Canine inspiration

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, April 1st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Rescued by Ruby.

If you’re looking for something to watch for family movie night this weekend, reviewer Sharon Dierberger has you covered.

SHARON DIERBERGER, REVIEWER: Rescued by Ruby may not make next year’s Oscars, despite good acting. But it’s a winner that parents can feel comfortable gathering the whole family to watch. It’s rated G. I actually did a double-take when I saw that. Netflix plugging a G-rated movie? That’s a happy—and unexpected—surprise. Not one you see on many streaming platforms lately.

And it’s based on the true story of a rescued shelter dog. She, in turn, does her own rescuing. Although this film has the good-vibes feeling common to other pet stories, it’s not sappy or overly-sentimental. Its surprising twist near the end will have you checking Google to make sure it’s true. It is. And nope, it’s not like the ending in Old Yeller or My Dog Skip. Thank goodness.

Ruby, who’s part border collie, part Australian shepherd, definitely needed rescuing. Multiple families tried to adopt her. Each one returned her because of seemingly incorrigible behavior. She’s hard to control, loves to dig holes, and keeps running away. But shelter trainer, Patrica, loves her. She’s desperately trying to find Ruby a home before she has to be put down.

Patricia: It can take a while before someone as loyal and loving as a dog can commit to someone new. Nobody’s given Ruby that chance.

Shelter manager: Pat, come on.

Patricia: One more day. I’ve got people I can call. Please.

Manager: You have until the end of the day. But the vet comes at seven.

The film is every bit as much about Rhode Island state trooper Dan O’Neil as it is about Ruby. We meet O’Neil as he’s polishing his shoes, adjusting his uniform, and donning his tall trooper hat. He’s constantly moving: Doing laps around his patrol car instead of sitting in it, fidgeting with a widget, or tapping his foot.

His dream is to be an officer on the K9 rescue team. But he’s failed seven times. With one opportunity left, he wants to try again. First, he must convince the team’s commanding officer to give him another chance:

O’Neil: You do this because you care about people, sir. The same as me. You want justice. You want endings to stories. Sometimes happy endings. Sometimes just closure.

Commanding Officer Zarella: The department has no money for new dogs. The German Shepherds we use come from Czech Republic or Germany and cost over $10,000 each. I know how much you want this. How long you’ve waited.

But O’Neil isn’t deterred. He’s determined to find a dog—forget an expensive German Shepherd. So he heads to the shelter. And guess which dog interests him.

Shelter worker Patricia somehow fails to mention Ruby’s less endearing qualities:

[Dog kennel barking, whimpering, clanking.]

Patricia: [chuckles] This one just gets to me.

O’Neil: How old?

Patricia: A little more than a year. [dog whimpering]

O’Neil: laughs. Smart?

Patricia: Half border collie. There’s one named Chaser on YouTube that knows the names of a thousand objects.

O’Neil: You think he could be a K9 dog?

Patricia: SHE could be anything.

When O’Neil brings Ruby home, we start to realize these two have an awful lot in common. They’re both just a wee bit…ahhh, hyperactive?!

[barking]

O’Neil’s wife makes the same observation after he can’t bring himself to give Ruby up, despite his unsuccessful attempts to harness the dog’s energy.

O’Neil: I’m sorry Mel. I couldn’t take her back to the shelter. I…She loves it here. She wants to be our dog.

Mel: I know she does.

O’Neil: You do?

Mel: I realized something.

O’Neil: What?

Mel: She reminds me of you.

O’Neil: Of me? I’m nothing like her.

Mel: You are—You’re always busy, always enthusiastic, going a mile a minute. Maybe all she needs is routine. Unconditional love….And a crate.

The film portrays a wonderful picture of a supportive family. O’Neil has a loving, patient wife, Melissa, who’s a third grade teacher. And they have a precocious young son. When Mel learns she’s pregnant again, she and O’Neil celebrate the new life.

The film also gives a nod to homeschooling. After Ruby fails canine class, Mel reminds O’Neil he didn’t do so well in a structured classroom environment either.

Melissa: Homeschooling would have appreciated your differences, your energy, your passions. Encouraging your strengths instead of always focusing on your weaknesses, with lessons tailored to you.

The light bulb goes on and they decide to homeschool Ruby.

O’Neil: Your mother’s a genius!

Training kids and training dogs do have similarities—although you might choose a different reward for your kids than Patricia suggests for Ruby.

Patricia: Raw hot dog. She will do anything for raw hot dog. I…I should have told you.

O’Neil: Raw hot dog. Alright. Good. Uh, yeah. That’s all I needed to know, so uh, thank you, thanks. [Exits. Pause.]

Patricia: The taller the hat, the closer to God.

Good casting helps make this already authentic story feel real, as well as engaging. Grant Gustin has just the right amount of earnestness to be believable—and likable—as Dan O’Neil. And Kaylah Zander is a great match as his wife, Melissa.

Ruby is played by a real-life shelter dog almost euthanized for bad behavior. The casting crew rescued her in the nick of time, and trained her in just six weeks. She even had an understudy, rescued from the pound with her.

It’s satisfying to watch a movie you hope will be good, that keeps being good—rather than taking an R-rated turn—or conversely, serves cheese with those hotdogs. No cheese here, just a rewarding way to spend your evening.

I’m Sharon Dierberger.

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