The Tale of a Stray Dog, Who Became the Movie Star

We have heard many touching stories of an actor’s struggle before a career break, but the tale of a dog that rose from rag to riches is worth and inspiring. It is the story of the star of the movie, “A Dog’s way home”, which is breaking box office records in theaters across the US after its release on 11th January 2019.

Meet the star, Shelby, the tan-and-black mutt who portrays Bella, has enthralled the movie lovers by her performance, occupying the screen with much of her solo performance in the 97 minutes film. The central story of the movie involves breed-specific legislation or local laws that prohibit certain dog breeds from living within municipalities or counties. The focus is Denver’s ban on pit bull breeds.

Shelby’s first big break came in April 2017, when Meghan Buhler, an animal control officer located her while driving to Tennessee, a rural area which is about 25 miles from Nashville. Meghan spotted and approached what she remembered was a skittish dog emerging from a garbage dump.

As 29-year-old Meghan says, “So I knelt down and just said, 'Oh, come here, baby. There were lots of cars driving by - I mean, it was heavy traffic. She was so scared, and she finally came right up to me, and I was able to put her in my truck”.

She then took the animal to animal care, where she settled afterward. At that time Meghan had no idea that 2,000 miles away in Hollywood, few people were looking for a dog to play the role of Bella in a film written by Cathryn Michon and W. Bruce Cameron. The film is based on Cameron’s book.

Cameron is a prolific author who specializes in dog books, most notably “A Dog’s Purpose”, which is on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly five months and in the year 2017 it was made into a movie, starring Dennis Quaid. “A Dog’s Journey” is the sequel of the film.

Couples, Cameron and Michon are big dog lovers and their passion is expressed by advocating for homeless dogs whenever it is possible. As Cameron says, “We started off in the very beginning saying that the dog that is the star of the movie will have to be a rescue because we were trying to prove something. We think we're making a difference in the animals' lives when they are adopted, and we're trying to reveal to the world that rescue dogs are wonderful animals”.

After discovering Shelby in the animal care, the filmmakers hired trainer Debbie Pearl, whose company Paws for Effect is known for identifying adoptable dogs and training them for on-screen roles.

Shelby now lives with her trainer Pearl in Huntington Beach in California. Two and a half-year-old Shelby has turned out to be a gifted therapy dog as a thespian, as Pearl says, “She just has this insight of what she needs to do when she needs to do it. And not all dogs have that, even dogs that I've used for therapy dogs for a long time”.

Shelby has come a long way from a garbage dump to the silver screen. But for Meghan Buhler she still looks the same as she saw Shelby recently, she needed only a second to compare the movie star with the dog, whom she coaxed away from piles of trash.