A surefire fix for animal lovers and a valuable sketch for skeptics, this warm doco from Kiwi director Eryn Wilson offers us intimate access to an Aussie rehab centre for troubled dogs.
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The only reason I’m on this earth is to be with dogs. This is all I know. This is all I’ve ever known. This is all I want to know.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2018
Dog’s Best Friend 2017
A canine rehabilitation centre is tenderly profiled in Kiwi director Eryn Wilson’s affectionate documentary Dog’s Best Friend. Run by ex-soldier Jacob Leezak, the Canine Behaviour Expert Dog Psychology Centre is located on a property in outer Sydney that houses no fewer than 30 dogs at a time – all either abandoned, set to be euthanised or brought in by clients unable to handle their pet’s aggressive side. While Jacob will often allude to the media stigmatisation of particular breeds (the film even opens with some sobering euthanisation stats), Wilson wisely never centres the story on that debate. Instead, he focuses on the bond between man and dog, observing Jacob’s tailored process of rehabilitating misunderstood canines and the traumatic backgrounds that brought both him and his fiancée Jennah to this line of work.
Over a span of months, we get to watch the couple lovingly work with a range of pooches, with encounters that range from heated to heartwarming (try not to melt as one pup reaches new levels of Zen during a massage session). Without ever succumbing to soapboxing, this sweet and unassuming portrait is essential viewing for dog-lovers and dog-haters alike. — JF