Winn-Dixie is a dog in the 2005 movie “Because of Winn-Dixie.” India Opal Buloni finds the scruffy stray in a grocery store and names him after the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain.
The dog is portrayed as a Berger Picard, a rare French herding breed. Although the story often simply calls him a stray dog, the film’s production used multiple trained dogs to perform Winn-Dixie’s actions.
The movie adapts Kate DiCamillo’s 2000 Newbery Honor children’s novel. Directed by Wayne Wang, it stars AnnaSophia Robb as Opal and follows how her new companion helps her make friends and cope with her mother’s absence.
A common mix-up is confusing Winn-Dixie with a fictional breed or assuming the supermarket is his original name. Opal gives him the name after meeting him in the store, and the dog becomes the central link connecting her to the town’s residents.