11 of the most cringeworthy moments in Netflix's 'Dog Gone'

• Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Netflix film "Dog Gone." 
• "Dog Gone" ranked No. 1 on Netflix's top-10 movies in the US list for several days in January. 
• The feel-good film has many cringeworthy moments sprinkled throughout. 

Gonker pees on Nate — for a long time.

After Fielding sees his ex-girlfriend playing with a dog on his college campus, he decides to visit a nearby pound to rescue a dog of his own.

He gets the first pup he sees, a yellow Labrador Retriever he later names Gonker. 

Once he and his friend Nate take him to the car, Gonker has an "accident," peeing on Nate.

But what's meant to be a comical moment ends up being a drawn-out, incredibly awkward one when Gonker continues peeing on Nate's lap for 34 seconds. (Yes, we counted.) 

"Why is there so much?!" Nate says. 

John and Ginny's reactions to Gonker performing a trick are pretty awkward.

The script for "Dog Gone" probably won't win any awards thanks largely to some stilted dialogue. 

After a montage showing Fielding's parents, Ginny and John Marshall, warming to Gonker, there's a scene in which the loveable canine learns a new trick: tossing a donut up in the air and catching it in his mouth. 

It's a moment that's supposed to impress Ginny and John, but the dialogue sounds forced. 

"That was actually kind of cool!" says John. 

"Hooray!" adds Ginny. 

John singing to Gonker during a thunderstorm is pretty cringey.

When a thunderstorm strikes, Gonker hides under a bed. John discovers the canine and sympathizes. 

"You're scared of the thunder and lightning, aren't you?" he says. "Just like Fielding when he was little. You know, I used to have to sing to him to make him feel better." 

John then softly croons Glen Campbell's 1975 hit "Rhinestone Cowboy," a song choice that doesn't make sense at the moment.  

"Like a rhinestone cowboy," he sings. "Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo / Rhinestone Cowboy / Getting cards and letters from people I don't even know / And offers comin' over the phone." 

And in case you ever wondered whether Rob Lowe could sing, well, here's your answer. (Not really.) 

The vagabond's prayer with Fielding and John felt random.

After Gonker goes missing on the Appalachian Trail, the Marshall family kicks off a search for him.

During a gas station stop, a vagabond peddling a shopping cart full of religious figurines approaches Fielding and John.

After he hears about their search for Gonker, he gives Fielding and John a miniature statue of St. Anthony. 

"It's the patron saint of lost souls," the vagabond says. "He'll bring Gonker's soul back to you." 

It's a sweet moment until the man puts his hands on their shoulders and starts praying. 

"Let us pray," he continues. "St. Anthony, guide these men as they search for their beloved hound. Amen."

John awkwardly gives the man $10 — $5 for the figurine and $5 for the prayer — before they part ways.  

The media attention around the family's search didn't make a lot of sense.

When Kyle Gans, a reporter from the Virginia Sun, comes calling, Ginny is surprised and overjoyed. 

"I was struck by what you wrote," Kyle says on the phone to Ginny while eyeing a flier for Gonker. "It was deeply personal."

Kyle offers to write an article about Gonker. Later in the movie, we learn other local newspapers covered the family's search, too. 

It's a kind gesture, but given that nearly 10 million dogs and cats are stolen or lost in the US every year, it's pretty unrealistic that a publication would single one out — no matter how adorable — for a lengthy story. 

The bikers offering their sympathy ends up being really cheesy.

As the Marshalls continue their search, Fielding and John hand out flyers to people, including a group of tough-looking bikers. 

"Gonker? That's a stupid name," one biker says after reading a flyer. "I gave my dog a stupid name once. Macaroni. He was five when he got out of the yard. Never came back. I still dream about him."

"I had him off the leash, so it's my fault," explained Fielding. 

The biker pauses before offering some unsolicited advice. 

"You need to forgive yourself," he says. "I beat myself up for years on account of Macaroni. It does you no good."

He promises to make sure that every chapter in the biker's club Azrael's Knights "keeps their eyes peeled" for Gonker before riding off with his friends. 

The scene is meant to show that anyone — grizzled bikers, included! — can be avid pet lovers and share a universal commonality, but it feels excessively sentimental. 

There's a dated pop culture reference.

"Dog Gone" has several throwaway scenes, including one where John stumbles upon a small group of blissfully naive, twentysomething hippies camping along the Appalachian Trail.

When John shows them how to make a campfire with kindling, they're in awe. ("Wow. You're, like, full of Dad knowledge," says one hippie.) 

The hippies praise John and Fielding as they chat, comparing the family's search to an "epic journey." 

"Like a quest," one hippie says. 

"An epic quest!" another chimes in.  

"Or 'Vision Quest,' like the movie," John says, evoking blank stares from the group. "Matthew Modine? Madonna? Singing in a Pennsylvania Applachian bar? No?" 

There's nothing like a dated pop culture reference to illustrate an age gap. 

Ginny's mother tries to bribe her after her dog dies.

Woven into the main story is a subplot where Ginny recalls her own traumatic experiences as a child losing her dog Oji.

The Japanese Akitainu was a gift from a group of Japanese visitors. 

But while Ginny instantly adores Oji, her parents are cold to the dog from the start. In one flashback, Ginny's mother leaves Oji out in the snow while she throws a small dinner party.

Later in the film, we find out what happened to Oji: the canine got loose and was struck by a car.

Instead of sympathizing with Ginny, her mother has a talk with her. 

"Now, I told your father you would likely make a big thing about this," she explains. "Prove me wrong. Show us that you won't carry on, and you will be rewarded with a day of shopping at Josie's Boutique. 'Cause the truth is no amount of crying will bring him back. So why waste that energy, OK?" 

It's one of the cringiest moments of the film and feels almost emotionally manipulative. But if the goal was to evoke sympathy from viewers, mission accomplished. 

John's fighting words at a bar are embarrassing to witness.

When John, Fielding, and Nate take a break from their search and hit up a bar, two strangers start harassing them, itching for a fight. 

John stands between them and goes off on an awkward diatribe about how his job, which "Dog Gone" never reveals, makes him a force to be reckoned with. 

"You see, I think for a living," John says. "Anywhere there's a problem in the world, I make what is called a 'predictive assumption,' and here's my assessment of the facts right now. You've had a couple drinks, you're looking to have a fight. These two are not. So now you're thinking you're going to take a run at me."

John adds: "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take my thumb and jam it so far into your eye socket it could pop it out like a cork. So now it's your turn to think. Is it worth the risk? Because if it's not, then you better back off." 

The two strangers leave the bar in a huff, ripping one of the Marshalls' lost-dog flyers off the wall.  

"He's Dwayne Johnson in Dockers," Nate says in awe. 

Now, Lowe is many things — an accomplished actor, a global warming activist — but comparable to The Rock? That's a stretch.

Fielding and Gonker's slow-motion reunion is overly sentimental.

"Dog Gone" wraps up exactly how you think it does, with Fielding and Gonker reuniting. 

When an employee at the Evergreen Lodge calls the Marshalls to tell them Gonker is eating out of the hotel's garbage, Fielding and John race over to see for themselves. 

After shouting his name, Gonker slowly emerges from the trees. Fielding and Gonker rush to each other in slow-motion as sweeping, orchestral music plays. 

Their reunion is downright cheesy, but it's in keeping with the rest of "Dog Gone." The movie isn't original by any means, but it taps into a near-universal truth: people love their pets. 

Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

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