| In the Book |
In the Movie |
|
The book is entirely from the dog's point of view. |
Most of the movie is from the dog's point of view, but some is from various human points of view also. |
|
A puppy is born in the woods to his feral mother along with his siblings, Fast, Hungry and Sister. When he is several weeks old his mother and brothers are captured and brought to a woman (Senora) who runs an unlicensed dog pound; she names him Toby. When a new aggressive dog is introduced to the pound, Toby and others are injured in a fight. The dogs are seized and sent to a kennel where several of them including Toby are deemed un-adoptable and euthanized.
|
A puppy is born to his feral mother along with un-named siblings in the woods near a town. The dog enjoys his first weeks of life until he is captured by a dog catcher. He is euthanized (not shown) immediately.
|
|
Toby is reborn in a kennel to a golden retriever. Toby escapes from the kennel by opening the door, imitating his original mother. He is looking for a place with friendlier humans who will play with him. |
The dog is re-born to a red retriever at a dog kennel. He escapes after a customer examines him and the cage is left unlatched. He wanders down the road and is picked up by a man in a pickup who thinks he can get money for the dog.
|
|
Toby is found by a man in a pickup truck who takes him along on a trip to a liquor store/bar. He is left in the truck with the windows up where it soon becomes very hot. He is rescued from the truck by a woman (Ethan's mother) who smashes the window with a rock. It is the early 1960's. |
The dog is left in the truck while the man goes in for a drink. Ethan and his mother are walking nearby; Ethan hears the dog whining. They see the dog in the truck nearly dead; Ethan's mom smashes the window and they take the dog home. The family also has a cat. It is 1961.
|
|
Ethan Montgomery and his family name the dog Bailey. Bailey goes through all of the trials a puppy normally goes through, housebreaking and learning manners. He is neutered by the vet. Ethan calls him doodle dog when he is bad or when he wants to tease him. |
Ethan's father sternly warns him that he is responsible for the dog. Ethan Montgomery and his family name the dog Bailey. Ethan calls him boss dog or doodle dog. He is not neutered. |
|
Ethan likes to throw a toy for Bailey called the flip which is actually an old deflated ball. Bailey doesn't like the toy much. |
Bailey loves to play with the flip. When Ethan throws the flip, Bailey runs, jumps off of Ethan's back and catches the flip.
|
|
When the family's cat dies it is buried. Bailey later digs it up. |
After coming back from summer vacation at the grandparents, Bailey finds the family's dead cat and runs around with it. |
|
While visiting his grandparents, Ethan is left alone for several days while the others are away. He uses some guns to target shoot and takes the horse (Flare) out for a ride. He is thrown from the horse when it is scared by a snake. Ethan and Bailey get lost trying to find their way home. They are eventually found by a man searching for them. |
This does not happen.
|
|
Ethan meets his future girlfriend Hannah while visiting his grandparents in his early teens. He is told that they played together when much younger. |
He meets her at a carnival near his town when he is 16-17 years old. They meet as a result of Bailey sensing Ethan's attraction to her; Bailey pokes his nose under her skirt to get her attention. They had not met before. |
|
Ethan's neighbor Todd is de-ranged and cruel. He was probably responsible for a neighbor's dog that went missing and tried to steal Bailey. Todd also tried to feed Bailey tainted meat. Bailey doesn't like/trust Todd. |
Todd appears to be un-popular and seems to resent Ethan. He is not shown to be cruel to animals. Bailey trips Todd while he is walking with Ethan and some of his friends. Todd had insulted Ethan by suggesting the dog was his girlfriend.
|
|
Ethan's dad drinks too much but is not shown as abusive. |
Ethan's dad is an alcoholic, verbally abusive and unhappy with his job on the road as a salesman. He entertains the boss and his wife at dinner in his home where he fails to get promoted to an office job. |
|
This does not happen in the book. |
Ethan is playing with his dad's coin collection. He drops a coin and Bailey swallows it. Ethan is able to retrieve the coin later when Bailey relieves himself. Ethan causes a distraction by yelling “rat” in the dining room so can he gain access to the coin box to replace the coin. The commotion causes the boss' wife to fall onto her face on the dinner table, terribly embarrassing Ethan's father.
|
|
This does not happen in the book. |
Ethan's dad argues with Ethan and his mom while drunk. He pushes his wife to the ground. Ethan shoves him away and tells him to leave; the dad leaves.
|
|
Todd tries to lure Hannah (Ethan's girlfriend) away from a football game to party. After she refuses, Todd tells her that Ethan is the boyfriend of Michele. Ethan denies knowing Michele and this satisfies Hannah. Ethan later confronts Todd for trying to break them up. |
After Todd wins a scholarship to Michigan state, his dad tries to congratulate him while drunk. Ethan refuses to have anything to do with his dad and walks away. Todd gives Ethan a hard time about his dad causing Ethan to punch Todd in the face.
|
|
Bailey attacks Todd when he sees him setting fire to Ethan's house. Bailey has Todd's blood on him and the police are able to track a blood trail to Todd's house where he is arrested and confesses to the arson. Ethan is badly burned/injured when jumping out of the burning house. He loses his football scholarship due to his injuries. |
Bailey sees Todd setting fire to the house and attacks him. Todd runs away and Bailey enters the house waking up Ethan and his mother. Ethan lowers his mother out from the 2nd story window with sheets tied together and does the same for Bailey but drops the sheets. He jumps and is injured. Todd is watching the activity and when Bailey again attacks him, the police confront him and he confesses to the arson.
|
|
Ethan's parents divorce and Bailey is sent to live with the grandparents at their farm. He likes it there but misses Ethan as he is away at school and only visits occasionally. |
Bailey is sent to live with Ethan's grandparents while Ethan goes to another college to earn a degree in agriculture.
|
|
Ethan and Hannah appear to have broken up after he went to college. |
Ethan breaks up with Hannah when he decides he doesn't want her around taking care of him. |
|
Ethan's parents appear to have divorced, his mother lives with his grandparents and she threw her ring into the pond. Ethan's mother meets a man named Rick who takes a liking to her. Bailey also likes him. |
Rick is not in the movie.
|
|
Bailey grows old and is unable to eat. He is brought to the veterinarian and sedated. Everyone tells him he is a good dog. When Ethan arrives to say goodbye, Bailey is put down. |
The grandparents take Bailey to the vet when they notice he is tired and off his food. The vet says there is a tumor and it can not be properly treated. Bailey is put down after Ethan arrives to say goodbye. |
|
The dog is re-born at a kennel to a German Shepard prior to the year 2000. She is evaluated by a Jakob (a policeman) who notes she is not afraid of loud noises, is loyal, smart and submits to him. She is adopted and named Ellie. (Elleya is Swedish for moose). |
The dog is re-born at a kennel to a German Shepard later on, probably the 1990's. The dog notices with alarm that he is re-born as a female. She is adopted/bought by a police officer named Carlos who works in Chicago.
|
|
Ellie is taken care of by a woman named Georgia. Jakob trains Ellie to be a police search and rescue dog. A man named Wally assists. Ellie is spayed by the vet as she matures. Ellie lives in Jakob's apartment with him; he is strict but kind. |
Carlos trains Ellie for search and rescue as well as finding weapons. Wally assists. Ellie lives with Carlos in his house. Ellie is required to sleep in the doggy bed which she doesn't like. Georgia is not in the movie. Ellie is not spayed. |
|
Ellie's first job after training is to find a missing Alzheimer's patient (Marilyn). |
This does not happen.
|
|
Jakob is a widower and on anti-depressants. That's why he is on search and rescue instead of patrol. |
Carlos is a widower or divorcee. Ellie tries to comfort Carlos and eventually he allows her to sleep in his bed at night instead of the dog bed. |
|
After finding a kidnapped girl, Ellie tracks down a man who shoots/wounds Jakob. Ellie attacks the man causing him to lose his gun. The police shoot/kill the man as he tries to attack them after Ellie is told to stand down. |
Ellie and Carlos track a man who kidnapped his girlfriend's 12 year old daughter. They find him near a dam. The girl is pushed into the water; Ellie jumps in after her and brings her to shore. Carlos chases the kidnapper but loses him. Just as the man is about to shoot Carlos, Ellie attacks him. Ellie is shot and dies in Carlos arms. Other police arrest the kidnapper.
|
|
Maya is Jakob's replacement. She takes Ellie to her place to live along with Stella, Tinkerbell (who likes Ellie) and Emmett the cats. She is in poor shape compared to Jakob. |
This does not happen. |
|
Maya is trained to understand how Ellie works when searching. Maya enjoys playing with Ellie more than Jakob did. Maya gets into shape and is certified along with Ellie. |
This does not happen.
|
|
Maya takes Ellie to visit Jakob who is on disability after being shot twice in five years. |
This does not happen. |
|
Maya and Ellie go to El Salvador (2001) to assist locating people after an Earthquake. She finds mostly dead people. Sometimes Vernon hides so she can find someone alive. |
This does not happen. Vernon is not in the movie.
|
|
After finding only dead people, Ellie locates someone who is alive (Maya thinks it's another corpse) but refuses to leave when ordered. Ellie crawls under a building and locates a woman but gets chemical burns in the process. Her sense of smell is degraded and she is no longer able to find people by scent. Ellie is de-certified. |
This does not happen. |
|
Maya accepts a proposal from Albert. Ellie is a ring bearer. Maya moves to Albert's home. |
The dog is reborn as a corgi and adopted by a college student named Maya. She is lonely and the dog is her only friend until she meets a man at the park with a large female dog. They get married.
|
|
Ellie is taken to schools and hospitals as part of an outreach program. |
This does not happen. |
|
When Ellie is old and gray she meets Jakob and his daughter. Jakob is happy now with his new family. Ellie is credited for saving Jakob and allowing him to start a new family. |
This does not happen.
|
|
After the cats Stella and Emmett die, Tinkerbell (the remaining cat) gives Ellie much more attention. |
Maya does not have any cats. |
|
After 7-8 years of retirement Ellie is at a school visiting children where a boy goes missing. Ellie finds him in a storm drain. Ellie jumps into the drain when the boy is washed away. They are both rescued by police officers after they're swept into an open drainage area. Maya and Ellie are officially commended. |
This does not happen.
|
|
Maya and Albert have a girl named Gabriella. |
Maya and Al have three kids who enjoy playing with the dogs. |
|
Ellie knows she is dying when she is brought to the vet to be put down. |
The dog grows old with Maya and dies happy.
|
|
The dog is born to black Labrador national field champions but is the last to be adopted/sold. He feels like a bad dog for being re-born again and again. |
The dog is re-born as a large mixed breed and sold by a family in a parking lot. |
|
A man named Derek buys the dog for his girlfriend Wendi at a cut rate price of $250. He is named Bear. Wendi does not properly care for or train Bear. Dogs are not allowed in Wendi's apartment so she is evicted. Wendi gives Bear to her mother (Lisa) who lives in a house with her abusive boyfriend Victor. |
A woman named Wendi buys the dog but is required by her boyfriend to keep him tied up in the yard where he grows up very lonely.
|
|
A neighbor pities Bear and feeds him meat through the fence. She later calls the police to complain about animal cruelty. Lisa and Victor are fined $50. Victor takes Bear for a ride in the car trunk then abandons him miles from home. |
The police give the couple a citation for mistreating the dog. The boyfriend takes the dog away in his pickup truck telling Wendi that he will find it a new home. He abandons the dog instead.
|
|
Bear tries to track Victor's car, but loses it. He attempts to find a town with people/food and a family. He ends up near the place where he and Ethan had been found by searchers years before. |
The dog recognizes that he has been in this place before.
|
|
Bear plays with other dogs at a park and later in the day meets a yellow dog (Carly) with Hannah's scent on her. Bear lives on food in trash cans at the park then decides to find Hannah and Ethan. |
The dog wanders around and finds a dog park where he meets a fluffy yellow dog that has a familiar smell on her. |
|
Bear lives at the park until the police show up to capture him. Bear tracks follows the scent of Jasper (Ethan's grandfather's donkey) to the farm where he finds Ethan as a middle aged/older man. He is semi-retired and working the farm. |
The dog tracks the scent of the donkey (horse-dog) to the family farm where he sees Ethan as an old man. He runs up and jumps on him.
|
|
Ethan of course doesn't recognize Bear/Bailey and keeps him out of the house. Ethan later feeds Bear who stays at the farm. |
Ethan feeds the dog and then tells him to go away. The dog stays on the porch. |
|
Ethan has a new horse named Troy. Jasper the donkey was put down recently after living for 44 years. |
The donkey is still alive.
|
|
The dog catcher shows up at Ethan's farm and takes Bear away. He is neutered and put up for adoption. A family decides to adopt him, but soon after Ethan shows up and demands to get “his” dog back. Ethan names him Buddy. |
Ethan brings the dog to the shelter and asks that he be given to a good home. The dog is not neutered. Ethan later changes his mind and adopts the dog from the shelter and names him Buddy.
|
|
Ethan lived with a woman in Chicago for a while but never married. |
No details on his earlier life after college.
|
|
Ethan puts Bailey's old Collar on Buddy but later buys him a new one. |
Ethan buys a new collar and has a new tag made for Buddy. |
|
Buddy decides that his purpose in life is not to Find humans but to Save them. |
Buddy decides his purpose in life is to find, save and be with humans.
|
|
One day while Ethan is working the farm, Buddy walks to the park and sees Carly with her owner (Rachel). Buddy follows them back to a house where Hannah eventually walks out to see Buddy. Rachel is Hannah's daughter. Hannah reads Buddy collar tag and sees that he belongs to Ethan. |
Buddy decides to look for Hannah. He goes to the park and finds the yellow dog (Carly) and follows her owner home where he meets Hannah. Hannah sees that the tag identifies Buddy as belonging to Ethan.
|
|
Ethan comes to Hannah's house to get Buddy an hour later. He expresses condolences for Hannah's loss of her husband 15 years ago. She tells him she moved back into town two years ago. He invites her for dinner at his place. |
Hannah drives Buddy home to Ethan. He expresses condolences for Hannah's loss of her husband 15 years ago. She tells him she moved back into town two months ago. Ethan after some hesitation asks Hannah out on a date. They kiss.
|
|
Ethan and Hannah marry. They enjoy their life with many grandchildren as the years pass. One day Buddy senses something is wrong with Ethan. Ethan hallucinates, he thinks Buddy is his old dog Bailey. Buddy finds the flip (an old toy) and brings it to Ethan. They play for a while but then Ethan gets worse. As Ethan is dying, Buddy/Bailey knows he has fulfilled his purpose in life. Bitter sweet ending. |
Buddy finds the flip and brings it to Ethan to play with. Buddy plays with the flip just like he did decades ago when he was Bailey. Ethan recognizes Buddy as his old dog Bailey. Very happy ending. |