Life Is Ruff

**Life is Ruff** is a 2005 film and Disney Channel Original Movie. It was produced by Davis Entertainment and Salty Pictures, and released on Buena Vista Television. The film was written by Eddie Guzelian and released on July 15, 2005.

## Plot

At a grocery store sits a cardboard box of six free puppies, five black labs and a Labrador retriever. Children come by and the black labs are adopted are taken to a home. Only the Labrador retriever puppy is left in the box and on that raining night he escapes to the streets. A year later, that puppy is eluding animal control. Eventually he is caught and taken to the pound.

Calvin Wheeler is a popular boy at school who collects comic books in his spare time. Calvin's best friend is Raymond Figg, who prefers to be called Figg. He saved Figg's life in the second grade when Figg had an asthma attack, and Figg, very devoted, manages his schedule and occasionally does his homework. Gotham Man is the name of Calvin's favourite comic. His collection is almost complete, except for one issue that is ever-so-rare, the first one, which is worth $3,000. When a show-dog runs after Calvin while skateboarding, he finds out that when one wins a dog show, they earn major cash. The cash prize is $5,000, which Calvin needs to buy the first issue of Gotham Man.

Calvin goes to the dog rescue shelter and adopts the Labrador retriever, whom he named Tyco. A girl volunteer at the run-down animal shelter, Emily Watson, believes that this has to be another one of the crazy schemes or plans that Calvin has in mind. So she interviews Calvin and judges him a good owner for Tyco, and she says yes when Calvin asks her to the upcoming school dance, until she realizes that he's entering Tyco in a dog show. But there is someone else who wants to make sure Calvin and Tyco lose - Preston Price, a stuck-up rich boy who has won two of the past dog shows with his dog, Jacques. When Calvin and Tyco perform great at the qualifiers, Preston is jealous, so he hires people to beat Calvin up, and later to pretend that they are Tyco's real family, but when the three main characters realize that this is not Tyco's family, Figg and Calvin come up with a plan. He convinces Figg to pretend he is selling magazines and to fake an asthma attack. When this happens, Calvin runs into the basement and rescues Tyco while Figg is still acting.

Emily forgives Calvin. This is the day of the dog show, and they decide to go. Calvin's dad drives them there. They are not prepared, so they come up with a last-minute routine of Tyco pulling Calvin on his skateboard. Preston scores a 98, but is worried that Calvin will win, so Preston cheats by rigging a ramp so Calvin will lose. However, Preston is caught and disqualified. Still, Calvin and Tyco win with a 99. Using his prize money, Calvin donates to the shelter so that the dogs can have better homes. In the end, the shelter is saved and Figg, along with many other people, adopts a new pet.

## Cast and Characters

* Kyle Massey as Calvin Wheeler
* Kay Panabaker as Emily Watson
* Mitchel Musso as Raymond Figg
* Carter Jenkins as Preston Price
* Judith Moreland as Calvin's Mother
* Mark Christopher Lawrence as Calvin's Father