A Dog's Way Home

It's simple at first.

Home is the only place you know.

And everyone there is your family.

My first home was full of cats.

And I'm a dog.

Cats had sharp claws and made a funny tummy sound

when they were happy.

The kittens had a mother cat.

And I had a mother dog.

I couldn't imagine that life could get any better.

As I grew, we made a home together.

We were happy

for a while.

Oh, wow. Look at all of 'em.

You didn't tell me there were so many.

Just grab 'em!

Hey! Found one. I got one over here.

Geez, they're fast.

I got one.

- Over there. Over there. - Come here.

Hey, hey. There's dogs here, too.

Brother!

A whole bunch of 'em back here.

Got another one. Sister!

Got it.

There's a full-grown pit bull.

Here we go.

Easy.

Easy.

Got her.

Mother!

I'm going out. Come on.

Get a bigger crate.

Coming out.

Mother?

I never saw her again.

I don't know what would have happened to me

without Mother Cat.

And day by day,

little by little,

Mother Cat became my mother.

- Hey. - Hey.

It's just here.

Okay. We left work early so we could be basically,

what, breaking and entering?

It's not breaking and entering, Olivia.

It's criminal trespass. There's a difference.

Okay, so, like, two years in prison instead of six. Got it.

I'm good, I'm good. Anyway, come on.

Can't say that a guy rescuing kittens isn't hot.

Oh, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you're not hot.

Oh, thanks. Here.

Come on. They're under here. Okay. Seriously?

Lucas, I'm not going in that hole.

Well, you're the animal rescue volunteer.

Okay. You don't have to crawl in.

Just take a look.

Wow. There's so many of 'em. Yeah.

Apparently, Animal Control came,

but they didn't get 'em all.

And now, the builder says he's gonna tear down the whole block,

cats or no cats.

Men took my dog family, but this man named Lucas was different.

He came every day... Hey.

And the cats trusted him.

Come on.

And before I could even think, my paws were moving.

Wait!

Lucas! Look, a puppy!

Oh, my God.

Hey. What are you doing here, baby... Girl?

Hey.

And he tasted good, too.

She is really cute.

Hi. Hey.

It will not be hard finding you a home.

Well, wait.

I mean, you saw how she ran right to me.

Maybe that's a sign that her home's supposed to be with me.

Lucas, you cannot take care of a dog, okay?

What do you do when you go to school or the VA?

Listen, I actually live with my mom.

It's not how it sounds. It... She's a veteran.

You might have seen her at the VA.

Terri Ray? Yeah.

Well, she isn't able to hold down a job just yet,

so, she's at home even when I'm not.

Listen, maybe a puppy would be good for her, too.

Nothing had ever felt as good as being held by him.

She does really seem to like you a lot.

What do you see in him that I don't, puppy?

Hey, you! Get out of there!

Go, go, go. Go, go. Keep going.

Private property!

I'll see you later, okay? All right.

Yeah. Bye. Call me.

Whoa! Oh!

Hi, Mom. Hi.

I think I'm gonna call her Bella.

Honey, you know we can't have a puppy.

Our lease says no pets.

They say a dog is good for depression.

Who says that? Oh, I'm pretty sure somebody says that.

Is this gonna be one of those things

I say is a terrible idea and you do it, anyway?

Yeah. And who do you suppose I learned that from?

Lucas and I played the best games.

Bella, get the ball.

We played Get the Ball.

Stop.

We played Stop.

Stop, Bella. I have to study.

Here.

Have my blanket.

It smelled amazing. Just like Lucas.

We played Don't Chew Shoes.

Bella. Don't chew shoes.

And there was my favorite game of all.

What? What do you want?

I'm trying to...

Oh.

Do you want a tiny piece of cheese?

Tiny Piece of Cheese filled me

with such a strong feeling. There you go.

Like I was safe and happy and warm, all at once.

It was love.

I've gotta go, gotta go, gotta go, gotta go!

I'm so late.

Gotta go to work. Bye, Bella.

The one game I didn't like was Go to Work.

Be good.

My Lucas blanket kept me company,

but it wasn't the same as the real Lucas.

I still had my cat family. Slow down there.

And Lucas became

part of that family, too. No, this is not for you, Bella.

This is for the cats. Come here.

See 'em?

Mother Cat!

I love Mother Cat, and I love being Bella.

Come on. We're going home.

As you were, cats.

See you tomorrow. All right.

Bedtime, Bella. Come on.

And at the end of every day, we played...

Sit. You ready for your

tiny piece of cheese? ...Tiny Piece of Cheese.

All right. On your blanket. Come on.

Night, Bella.

Lucas was my person, and I was his dog.

I was home.

Whenever Lucas was playing

Go to Work... Good girl.

...I would take Mom for a walk.

What is it, honey? It's that squirrel again!

I have to have that squirrel.

It's getting away!

Bella. No, Bella. Oh, it's right there!

Come on, girl. No squirrel chasing.

Come on, Bella. Come on, girl.

I loved Mom, but she just didn't understand

how to hunt squirrels. Good.

Nice dog.

Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you.

I'm Gunter Beckenbauer.

Those are my houses there.

What do you want, Mr. Beckenbauer?

Oh, please, call me "Gunter."

I knew that smell.

- And I knew this wasn't good. - Look.

I know it's your son who's been calling

the county building authority about the stupid cats,

which I got rid of.

I've lost the whole summer now,

so, could you please just ask him to back off?

My son isn't gonna back off, Mr. Beckenbauer,

because there are still cats living there.

Animal Control says there's not.

Animal Control is lying, and so are you.

What kind of dog is that? Pit bull?

We don't know. We found her living with the cats you say aren't there.

What I'm trying to say, lady,

is that you and your boy do not want to go to war with me.

War? What do you know about war?

Okay.

But let the record show that I tried

to settle this friendly, and you're the one pushing it.

No, the record shows that you came here and said we were going to war.

Come on, Bella, relax.

Relax. Let's go do your business.

What is it? Cold, wet.

Ice cream!

Ice cream is falling from the sky! Bella.

It's snow.

It's just snow. Now, do your business.

What? What?

Go on, go on.

Come on, go on. Go on.

Go on.

Go on. Yeah.