Disney Plus: All the canine content available at launch

Disney Plus features a handful of Disney Channel Original Movies starring dogs, and a good array of movies and shows with other important pets.

There are also a trio of Disney Channel Original Movies that specialize in good(ish) doggos.

1998’s You Lucky Dog, the second DCOM ever released, which stars Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, Left Behind, Fireproof) as an unsuccessful dog therapist who becomes the caretaker of a dog who inherits a fortune from its late owner.

Hounded, a 2001 movie starring Tahj Mowry (Full House, Smart Guy, Kim Possible) and Shia LeBouf (Even Stevens, Holes, Transformers) deals with a show dog going crazy off her meds and a prep school’s scholarship contest among the humans.

Life is Ruff, from 2005, stars Kyle Massey (That’s So Raven, Cory in the House), Mitchell Musso (Hannah Montana, The Search for Santa Paws, Phineas and Ferb) and Kay Panabaker (Read It and Weep, Phil of the Future, 2007 Emma Roberts Nancy Drew).

The plot follows a shelter dog who becomes a show dog thanks to the schemes of three middle schoolers. Kay Panabaker, the sister of The Flash’s Danielle Panabaker, plays a shelter volunteer, and in real life now works at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

1987’s Benji the Hunted features Benji trying to survive in the forests of Oregon.

The Ugly Dachshund, from 1966, stars Dean Jones (That Darn Cat!, The Love Bug, Beethoven) and follows a Great Dane who thinks he’s a Dachshund.

2007’s Underdog is a spoof of Superman based on a 1960s cartoon TV series, and it works brilliantly. It stars Amy Adams (Talladega Nights, Enchanted, Arrival), Jim Belushi (K-9, Snow Dogs, According to Jim), Peter Dinklage (Elf, Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War) and The Pretty Reckless lead singer Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl).

The Disney Junior series Puppy Dog Pals, about a pair of Pug brothers who go on adventures around the neighborhood when their owner is at work, is a good fit for preschoolers.

Decidedly not for preschoolers, however, is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s one certain small-screen failure: the TV series Inhumans, which heavily features the teleporting Bulldog lockjaw.

There are also documentary series from National Geographic available, which include Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan, How Dogs Got Their Shapes, Kingdom of the White Wolf, and World’s Greatest Dog. 

Finally, Disney Plus has the shows and movies with dog substitutes – pets that aren’t canines, but often act or function in the same way as a companion dog does.

These include Frozen, with Kristoff’s reindeer Sven, and its much better predecessor Tangled, with Flynn’s cantankerous horse Maximilian, and Captain Marvel, with the terrific cat/alien Goose.

In Lilo and Stitch (and its sequel Leroy and Stitch and Lilo and Stitch: The Animated Series), the little blue alien is called a dog at various points.

Kim Possible’s Ron Stoppable has a naked mole rat named Rufus, who joins in the spy missions more often than not, also appearing in the canonical movies Kim Possible: A Stitch in Time and Kim Possible: So the Drama.

Finally, Phineas and Ferb stars Perry the Platypus as the Flynn-Fletcher family pet, in addition to being the world’s greatest animal spy. His colleague Pinky the Chihuahua (who belongs to Isabella Garcia-Shapiro) is a recurring character.

What are you most likely to watch first when Disney Plus launches? Let us know on the Dog O’Day Facebook page.