Dog (2022) True Story Inspiration Explained — How Channing Tatum’s Real-Life Experience Made Me Cry More Than The Actual Film

Spoilers for Dog ahead.

Dog is a 2022 film starring and directed by Channing Tatum, making his directorial debut, and the multi-talented actor used his own experiences to help develop the surprisingly affecting movie. Channing Tatum’s career has been a fascinating one. He’s moved from romantic comedy hunk to comedy staple to dependable dramatic star, and done everything in between. However, from about 2018 to 2021, he suddenly stopped working so prolifically, appearing in only a handful of films, in either voice roles or in cameos. Thankfully, he returned to the spotlight in 2022, now as a director.

His feature debut, Dog, was billed as a road comedy, but it is in fact a much more dramatic and tear-jerking tale about PTSD and the bond between an animal and its owner. Channing stars in Dog as Jackson Briggs, a former U.S. Army Ranger suffering from PTSD who is tasked with taking his deceased friend’s military dog, Lulu, from Washington to Arizona to attend the funeral. A poorly trained and aggressive animal, Jackson is at first frustrated with his assignment but realizes a true friendship that helps him come to terms with his own difficult past.

Jackson Briggs Decides To Adopt Lulu At The End Of Dog

Lulu Helps Jackson Live With His PTSD

At the end of Dog, after weeks of traveling across the western coast of the United States, Lulu and Jackson have come to a careful truce after experiencing life on the road together. They may still not like each other, but they need each other. During Jackson’s friend’s funeral, the former soldier stands close by the dog, comforting her and making sure she isn’t triggered by the 21-gun salute. Later, Jackson tries to get Lulu to run away to avoid having to give her up to be euthanized. Instead, she refuses to leave him.

They spend their last night together in a motel, where Jackson has a PTSD-induced panic attack that leads to a seizure. However, he calms down when Lulu sidles up next to him to comfort him. The next morning, Jackson drops Lulu off at the kennel where she’s to be euthanized and starts driving away. When he sees her panicking, he drives back and takes her home. Months later, Jackson writes a letter addressed to his dog, revealing he adopted her, and thanks Lulu for saving his life.

All film, Jackson has avoided getting close to Lulu. He doesn’t like dogs, and he particularly doesn’t like this dog, as misbehaved as Lulu is. Through the trials they experience on the road, they discover that they are actually quite similar. They’ve both experienced trauma as soldiers, and they’ve both lost someone close to them. Neither is willing to let another person into their life until they are forced, and it’s at that point they learn to heal. Jackson turning around to pick up Lulu is a symbol of him recognizing he needs someone or some dog to lean on.

Dog (2022) Was Inspired By A Real Road Trip Channing Tatum Took With His Dog

Tatum’s Dog Passed Away In 2018 From Cancer

Channing Tatum served as director and producer of Dog, and the idea for the film came from a road trip he himself took (via Yahoo). In 2018, Tatum took his elderly dog, a pit bull Catahoula mix, also named Lulu, on a road trip after she was diagnosed with cancer. On the trip, his one last chance to spend time with his beloved dog, Tatum came to the sad realization that there was nothing that he could do for Lulu, and he would just have to accept that her passing was inevitable. He said,

“You just have to accept it and be thankful for the time that you did get and know that they’re not supposed to be here forever. I’m supposed to go on and she has to go someplace else.”

It was this trip that inspired him to make Dog, and it served as a way for him to come to terms with his feelings. From the start, Tatum never planned to kill off Lulu. He didn’t want to make one of those sad dog movies that come with a gut-punch death at the end. Instead, Tatum was interested in depicting how a bond forms between a person and an animal,

“It was the end of a relationship that inspired us, but we wanted to make sure that we told a story about the beginning of a relationship and the parts of our friendships with our dogs that really left these lasting impressions of fun and adventure in our lives.”

Tatum did not make this movie specifically to dissect what it’s like losing a beloved pet, but more as an examination of pets in general and the unlikely bonds that can form between humans and them. Sadly, the real Lulu passed away in late 2018, and Tatum posted on his Instagram a black and white photo of the dog with the caption (via People),

“I’ll see you again baby girl. But you’ll always be with me. Always.”

Tatum’s ex-wife, Jenna Dewan, with whom he shared custody of the dog, posted on her Instagram,

“To our sweet and fierce Lulu…thank you for being the best dog in the entire world and for fighting cancer for as long as you did. Thank you for your tireless love, protection and humor. Thank you for the adventures.”

Dog is dedicated to Lulu, and since then, Tatum has adopted two more dogs, Rooklin and Cutie. Both dogs are Dutch Shepherds, which are similar breeds to Belgian Malinois, the breed that Lulu is in Dog.

What Tatum And His Co-Director Have Said About Dog

Handling Dogs Proved To Be Tricky For The Novice Directors

While Channing Tatum greatly enjoyed filming Dog, he also got a firsthand look at how complicated live animals can be. He talked about the experience directing the three dogs who played Lulu (via SharpMagazine),

“Anytime we needed to ask the dog to do one thing, we could do that — it was a pretty consistent, we could do that right. Anytime you start adding [directions] is when it [starts getting more complicated]. When we wanted her to pick something up and then walk to her mark, well that’s an additional step — that’s two things we’re asking her to do now. If you wanted her to pick things up, walk to her mark, and then walk out, you’re now in no man’s land like you’re just praying that she does it — and does it in the take where your own acting is half decent so you could use it.”

None of the dogs appear to be as misbehaved as the Lulu in Dog, but it’s still not easy getting an animal to act, so what Tatum managed to get up on screen is impressive on a degree of difficulty level alone. Tatum’s co-director, Reid Carolin, said they were inspired by a handful of other dog movies,

“I have so much respect for anybody that makes a dog movie because it’s a challenge … [With] Turner & Hooch, they really nailed the personality of that dog and some the fun between those two guys, which is not easy to do. And White God … you can’t even believe some of the footage they got of those dogs.”

Carolin also mentioned how the dog actors had personalities all their own, with one of the dogs in particular being a bit of a prima donna,

There were always people following her [the dog] around and giving her stuff to keep her quiet on set — it was exhausting, truly. There was a funny moment … Channing’s doing his most dramatic scene. Everyone’s super-quiet … and Lulu’s supposed to come and be with him. She goes and stands over him and smiles and barks, so as Chan’s acting, you hear this trainer off-camera screaming, ‘Head down, head down!'”

As much as they’ve teased the difficulty of working with dogs, both directors understood that there were plenty of problems on set that could be blamed on them being new to directing. Tatum said (via EW),

“I don’t think a dog can really mess up a take, personally. Because a dog is just being purely a dog, so it can’t physically mess up the take. We are asking it to be a dog, that’s about it. And we’re trying to craft the world around the thing so it can just honestly be itself.” He adds, “So I’m sure I messed up almost everything.”

With a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s clear that any freshmen directing issues and dog dramas did not take away from the story they were trying to tell. People enjoyed Dog regardless.

Dog Lovers Were Particularly Moved By Tatum’s Movie

Tatum Found The Experience “Cathartic”

A story about a dog and her owner was certain to tug at some heartstrings, and plenty of viewers took to places like Reddit to show their appreciation for the film and its message. u/awaywethrowLA posted after seeing the movie,

“Yep, bawled so hard I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the movie. Will absolutely watch again once I’ve had some distance from it.

My boy was gone by the time it came out but your description of yours trying to fix it reminds me of the times my boy did the same for me. So glad you have each other.”

u/Successful_Set4709 posted in another thread,

“‘Thank you for saving my life’ the ending made me cry so hard.”

It’s likely the reaction Tatum was hoping for, considering he himself found the project cathartic, telling Forbes,

“It gave me a lot of perspective on what she meant to me, what her purpose was in this life that we had together.”

Dog is a 2022 film that flew somewhat under the radar, but it’s worth returning to, even if you don’t have a dog. Fair warning though, you may just want to buy one after watching it.