Content Warning: A Dog’s Purpose depicts animal death and both implies and depicts animal abuse and animals in peril—but not in graphic detail.

Toby is a puppy who lives in a den under a tree. At first, Toby and his siblings, Fast, Hungry, and Sister, stay close to their den, but they soon begin wandering while their mother hunts. Mother first brings food to the puppies but soon teaches them to hunt for themselves. Toby’s first attempt to hunt is for a frog, but Fast and Sister interfere, and the frog is lost.

When a man comes too close to their den one day, Mother’s reaction teaches the puppies fear. Yet, Toby has observed in the yards near their den that some dogs allow humans to take care of them. Mother also cautions the puppies against motor vehicles, but Toby finds them fascinating and wants to be a front-seat dog someday.

A day comes when Hungry is sick. On the same day, some men come and trap the puppies and Mother inside a culvert. The men capture Mother, Fast, and Toby, but Sister escapes. When the men take Toby to a waiting truck, a woman offers him affection.