first of all and i will compare it to old yeller which some people seem to think it be similar to . yeah and it similar in that the main character and the dog be best friend and do stuff together and that the end be not a happy one . yeah and yeah and big deal . old yeller be set in the pioneer day . the dog end up have to be shoot after contract rabies because . even when i be a kid and i have no problem with that because i know that rabies just wasn not treatable in those day . in little hero and the dog die from eat poison bait . be that really necessary . why do not they keep the dog inside when they couldn not keep an eye on him . ( do the family not know about the bait and or be the filmmaker just too dang lazy . ) talk about prey on anyone bad fear . and it in relatively modern time . old yeller die after protect his family . old dan in where the red fern grows die in a hunting accident . furthermore and those movie be base on book that weren not aim directly at kid . there be absolutely no reason why this movie have to end this way . if you want to show your kid a movie concern animal friend and move on and try old yeller or red fern grows which both at least have a setting in which the tragic end be contextually inevitable and not totally pointless . score represent 1 because it the low score i can give .