Netflix is gearing up for its 2026 holiday season with A Dog’s Perfect Christmas, a family drama starring Dennis Quaid. Based on W. Bruce Cameron’s novel of the same name, the film follows a family struggling to reconnect after a personal loss.
The movie’s first trailer introduces a grieving grandfather, his teenage granddaughter, and a basset hound who tries to bring them closer. Directed by Cathryn Michon, the film arrives on Netflix on November 4, 2026.
Check out A Dog’s Perfect Christmas trailer below:
What happens in the A Dog’s Perfect Christmas trailer?
The trailer opens with Winstead, a basset hound voiced by Thomas Haden Church, recounting how he first met Sander Goss, played by Dennis Quaid. The dog describes their early bond before explaining that the family has struggled since Sander’s wife died two Christmases ago. Sander has become grumpy, creating tension with his granddaughter, Ello, played by Brooke Lena Johnson. When he admits he has been in a bad mood, Ello fires back that he has been that way for much longer. Winstead then intervenes, pulling a tablecloth during dinner to get the two to reconnect.
Things begin to change when Ello gets a Corgi puppy named Ruby, who helps bring the family together. In another scene, Milo Ventimiglia’s character Hunter delivers difficult news about Ello’s mother, Juliana, who becomes seriously ill and is placed in an induced coma. Winstead believes the dogs can help the family through its struggles. “The dog’s purpose is to make people happy,” he says near the end of the trailer, adding that he and Ruby are good at it.
Quaid called the movie “a heartwarming film” in an interview with People. He said the story celebrates “love, togetherness, and cherishing the moments that matter most with our family and pets.” Johnson also praised her canine co-stars, noting that the puppies brought personality to the set and sometimes took scenes in unexpected directions.
A Dog’s Perfect Christmas premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
