With Dog Gone now streaming on Netflix, we’re asking the most important question about the family film – does the dog die?
Films about dogs can end in one of two ways – the dog dying, or the dog surviving. From classics like Lassie and Benji to comedies like K-9 and Turner and Hooch to more recent dramas like Marley & Me and Dog, audiences want to know if the canine in question makes it to the end of the movie.
Indeed, some viewers need that information before they watch said movie, and others still won’t see a movie if they know the pooch kicks the bucket.
So as a service to those sensitive souls, we’re going to write about what happens at the end of Dog Gone, so beware of SPOILERS AHEAD.
Does the dog die at the end of Dog Gone?
No, the dog does not die at the end of Dog Gone. Indeed, there was never a chance of the doggo dying in the movie, because Dog Gone is based on a true story.
On October 10, 1998, Fielding Marshall’s god Gonker went missing while the pair were hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Gawker was sick too, meaning if he wasn’t given medication within a set number of days, he’d die.
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The Marshall’s desperately searched for the pooch, regional and then national press got involved, and the local community chipped in to help find the missing dog. Mercifully Gonker turned up – in the nick of time – at a lodge in West Virginia.
How does Dog Gone end?
The film follows the true story pretty closely, with Fielding and Gonker reunited in emotional scene outside the Evergreen Lodge.
Fielding then has a medical emergency of his own, with intestinal issues putting him in hospital. He pulls through however, and the film ends with his Dad smuggling Gonker into that hospital so they can recuperate together.
In case you were wondering, the film adds – via words onscreen underneath the real-life dog – that “Gonker was never separated from the Marshall’s again.”
Dog Gone is streaming on Netflix. While you can head here to read about every time Gonker was a good boy in the movie.