Gone to the Dogs: Film festival celebrates all-things canine

When Kathy Alexander and Paul Lindsey attended the first Dog Film Festival in New York in 2015, they loved the concept and left the event inspired.

“The people behind that film festival knew it was a good idea,” Alexander said. “It’s a terrific idea, but we thought if we do something like their event we could do it in a different manner.”

Alexander, who is a volunteer at Ability Dogs of Arizona, organized and curated the first Doggie Shorts Film Festival in 2016. The event, in which all proceeds are earmarked for Ability Dogs of Arizona, was a huge success.

“We had so much fun with the first festival but we had to figure out what the audience liked and didn’t like,” Alexander said.

Alexander has been part of each Doggie Short Fest and has curated the seventh annual Doggie Shorts Film Festival, which is slated for Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Leo Rich Theater. Doggie Shorts will showcase a series of short films focused on the connection between humans and dogs, highlighting the important role dogs play in people’s lives, especially in the service of individuals with disabilities. 

The festival also serves as a fundraising event to support Ability Dogs of Arizona’s service dog training program, which helps people with disabilities train their own service dogs. The fundraising event will include a silent auction, raffle and wine pull.

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[photo by Chloe Cassidy]

Ability Dogs Group Service Dog Class at Brandi Fenton Park. [ photo by Chloe Cassidy]

It was evident that dog lovers aren’t up for downer films, so don’t expect anything like the classic tearjerker “Old Yeller” at the event. “People like variety,” Alexander said. “So, we’ve screened foreign films and animated productions. We've shown animated shorts followed by a documentary about dogs in Korea. And dog lovers enjoy comedy.”

“The Golden Retriever Bachelor” is a comedy, which will be screened at the Doggie Shorts Film Festival. The amusing take on the reality series “The Golden Bachelor” is Alexander’s directorial debut. It’s about a senior golden retriever who is trying to find the perfect owner. “I think it's pretty hilarious,” Alexander said. “We had fun making the film.”

The dog has to decide between three prospective owners. Alexander noted that it was easy working with the Golden since the pooch is a service dog by Ability Dogs of Arizona, previously known as Handi-Dogs. “So he was trained well and socialized,” Alexander said. 

It's fitting that the star of the film is a service dog, because the proceeds from the festival will benefit those who need service dogs. According to Scott Mobley from Ability Dogs of Arizona, the cost of a service dog is between $20,000 and $30,000. However, Ability Dogs offer service dogs for a fraction of that cost or for free. 

The cost is considerable for service dogs, since it takes between a year and 18 months to train a canine. The service dogs can help in a myriad of ways. “There are dogs who can help those that are diabetic,” Mobley said. “The dogs can detect a change in blood sugar, whether it’s low or high. They can fetch medicine. Some dogs are trained to help people with PTSD. There are dogs who help those who have lost or are losing their hearing. They can let the hearing impaired know that a fire alarm is ringing. The service dogs really are amazing. The Doggie Shorts festival helps us subsidize the cost of getting a service dog substantially.”