Not My Dog

Not My Dog (2026)

Sometimes all you need is a nudge.

When a stray dog follows 12-year-old Bridget through her small town, she embarks on an unexpected journey, discovering loyalty, courage, and the joy of an unlikely friendship along the way.

Date of release
2026-09-11
TMDB
4.0 / 10 (1)
Runtime
1h 21m
Genres
Adventure, Family
Director
Danny LeGare

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Vernon

Not My Dog is a 2026 American family film written and directed by Danny LeGare. Rylie Pennington plays a twelve-year-old girl who is followed through her small Connecticut town by a stray black German Shepherd. Eric Roberts, Dan Lauria, Marika Domińczyk, Jeremy London and Robert Ri'chard appear in supporting roles. The film was shot in Vernon, Connecticut, and released on digital platforms on September 11, 2026.

Production

LeGare founded Trash Panda Pictures, an independent studio in Vernon, Connecticut, to make films for tween audiences. He wrote the stray as a black German Shepherd because of black dog syndrome, the belief that black dogs in shelters are adopted less often than lighter ones, and because German Shepherds in films are usually police or military dogs.

Nudge is played by Inkosi, a trained protection dog, in his first film role. Pennington, who lives in Goodyear, Arizona, was twelve when the film was made and had not led a feature film before. Analise Scarpaci wrote an original song for the film, "Unlikely Friends", which she performs with Pennington.

Filming took place in the Rockville section of Vernon, including a barbershop on West Main Street, Henry Park, residential streets and the mill complex that houses the New England Motorcycle Museum. The production used six-hour shooting days built around its child and animal performers.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended