Step through the Fog and Creep through the Smog

"The female protagonist, the canine's adoptive protector, is still an actress (played by Kristy McNichol), though not an activist or movie star. A central character, the black animal trainer who tries to re-educate the dog, has been substantially altered. In the novel, he retrains the dog to attack whites; the trainer in the film (Paul Winfield) is a nobler figure, driven to cure the savage beast, whose racism he views not as something to be stamped out but unlearned.
"The white dog registers as a flesh-and-blood creature as well as a free-floating metaphor. And while both Gary and Fuller make the point that racism is not innate but taught, they arrive at different conclusions when pondering what it means to reverse it."

Dennis Lim in the Los Angeles Times revisits Samuel Fuller's 1982 movie White Dog, released today on DVD.