A Dog’s Purpose Movie Quick Overview

• Save

A puppy is born in the 1950s, curious to know what life’s purpose is. Weeks later, he is dragged away to the dog pound and left to die, making him wonder if “fun” is the actual purpose of life.

In 1961, his powerful spirit is reborn and reborn as a Retriever puppy. He escapes from his pet shop cage and is discovered by two garbage collectors who intend to sell him. They go to get some water, and the dog is discovered locked inside their truck by a young boy named Ethan and his mother, who saves him from sunstroke.

 Ethan adopts the dog and renames him “Bailey”. Bailey and Ethan quickly become friends.

The dog is brought to a nearby engraver, who creates a  metal badge with the name Bailey on one side and Ethan on the other. Bailey is shown walking around the house and neighborhood, as well as living life with the house cat, to whom Bailey is offering ‘dog lessons.

In 1961, his powerful spirit is reborn and reborn as a Retriever puppy. He escapes from his pet shop cage and is discovered by two garbage collectors who intend to sell him. They go to get some water, and the dog is discovered locked inside their truck by a young boy named Ethan and his mother, who saves him from sunstroke. 

Ethan adopts the dog and renames him “Bailey”. Bailey and Ethan quickly become friends.

The dog is brought to a nearby engraver, who creates a  metal badge with the name Bailey on one side and Ethan on the other. Bailey is shown walking around the house and neighborhood, as well as living life with the house cat, to whom Bailey is offering ‘dog lessons.

Time passes, and Ethan’s father becomes an abusive drunk after several failed attempts to advance in his job. Ethan meets Hannah at a fair with Bailey one summer, and they quickly begin dating. They spend their summers together and have been doing so since they were in high school. They intend to attend the same college. 

One night at home, Ethan’s drunken father becomes abusive to both his mother and him. Ethan tells him to depart and never come back. Ethan is later offered a full scholarship to Michigan State during a football game attended by scouts. Todd, a vengeful classmate, throws a lit firecracker into Ethan’s house that night, causing a house fire.

Ethan and his mom start leaving at his grandpa’s farm. Ethan leaves to study at an agricultural university. Bailey misses him, feels sick, and departs at last!

Bailey is brought to life as a female German Shepherd puppy, going to grow into a police dog called Ellie while fully remembering her previous lives. Ellie lives with lonely, divorced Chicago Police Department officer Carlos Ruiz and works really hard at “seeking” and “finding,” now seeing a job as her life’s purpose. They form a strong bond, which ends when Ellie saves a missing girl from drowning and is shot dead by the kidnapper while guarding Carlos.

Bailey is reborn as a male Corgi and adopted by Atlanta college student Maya, who names him Tino. She is lonely and tries to find her happiness. Maya meets Al, a classmate. They get married and have three children. Tino is heartbroken when Roxy (Al’s female dog) does not return from the vet on time. Tino, now elderly, thanks to Maya for giving him one of his best lives as he dies.

Bailey borns again as a puppy, this time as an Australian Shepherd. Waffles is the name he was given by Wendi when he was first adopted. Unfortunately, Wendi’s husband refuses to let her keep him inside the home and eventually abandons him after several years. Waffles seek a new life, slowly returning to the town where he spent summers as Bailey. He is overjoyed to see his old master Ethan, now more than sixty years old and all alone on his grandparents’ old farm, now belongs to him. Ethan takes him to the local animal shelter, not recognizing him, but later takes back him and names him Buddy. Buddy meets up Ethan with divorced Hannah, feeling that he has finally found his purpose.