-1950s animated tale offers up a sweet tale of unlikely love and friendship with a splash of adventure and action. The hand-drawn animation remains lushly beautiful, the songs are catchy and well-produced, and there’s a reason the spaghetti and meatball scene is a pop culture fixture (despite it almost being cut from the film). Watch it with your kids, share it with someone you love, screen it for the maître d’ of your favorite Italian restaurant — it’s a nice time.

The Mayflower Dog Show is underway, and both canines and their human handlers are on display. They say people often resemble their pets in appearance and/or personality, and this “documentary” all but confirms it.

Some may argue with the inclusion of Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show” on a list of dog movies, hence its placement in the back half here, despite being a comedic balm for hard times. After all, the dogs don’t talk, they don’t go off on adventures, and the focus seems — at least on the surface — to be far more dialed in on the human characters. Fair points, all, but I’d argue it belongs here based on the strength of that dynamic.

These characters are dog owners, dog lovers, and people who’ve devoted their lives to furballs that they see as members of the family. Dogs are their sole focus, and the film explores those personalities with comic wit and honest laughs recognizable to anyone who’s ever welcomed an animal into their home. Having the likes of Catherine O’Hara, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, and more portray the owners is just icing on the cake.

Lili loves her dog, but her father doesn’t quite have the same affection for the mutt and tosses it into the street. As the girl looks to find her beloved Hagen, the dog discovers a community of similarly treated canines tired of being abused by humankind.

This Hungarian drama is something of a litmus test for viewers and the limits of both their empathy and imagination. There are elements here that touch on eco-horror and the animal attack horror subgenre, but the canine uprising and the carnage that follows are never played strictly for genre thrills. That said, there’s still a cathartic rise in watching the animals dispatch their human oppressors.

Instead, it’s the film’s beauty, both allegorical and visual, that finds a place in your heart and brain while giving “White God” its emotional power. Director Kornel Mundruczo chose to use over 200 real dogs, all but two of them from local shelters, with the goal of adopting them out after filming had completed — and they succeeded with 98% of them! The beauty of that intent is evident on screen too, as the film concludes not with more violence but with an overdue mutual understanding.

A young fox named Tod befriends a puppy named Copper (a good boy who made our list of the best animated dogs), and all they know is the fun they have as best buds. Once they grow up, though, it quickly becomes clear that their friendship is frowned upon, and the world expects them to be enemies.

The second of five animated films to make the cut here, this Walt Disney adventure remains a sweetly thrilling journey for viewers of all ages. It’s never heavy-handed in its themes, but they’re still readily apparent to anyone paying attention. People divide themselves into groups at every opportunity, whether based on class or race, religion or gender, and those differences too often become a person’s defining characteristic — one that leaves them at odds with those who aren’t like them.

It’s a heavy conceit, but happily, like the best allegorical stories, it succeeds even without that weight. Take it at face value, and “The Fox and the Hound” is a delightful watch. There’s fun to be found in the friendship between the pair, as well as with the other animals, and both the adventures and interactions earn smiles. It just doesn’t hurt that the entertainment comes with a lesson.

J.R. Ackerly is an older man who decides one day to take in a German Shepherd named Tulip. As challenging and uncomfortable as it is sometimes, the two become the best of inseparable friends.

Compare the art across the five animated films on this list, and “My Dog Tulip” immediately stands out as some combination of bizarre, amateurish, and messy. Don’t let it turn you off, though, as the frazzled nature of the art becomes part of this odd couple’s own frazzled relationship. There’s an erratic energy about the pair, even in some of the film’s more sedate sequences between the old man and the dog, and it finds life in this odd animation.

The film is a warmly comic reminder of the importance of companionship, but it doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities either. Yes, of course I’m referring to bodily functions, bodily fluids, fornication, and more. Tulip has needs, and J.R. is there for his friend no matter how messy and smelly it becomes. Extrapolate this to a story about an elderly human couple if you must, but it’s affecting even as the story about a man and his mutt. 

A woman and her sickly son are trapped in their car outside a remote farmhouse. Trapped by circumstance, oppressive heat, and a large St. Bernard afflicted with rabies and aching to kill.

There are plenty of animal attack horror films centered on dogs, including a pair of thrilling entries from the 1970s in “The Pack” and “Dogs.” The king of them all, though, is undoubtedly 1983’s “Cujo.” The name is synonymous with canine terror, and that’s arguably due as much to Lewis Teague’s film as to Stephen King’s original novel. The film is a stripped-down tale of terror and suspense that takes smart advantage of the car’s limited confines to increase both tension and horror.

The key to the story’s success comes in large part from the natural empathy given the beast at the heart of it all. Cujo doesn’t want to harm people, even those who’ve harmed him, but the burning rage inside him from the festering virus is impossible to resist. It turns this beast into a monster worth pitying, and while we root for his demise, it’s not a victory worth celebrating.

A man and a woman fall in love, and their respective dalmatian dogs do the same. All is wonderful until a wealthy, fur-loving psychopath named Cruella comes calling wanting to turn the newly arrived puppies into a fur coat.

Walt Disney movies used to be pretty darn grim, and having a villain who wants to kill, skin, and wear adorable little puppies sure takes the cake on that count. “101 Dalmatians” has seen several sequels, live-action remakes, and revisionist takes, but this original animated feature remains the cream of the spotted crop and the best animated film from the 1960s. Both the canine and human romances are playful fun, the animation has a jazzy liveliness about it, and the idea that a family is what you make it should strike a chord with all viewers.

Cruella De Vil is also one of Disney’s most vile villains, and she’s balanced out by the pair of bumbling buffoons she tasks with stealing the pups. Add in a terrifically thrilling car chase, and you have an all-time classic from the Mouse House.

A pair of dogs escape from an animal research lab, but their freedom threatens to be short-lived as word leaks out that they may be infected with a deadly disease.

Look, I know I’m a monster for landing this heartbreaking, but underseen animated film higher than any of the other animated doggie movies on this list. Walt Disney classics are right there with their playful celebrations of love, friendship, and kindness, and here’s an incredibly depressing and endlessly sad downer ahead of them all. I’m terrible, and I freely admit it, but here’s the thing: “The Plague Dogs” is a masterpiece guaranteed to sit with you for years.

Richard Adams’ novel gets a sumptuous, soul-crushing adaptation from the same team who brought his “Watership Down” to life, and the result is a film that finds beauty and darkness in the lives of these two dogs. Each shows trauma from recent testing, each wants desperately to trust humans again, and each struggles to reach safety before it’s too late. There’s a reason we get a sliver of ambiguity at the film’s ending, meaning the light they may or may not find is our own.

Two dogs and a cat are left behind by a family who intend on returning later, but the animals get antsy and start to worry that they’ve been abandoned. What else is there to do except head home?

For all the grim and cynical dog movies you see on this list, I’m still a softie at heart, and when it comes to dog movies, nothing beats “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.” The story is straight out of the Lassie and Benji playbook with the dogs Chance and Shadow (and a cat named Sassy) facing all manner of obstacles in their effort to return home to the kids they love, but it all feels so much bigger and more purely entertaining here.

The three pets are voiced by Michael J. Fox, Don Ameche, and Sally Field, and each brings plenty of personality to the characters. It’s the wildlife photography and outdoor adventures that lift it all above the rest, though, with some truly thrilling and emotionally satisfying sequences involving wild predators, a lost little girl, dangerous rapids, and more. Watch as a kid, watch as an adult — it remains an incredible journey (and one of the best ’90s kids’ movies too).