For Bailey, it's like they are equals-young dog and young boy. The two of them play together, sleep next to one another, and go on adventures together. Bailey isn't one dog of many, the way Toby was: he is Ethan's one and only dog. One thing Ethan does that Senora did not is show Bailey a specific love. The dog is rescued by a woman who presents him to her son, Ethan, and they rename him Bailey. That man neglects Fella right off the bat, leaving him locked in a hot truck. He is whatever humans want him to be, without a specific identity of his own. He's a Barbie dog, living in a human's world. First, the dog runs away from his pen and is picked up by a man who names him "Fella." Our dog loves having a name, so he thinks, "es, I could be Puppy, I could be Fella, I could be whatever they wanted" (6.9). We're getting a little ahead of ourselves, though. It turns out his purpose is to make Ethan smile. We've all been there, right? He wonders what his purpose is if it isn't to make Senora smile. Scooby Dooby Doodle DogĪfter being reincarnated, the dog is initially confused. But don't worry: it gets a little better the second time around. Whoa, that's darker than any Disney doggy story. In fact, Toby loves his human master, and even when he is being taken away to be put to death with all the other dogs, he is grateful that he at least made her smile. He likes serving humans this is what makes him feel good. So why does Toby value captivity? Well, Toby has an answer to that question: "I loved the Yard. He prefers being domesticated to living on his own and running wild.īut why? As humans, after all, we value freedom.
It seems like our narrator is becoming conditioned to being imprisoned by humans. Sister was what we all would have become if we'd stayed in the culvert" (3.16).īut isn't it possible that everything that happens to dogs who live in the wild happens because of the way people run that world? Sister is defeated and starved because she has to try to find food without being spotted by men who would take her. Toby observes, "This is what happened to dogs who tried to live in the world without people-they became beaten down, defeated, starved. When she is finally brought into the Yard, she is mangy, skinny, and hungry. Yeah, well, Toby ends up liking it, and he feels bad for those of his siblings who weren't captured, like his sister.
We mean, how would you feel if someone took you away from where you were born and put you in a pen with a bunch of people you didn't know? Now we don't have to call him "dog" anymore.īecause the book is narrated in human English, it's difficult not to think of the dog as a little person. She said it to me every time she saw me: Toby, Toby, Toby" (2.36). She names the dog, and it's a monumental moment for the little furball: "My name, she told me, was Toby. The Yard's owner is known only as Senora. Destiny implies that a person's-or a dog's-fate is out of his control, and in fact, our dog is totally cool with his fate being in human hands.įirst, he is taken by a group of people who believe they are helping stray dogs by removing them from the wild and putting them in a big pen, which the dog calls the Yard. Like a furry orphan out of Dickens, the pup has no idea that he's destined for greatness. When we first meet our dog, he's a nameless mutt born in a ditch. And we'll usually say "he," because three lives out of four involve him getting neutered instead of spayed. Each time he's reborn, he retains the memories of his previous life. The Dog (Toby, Fella, Bailey, Elleya, Bear, Buddy) The Brief Wondrous Lives of Oscar Bow-Wow-WowĬats are supposed to be the ones with nine lives, not dogs, but our main pooch in A Dog's Purpose has four-that we know of.