Does the dog die in Good Boy? We know you want the answer

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Good Boy spoilers follow.

After the first trailer for Good Boy was released, Google searches for “does the dog die in Good Boy” increased by 2000%. While it’s easy to see a big jump in searches for something no one was looking for before, it clearly shows people were very concerned about what would happen to Indy, the dog at the center of the story.

Some movie fans might find this a dealbreaker – they’re okay with fictional people dying in films, but not animals. Now that Good Boy is showing in US theaters (and will be released on October 10th in the UK), we can reveal the answer if you don’t mind spoilers.

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Glad you’re still reading! We’ve got good news: the dog, Indy, survives in Good Boy. He’s alive when the movie ends, though he’s definitely not left completely unaffected – especially not emotionally.

The movie avoids the worst possible outcome – killing off Indy – but he still endures a great deal in Good Boy. There’s a moment where Indy gets so frightened that he accidentally wets himself, and throughout the film, he’s mistreated by both his owner and evil characters.

It’s also important to remember that although Indy survives, there’s a ghostly dog in the film who *did* pass away, but before the story begins. We do see the dog’s body, even though the movie doesn’t show how he died.

The character Indy is actually played by director Ben Leonberg’s own dog, so rest assured, no animals were harmed during filming, though the character goes through some difficult moments. “The scenes meant to be ‘scary’ were surprisingly the most enjoyable for Indy, and also the most satisfying for me creatively,” Leonberg shared with Bloody Disgusting in an email interview.

What appears to be frightened barking or intense fear on screen is actually Indy focusing on a tasty treat or a tennis ball held just out of view – something he really wanted, and received immediately after we finished filming. Because of the cleverness of filmmaking and the way different shots are combined (known as the Kuleshov Effect), viewers tend to interpret those adorable puppy-dog eyes as expressing their own feelings.

Leonberg also understood that viewers would be so caught up in what happened to Indy that they might ruin the movie for themselves by finding out the details beforehand – perhaps even by reading articles like this one.

He continued, saying that in films, it’s common to see thousands of people die – even characters we love, or even children – without much reaction from viewers. However, harm a single strand of a dog’s fur and people will be outraged!

Good Boy is out now in US cinemas and is released in UK cinemas on 10 October.

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2025-10-03 14:19