The Dogwalker (2002)

Written and directed by Jacques Thelemaque, The Dogwalker follows the lives of two very different women who find themselves in equally dire positions. When Ellie (Diane Gaidry) finally leaves her violent boyfriend, she takes the first flight out of her home in Buffalo, New York, and ends up in Los Angeles, where she's promptly robbed of all her possessions and reduced to living on the streets. After a failed attempt at prostitution, Ellie wakes up in a public park and meets Betsy (Pamela Gordon), an older, professional dogwalker with a rather abrupt personality. Eventually, Ellie learns that Betsy is dying of cancer, and ends up helping the older woman's failing business in exchange for temporary shelter. Fragile Ellie and gruff Betsy turn out to have one thing in common--both have left abusive relationships. Betsy's final days unfortunately mark the return of Ellie's former boyfriend, and Ellie is forced to use the disciplinary strength she has had to learn as a dogwalker and newly independent woman.