Is Bella Based on a Real Dog? Is She CGI? Who Voices Her?

In ‘A Dog’s Way Home,’ the audience follows the perspective of Bella, a pitbull mix, who, after getting separated from her owner, decides to embark on a journey to bridge the 400-mile distance between her and her family. Since the canine remains at the center of the narrative, she takes on the job of a narrator through a bubbly inner monologue voiceover. Consequently, on numerous occasions, whether it be Bella’s brief detours to live in the woods alongside a cougar or her misadventures through a grocery store, the dog becomes the sole protagonist driving the plot forward. Therefore, given the character’s prominence throughout the film, everything about her, from genesis to the intricacies of her off-screen portrayal, becomes a point of intrigue.

Bella’s Creator Found Some Real-Life Inspiration For Her Story

‘A Dog’s Way Home’ is based on an eponymous novel by W. Bruce Cameron, who also serves as screenwriter for the film alongside his wife, Cathryn Michon. The novel itself presents a fictional story that centers around the fascinating phenomenon of lost dogs finding their way back to their homes even after long periods of time. Over the years, there have been numerous accounts of such a thing happening to real people and their real pets. For instance, in 2024, German Shepherd-Husky mix Athena, who had been missing for weeks, returned to her Florida home all on her own on the eve of Christmas for a joyous reunion with her family, the Comers. While Athena’s story likely wasn’t the one that inspired the author to work on his 2017 novel, he was indeed influenced by a number of other such stories.

Being a well-known writer in the niche dog-centric genre, Cameron often received emails with stories about dogs, including ones that detailed their surprising return home. Thus, a deep dive into whatever scientific research and social opinion he could find on the matter was inevitable. From there, the author—notorious for other best-selling novels with dogs as protagonists, including the ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ series—naturally decided to pen a story, pitching his own theory on the matter. Through Bella’s tale, Cameron wanted to highlight the deep-seated bond between dogs and their owners, a “invisible leash of love,” using it as the force that brings Bella back to her human, Lucas. As such, even though there aren’t any direct counterparts behind the character creation of Bella, the dog’s story remains reminiscent of numerous others like hers.

Shelby and Amber: The Real Dogs Who Play Bella

For ‘A Dog’s Way Home,’ the filmmakers knew they wanted to opt to shoot with an actual dog rather than going down the CGI route. Therefore, even though the film uses computer-generated images for some other animals, notably Big Kitten, its on-screen portrayal of Bella remains free of CGI for the most part. The casting process behind this made for quite a challenge, given Bella’s pitbull-mix breed, which made it difficult to find two near-identical dogs to fulfill the filming demands. Fortunately, W. Bruce Cameron and the other filmmakers were able to find their shining star in Shelby, a rescue dog from Tennessee.

Being a rescue dog, not much was known about Shelby’s past, save for the fact that she grew up in a landfill. After learning about her from the shelter, Cameron and Cathryn Michon’s paid the dog a visit and were pleasantly charmed by her temperament and friendly nature. “I knew the second I knelt down and looked into those (Shelby’s) eyes,” Cameron told USA Today. “I just could see her willingness to join the life she would have, being with people.” As a result, once the pitbull passed the required tests to prove that she had the chops to make it as an actor, she was hired for the role. The crew was also able to find Amber, another near-identical pitbull dog, who was able to stand in as Shelby’s double. Thus, the duo teamed up, under the guidance of Head Trainer Teresa Ann Miller and her team, bringing Bella’s stirring character to life with their wide-eyed, tail-wagging excitement.

Bryce Dallas Howard Lends Her Voice to Bella’s Character

The process of hiring the voice for Bella came fairly late into the process of the film’s development. Given the nature of the project, Charles Martin Smith and his crew initially employed a stand-in actress to read the temporary lines for the inner monologue voiceover. However, it wasn’t until the post-production, after the voiceover dialogues were perfected, that the filmmakers began searching for an ideal permanent fit for the role. Following a group discussion between Smith and others who had contributed to Bella’s on-screen characterization, Bryce Dallas Howard was eventually selected for the role.

In a conversation with The Credits, Smith spoke about this and said, “She (Bryce Dallas Howard) has enough of that childlike element that works as the baby Bella, but she also has enough depth of feeling and so on to do the more serious moments for the adult Bella.” Howard, who had been a previous fan of W. Bruce Cameron’s work, especially the 2017 adaptation of ‘A Dog’s Purpose,’ came into the role with an appreciation for the emotional and adventurous journey that Bella undertakes. Ultimately, her partnership in tandem with
Shelby and Amber’s efforts perfectly embody Bella for the screen.