On the way home from animal control they see a store getting broke into and when the police show up they see Andi and Bruce and immediately suspect them. The kids frightened take off and wind up in an old condemned hotel. Friday enters first and takes off. The kids search the hotel for Friday and that is when they find two other stray dogs. Both are friendly K9s, but it looks as if this is their home. The dogs take off to the upstairs and enter a room where they all sleep on the bed. The kids decide to leave Friday there for the night. When returning the next morning they begin to contemplate on what needs to be done. These dogs need to be fed and need to have exercise. Andi leaves Bruce at the hotel to wait while she goes to the local pet shop to pick up food. Not having any money Andi takes on a new task. Andi lies to Dave (Johnny Simmons), a pet store employee about how her family is fostering pets and always taking in strays. Dave then introduces Andi to several stray dogs they have been taking care of at the shop and he asks her to take them home with her, unaware of Andi’s real situation. Dave is willing to pay for dog food if she can offer a place for them to stay and Andi cannot refuse the offer; otherwise the dogs will not be eating.

hotel_for_dogs_1-18-08-3814-largeAndi takes Dave to the hotel and invite the new residents in. After setting up these strays Andi and Bruce get some help from new friends, Heather (Kyla Pratt) another pet store employee and Mark (Troy Gentile) a neighbor to the hotel. These kids decide it will be their mission to save the strays and that none will be turned away. They stay one step ahead of animal control with a radio that interferes with their every call and they pick up every stray dog before Animal Control confiscates it. After cleaning the hotel up we see the true potential of this old gem. With Bruce’s ingenious ideas they create a simulating car ride with fans and a projection screen, a timed feeding mechanism for all the dogs, a poop station and even a fire hydrant shower station where the dogs can relieve them self and everything is self cleaning. Andi and Bruce are happy with their non human family, but can they continue on with this big secret?

"Hotel for Dogs" as impractical as it is there is a message from the film. Even though my opinion is a biased one as I believe in adoption and am a foster parent to animals I believe the message is hope. Hope that people will consider adoption from a local shelter, hope that people will spay and neuter their pets and finally hope that someday the 15 million animals in local shelters will find homes and we can see a decrease in that number. Children from ages 5 to 12 will love this live action film. There is plenty of comical material and animal action to keep them entertained. All performances offered by the young actors Emma Roberts, Jake Austin, Johnny Simmons, Kyla Pratt and Troy Gentile were marvelous. The adults in the film Don Cheadle, Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillion also offered equally amusing performances. But the dogs will still the show in this one. Not only will you get a fun family film to see this weekend you will also be helping an animal at your local shelter. Pedigree a proud sponsor for "Hotel for Dogs" is making a donation for every ticket purchased to help shelter dogs. For more information on Pedigree donations visit Pedigree Help Dogs. Not only will you get an enjoyable family night for your ticket price, but you will also be helping a pet at your local shelter. "Hotel for Dogs" gets 4 paws way up!

Review By: Jolene Mendez