Shelby, the dog who plays Bella, the dog starring in "A Dog's Way Home," was herself a stray at one point. It took a nationwide casting search to find her and they finally found their star in a shelter in Tennessee. The shelter made sure this rescue was legit. Another rescue dog plays Shelby's stand-in. The production also rescued Amber, Shelby's stand-in, from another facility, in South Carolina. At the time of filming, Amber was about two-and-a-half. "Amber definitely has specialties, which is what you want in a team," says Miller. "She loves to do fast things, like digging in the sand much more quickly. Shelby's a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more casual and natural for what we do." Bryce Dallas Howard (who voices Bella) and Shelby hit it off right away. Shelby now lives with her trainer and is a therapy dog ***Shelby now has a forever home with Miller in California.*** "Our company, Paws for Effect, work closely with autistic children and children's hospitals, providing therapy dogs," Miller says. "Shelby has the ideal personality for it. She's perfect!" The movie received an "Outstanding" grade from Humane Hollywood.