Dog Stories

I guess I’m more of a cat person. Watching Shereen Jerrett’s film Dog Stories confirms my suspicion that yeah, I don’t think I’ll get a dog. I think the film might alternately be called Dog Owner Stories because it’s really just as much a portrait of these odd folks who attempt to maintain their animals. There has got to be some clinical research that explores how an owner’s choice of dog is a representation of their own personality.

The film is reminiscent of Errol Morris’s early features like Gates of Heaven or Vernon, Florida. The simple comedy is rooted in the exploration of everyday people chatting about notable quirks and tales of their beloved pooches. As a pair of poodles prance on their hind legs to the song_ Dancy, dancy, _the scene’s cumulative wacky force is rooted in the wide shot that reveals this middle-aged woman’s choice of dress, her fine furniture, and clean carpets—as much as what she gets her well groomed dogs to do for treats. The same goes for the working-class everyman who barks « Blitz! » to get his German Shepherd to fetch a baseball bat; while we wait for the dog to arrive, we take in the clutter of his office and ponder, who is this guy and what does he do for a living?

We’re not meant to dismiss these folks—they’re not flat characters, but rather complex—we’re led to wonder about them and their stories that happen to also include their dogs. I think after chuckling at the dogs and their owners in Jerrett’s film, one of my concerns might be this: I may not have a dog, but I’m sure I can’t hide my own idiosyncrasies from a casual observer either.

Kevin Nikkel
Winnipeg filmmaker