During Ingemar’s stay, he bonds with Gunnar over Povel Ramel's recording of "Far, jag kan inte få upp min kokosnöt".

Throughout the film, Ingemar tells himself over and over that it could have been worse, reciting several examples, such as a man who took a shortcut onto the field during a track meet and was killed by a javelin and the story of the dog Laika several times, the first creature sent into orbit by the Russians (without any way to get her back down).

The film ends with the radio broadcast of a famous heavyweight championship boxing match, between Swede Ingemar Johansson and American Floyd Patterson.

When Johansson wins, the whole town erupts with joy, but the now-reconciled Ingemar and Saga are fast asleep together on a couch, holding each other.

[6] It became a critical and commercial success with American audiences, a rare feat for a subtitled foreign language film at the time.

[7][8] The international success of the film launched director Lasse Hallström's Hollywood career, as he would go on to direct What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and The Cider House Rules in the following years.

The site’s critical consensus reads, "A coming-of-age story with uncommon depth and sensitivity, My Life as a Dog is sweet, sincere, and utterly charming.

"[9] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post called the movie a "well-constructed crowd-pleaser"[10] and Molly Haskell of Vogue wrote, "This is a coming-of-age film in the fullest sense of the term: we watch Ingemar grow up before our eyes, and turn into a human being who can live with the harsh memories as well as the more lyrical ones.

"[11] Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave a more mixed review, but also said the movie "(in its funnier moments)…recalls the gravity with which Francois Truffaut remembered childhood.

"[12] In New York, David Denby wrote the scenes of Ingemar's mother expertly blend "intimacy with pain" and recall the work of Ingmar Bergman.

In 2009, a sequel was again said to be in the making, with a production start date in 2010, Daniel Fridell as director, and a different actor portraying a teenaged Ingemar, but these plans also did not materialize.