Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 10, 2019

If you’re a dog lover, chances are very good you’ve probably delighted in any number of films which prominently featured canines, outings like Benji / For the Love of Benji / Benji: Off the Leash!, Beethoven, Marley & Me 1 & 2 and Old Yeller, to name just a few. But for anyone who loves dogs and who might want an uplifting real life story, Life in the Doghouse is an appealing, at times rather bittersweet, documentary profiling Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta, two South Carolina men who have made it their life mission to foster “rescue” dogs and get them adopted. Amazingly, as the film discloses in its final moments, the pair has been so successful they have over 11,000 adoptions to their credit.

There are memes about so-called “cat ladies”, but Danny and Ron probably wouldn’t chafe too much about being labeled “dog men”, since they are up front about having devoted much and maybe even most of their adult lives to rescuing at risk dogs from shelters, where the dogs are put on an “expired” list, which means they’re due to be euthanized. Danny and Ron, who discuss becoming openly gay and ultimately a couple in interstitial “confessionals” included in Life in the Doghouse, both had histories as individuals (before they met) as animal rights fighters, and it’s obvious that their shared passion in protecting helpless dogs has helped to unite them.

Now some more churlish types may argue that Life in the Doghouse is little more than a 90 minute advertisement for Danny and Ron’s non- profit, but for those who love animals, and specifically rescue animals, my hunch is few are going to care all that much. The pair is shown to be doing really honorable work saving neglected dogs and getting them to families who seem to really love them. Some of the vignettes offered here are frankly on the heartstring tugging side of things, but Life in the Doghouse is another rather interesting “niche documentary” from FilmRise that I think will really appeal to animal lovers in general and dog lovers in particular.

Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Life in the Doghouse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual and FilmRise with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a perfectly competent if not mind bogglingly beautiful looking transfer that has a few minor issues with banding in sudden light changes, but which is otherwise free of any distractions. There are occasional variances in clarity, especially with regard to some of the outdoor material, that made me wonder if different cameras may have been utilized, but on the whole detail levels are excellent, something helped by the prevalence of close-ups during "first person confessional" talking head moments.

Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is another FilmRise release that features only lossy Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 tracks, but like many other documentaries put out by the label, while lossless audio is always the preference (in my opinion, anyway), the limited sonics of this piece may make the lossy audio more generally palatable. The surround mix offers decent immersion in scenes where literally scores of dogs maraud around the foster facility, or in some other outdoor moments (Danny and Ron also have horses). All of the first person confessional elements offer fine clarity.

Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:41; 00:48; 00:44; 1:17; 1:16)


• Photo Gallery (1080i) is authored without a timecode, but does feature auto advance, which moves along pretty briskly, so have your pause button handy if you want to actually peruse a picture.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:34)

Life in the Doghouse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I count myself blessed to have had a lifetime full of most excellent dog companions, and I can say without a doubt the very best dog I've had in my life was a rescue dog that my wife and I got when our boys were little. BeeGee (he came with that name, it stood for "black gold") had been dropped off at a no kill shelter at the end of the school year in one of Oregon's college towns, and had ultimately been placed with a Golden Retriever rescue organization despite being (per his name) a kind of beautiful black and brindle coloring. Interestingly, as is addressed overtly in Life in the Doghouse, a lot of people don't like to adopt black dogs for some reason, but we fell in love with BeeGee instantly, and he was a beautiful animal to spend time with. If you're a dog lover and especially if you've had any experience with rescue animals, Life in the Doghouse will be a really worthwhile viewing experience, though have your tissues handy for some of the more emotional moments. Technical merits are generally competent if never overly inspiring for those considering a purchase.