Dog Gone Trouble Parent Guide

Trouble (voiced by Big Sean) is the pampered canine companion to the wealthy and aging Sarah Vanderwhoozie (Betty White). When Sarah passes away suddenly, Trouble’s world is turned upside down as he finds himself on the streets, struggling to take care of himself. With the help of street-smart pit-bull Rousey (Pamela Adlon), and a few other friends along the way, Trouble must evade capture by the animal chaser Thurman Sanchez (Wilmer Valderrama) while searching for a new place to call home.

I’ve seen a surprising number of pooch pics for kids since I started working for Parent Previews. Who knew this was such a popular genre for small studios? Having seen so many, I feel like I am qualified to say that Dog Gone Trouble is a middle of the pack production. It’s fine. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen but it’s also not great. I suspect that I will have completely forgotten about it tomorrow, and my life will continue on unaffected.

On the positive side, the voice acting is well done. There are a shocking number of relatively big names on the cast, and they live up to their billing. There are a few humorous surprises, including Cesar Millan and Jason Mraz playing themselves, and Snoop Dogg voicing a rapping Doberman. The story itself is generic and predictable, but it’s sweet and it gets its points across. The messages of the film are not terribly strong, but there are themes of selflessness, found family, and positivity in the script if you’re willing to dig for them.

On the negative side, there are waaaayyy too many characters in this movie, which gets overwhelming, especially towards the end. A few of the dogs could have been cut completely and it wouldn’t have changed anything about the story. Also on overload are the film’s excessive number of poop, pee, and butt jokes. I’m ok with a butt-sniffing gag or two, since that’s the obvious joke with dogs, but the writers veer way too far into potty humor. There’s a running gag with a group of squirrels who make neverending “nut” double entendres which get old really fast. Then the production throws in standard slapstick violence, but no more than you’d see in most media aimed at kids.

Overall, when it comes to the world of pooch pictures, this is no purebred. Mind you, it’s not a rabid stray either. Dog Gone Trouble is the movie equivalent of a poorly trained mongrel – it’s kind of cute but its bad habits need to be replaced with more prosocial behaviors.