Dog Gone (2002)

Writer/Director:  Jane Clark

Producers:  Jane Clark, Ford Austin, Bob Tourtellotte

Production Companies:  FilmMcQueen Productions

Genre:   Family Dramedy

Cast:  Jane Clark, Ford Austin

Bob and Jane are an ordinary married couple in their 30s. They live a middle class life in a middle-income neighborhood and, for the most part, nothing tragic had ever happened to them until their little dog, McQueen left home.But the 7 lb. Papillon with his big ears, long hair and playful spirit didn't just run away. He was stolen. That's right, stolen  two days after  9/11 -- from their yard, from behind their fence.

Who steals dogs? Who steals little, helpless puppies that don't know much beyond who feeds them, who cleans them and who plays with them? Until little 18 month-old McQueen was taken from them, Bob and Jane had never heard of such a thing. 

The husband and wife were not about to let dog thieves get away with their baby. No way. After a trip to the police proved fruitless, Bob and Jane waged a five-month campaign to win the return of their little puppy.

Armed with only their wits and an alliance with a pet psychic whom Bob labels PetCom (short, for Pet Communicator), the couple sets about tracking either: a) a strange series of coincidences or b) the trail of their lost little McQueen. Through working class neighborhoods,  they post signs, wave flags and stalk a cabinet maker named Alfredo who is such a nice guy, he seems suspicious. And who happens to drive the car the psychic envisioned as the get away vehicle - a blue/green Ford Falcon. Bob and Jane are the first to say that what they did through their five-month "God Save McQueen" campaign was absurd.

So absurd, in fact, it was laughable. But their battle was for a good cause, for love. And what they learned in those five months is not so ridiculous. They learned about loving each other and they learned about life  the cycles of life. Life, doggonnit.