W. BRUCE CAMERON
Tuesday, 07 March 2017 04:29
Bruce Cameron is the author of the novel A Dog’s Purpose, which spent 52 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list. The movie version (which he and his wife, Cathryn Michon, were among the screenwriters) opens on January 27th.
DDD: How would your childhood have been different without a dog?
WBC: I grew up in a neighborhood where nobody had dogs. I don’t know why. And one day my dad walks into the backyard with this little puppy, this little Labrador puppy. I was eight years old. And we ran to each other like we had been separated at birth and were finally, finally getting back together. So that puppy was then my constant companion. And back in those days you didn’t put a dog on a leash, the dog just followed you wherever you went. And all the neighborhood kids, especially the boys, we’d just run around playing games and the dog would just follow us. And within fairly short order, more dogs started to show up. Other families got dogs and so I can tell you there was this barren time where we were just kids running around and then all of a sudden we were accompanied by a pack of dogs who would be playing with us and with each other. And so at an early age what it did for me was just to make me feel surrounded by fun and play.
Then as I got older I learned more about the responsibility of a dog and taking care of the dog and cleaning up after the dog – which is my least favorite part. So my life would’ve been different because there would have been so much less to it. It gave me such depth to have this friend, this dog, who really cared about me and would come when I called it. Cammie was my constant companion.
How old was she when she passed?
Twelve or thirteen. Somewhere in that area.
She basically lasted until you were in college.
Yeah. I was home from college when she died.
So you didn’t have multiple dogs growing up? That was the one, basically?
That’s not true. We wound up getting a dog named Gypsy when… I must’ve been ten. So Cammie and Gypsy were our two dogs for a long time. We eventually got another one named Coaly – which I thought was a really dumb name. That’s what happens when your father gets tired of everybody arguing what the dog’s name is going to be and everybody calling the dog by a different name. One day, my dad just pounds his fist on the table and says “Enough of this! The dog’s name is Coaly.”
Coaly?
Of all the names we’d suggested, that was the dumbest.
Does your theory of reincarnation of dogs extend to humans?
I wanna be careful here. I don’t have a faith in reincarnation. I am open to the idea of reincarnation except there’s no way I’m ever doing junior high again. I’m open to the idea of it but I’m not promoting that faith. I think that A Dog’s Purpose is a really spiritual book and it tells a story of some essential truths — and one of them is real love never dies. And I do believe that. But I don’t know that I would tell anyone with a straight face that I absolutely believe that I’m coming back again. Or that I deserve to. But I’m open to it if it happens. Of course if it happens and I remember my previous life I’ll be the first person to have done that. So I’m not sure it’s gonna happen. But I’m open to it.
But you believe that the leap of faith that love never dies applies to both dogs and humans?
I do. I also believe that our real friends are always there for us if we just know where to look. And you will always have a friend in a dog. I have met many dogs, in fact, part of the inspiration for A Dog’s Purpose came because I was on a bicycle on my mountain bike in Colorado and I stopped to talk to a dog who was behind a big tall chain link fence. And there was something about the way the dog looked at me and was so happy to see me. Just y’know how sometimes dogs are so effusive. But the way this dog stared into my eyes and the way it wagged its tail and the way it stood – it was a lab mix – and I could swear I was looking and talking to my dog Cammie. It just felt like I was dealing with the soul of Cammie. And I rode away with this real profound sense that I may have just interacted with my old friend. And I have thought about that off and on for many, many years and it triggered something that eventually became A Dog’s Purpose.
You were about 20 when Cammie died. What was the best coping mechanism for dealing with the death of Cammie back then?
I think that when a dog dies you process a lot of different emotions in your grief. I felt really guilty because Cammie had been my best friend and then I had gotten occupied with high school and college and hadn’t really spent that much time playing with her. I just hadn’t had the opportunity. And so the last years of her life I didn’t see her very often. So I felt tremendously guilty, as if I’d really let my friend down. The way I probably coped best with my grief was to turn my attention to the other dogs we still had. In short order, I adopted a male Labrador named Chi. I really think that when our dogs die what is most on their mind is the hope that we get another dog. I think dogs believe that humans without dogs are lonely and emotionally bereft. So when you lose a dog that dog’s wish should be fulfilled. I think everybody should have a dog. I really do. And I think that getting a Labrador puppy in many ways is what got me beyond my guilt and grief over the loss of Cammie.
The other dogs you had obviously cushioned the blow because it wasn’t an empty house. Have you always had multiple dogs?
I had one dog named Chi. I took Chi to college with me and then when I got married I still had Chi. Chi got cancer very young at age three and died at age four. So that was a tough one. And then we went out and got a Malamute and Malamutes are completely different. This was a real good lesson, but a tough one to learn — that dog breeds are completely different. I thought a dog was a dog. Because I’d always had Labradors. And I thought that all dogs were like Labradors, who are very obedient. You got a treat in your pocket and you’re their best friend. Well it turns out that Malamutes are much less tractable. They’re very difficult to train and they’re stubborn. They’re motivated by entirely different things — one of them being the need to run and be free. And she would take off on me so often that it was just a common sight to see me in the neighborhood chasing down my Malamute. Which was hard to do cause they can run forever. When that failed, I went back to getting a Labrador.
So what attracted you to the Malamute?
A guy was selling Malamute puppies and I’m like “Oh my God! I’ve gotta have one!” I was living in Northern Michigan and it just seemed perfect to get a Malamute. And I wasn’t a great Malamute owner because – although I lived out in the country at that point – eventually I got transferred to Detroit, where I lived in a suburb and had little children. I would take the dog running — which she really loved (her name was Chinook) — but then after a while she got old and didn’t like running. But then in the very last stage of her life I moved out to Colorado and she got to live in the mountains and there was great snow in the winter. I think the final years of her life were really rewarding for her. She had a lot more freedom.
Now let’s head to the movie. It opens on January 27th. Obviously, the book was a huge blockbuster. Is there any ground that the movie covers that the book didn’t? Or vice versa?
I’d say one of the things that’s true about A Dog’s Purpose is that as a novel it represents something of a solitary experience. That to experience the story, to read the book A Dog’s Purpose, one does it on one’s own. You can talk about it with other people but nonetheless when you’re reading it it’s in your own mind, it’s in you.
When you and your family and your grandmother and your grandson goes to the movie together you’re sharing the story as it’s unfolding before you. So one of the primary differences is this movie gives an entire family the opportunity to experience A Dog’s Purpose together. That’s a hugely rewarding concept for me. As someone who wrote the story and shared it and wants everybody to know about it, it is really wonderful that an entire family would sit together in a theatre and see it.
The other thing I’d say is that the movie is probably a little funnier than the book in some ways. Certainly a lot of light moments that I think are captured very well. And there’s just something about the scope, the sweep of it, the setting. Y’know, it’s a visual medium so they’re able to paint such a beautiful picture with the palette they had available. I’m really pleased with the movie and I know everybody who loves the book will see the movie — and I will say it’s a better experience if you’ve read the book. There’s a lot going on. A movie is all about what you leave out and there are just a lot of things, the characters and back story, that’s not up there on the screen because there just wasn’t time. But it’s all in the book, so it’s helpful to read A Dog’s Purpose before you watch it.
Did you do the dog voices in the movie?
Oh no! They wanted professional actors.
Adogable Swag
