Dog Gone

Dog Gone is a 2023 American biographical drama film directed by Stephen Herek. It was released by Netflix on January 13, 2023. Plot Fielding is a socially awkward college kid, who decides to adopt a puppy after being rejected by a girl. He finds a yellow lab puppy at the local pound and adopts him. He names the dog Gonker, and they are inseparable for the rest of his college career. The dog often runs with him to class on campus without a leash. When college is done, all of Fielding's friends have jobs, but Fielding does not know what he wants to do with his life, which worries his father, John. Fielding moves in with his parents with Gonker. A few weeks later, Gonker is diagnosed with Addison's disease and needs a life-saving shot every month for the rest of his life. His best friend from college visits him a few weeks later, and they are out on a hiking trail with Gonker, who runs off chasing a fox. When he doesn't return, they start looking for him, but cannot find him. Panicked, they rush home and tell Fielding's parents that Gonker might be lost. There are flashbacks of Fielding's mother Ginny having a dog, Oji, when she was a young girl, who was run over when she was at school. Her parents are shown to be cold and unfeeling and encourage her to not make a big deal about it. She buries the pain and trauma, but it gets triggered by Gonker's loss and bubbles up to the surface. She sets up a control room in their house, calling local newspapers, animal shelters, hospitals, and starts sending out flyers throughout the state. Local newspapers and then national newspapers pick up Gonker's story and there are now a lot of people looking for Gonker. They have to find him before he needs his next shot in three weeks.