The Book of Life Inspired Dog Names

Two well-known dogs appear in pop culture, sharing the names of two prominent characters in The Book of Life. However, they are notable for reasons other than starring on TV. You would have seen these two dogs, Sasha and Ana, at some point or another on TV, but not for playing a role in a film. They are dogs that served their country and both share decent, genuine and caring traits with Sasha and Ana from The Book of Life.

Sasha was a Labrador Retriever, born in 2004, that served as a bomb detection dog with the British Army. She worked in Afghanistan with her handler, Lance Corporal Kenneth Row. Both Kenneth and Sasha died in action in 2008. Sasha received the Dickins Medal, which is the animal version of the Victoria Cross, for her service.

Sasha first started by working with Marianne Hay as a bomb detection search dog, but Marianna gave her up as the pair formed too close of a bond to work safely together. Kenneth received Sasha, and she worked with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in the region of Kandahar. Sasha and Kenneth then died during an ambush. Sasha received a bullet wound from a sniper but returned to Kenneth, only for Taliban forces to track both Sasha and Kenneth, killing them with rocket-propelled grenades.  

Once you’ve wiped the tears from your eyes, you can read about the character that shares the same genuine nature in The Book of Life. Sasha is a supporting character that appears among a group of children at the Museum to hear the story of Mexico.

She is blonde, seven years old, and has green eyes. She is also well-behaved and appears to be the only child intrigued and interested to learn and be at the museum. Out of all the children in the group, she is the only one to be referred to by name. She also only ends up in detention for taking the blame for something one of her friends did instead of her.

Ana also appears in The Book of Life and the real world as a dog. Ana was the very first first-responder dog at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. She was born in 1995 and died in 2008. Ana was a Golden Retriever trained in search and rescue. She was also the first graduate of the Search Dog Foundation training program.

She was originally born to a backyard breeder and was destined for life as an assistance dog. However, she had too much energy. The Assistance Dog Institute executive director thought she might make an excellent search and rescue dog, and she began training shortly after.

Aside from 9/11, Ana also helped in collapsed building tragedies in Sacramento, Hurricane Katrina, and several other call outs with the Sacramento Fire Department.

Ana also appears as a saving grace as Sister Ana in The Book of Life. She’s a minor character who emerges with three other nuns and Father Domingo. She first stands out in the movie during the Day of the Deaths, where she and other sisters pray for someone they lost.