This could be a little known Australian or NZ TV film (I saw it on NZ TV in the 80s). I vaguely recall that a big part of the story was the boy's relationship with his dog (a fluffy dog if I remember right), and how he and his dog tackled the local bully together (who seemed to have it in for the kid).
A main plot was a girl that he liked whom he ended up kissing in a garden gazebo of some kind on a moonlit evening. I remember this part especially because it was so unusual for most films like this. Normally there's just a nervous embarassed kiss and the kids go on playing a bit with some awkwardness, but in this film they really got all romantic and meditatively lost in each other's eyes to the point it was deeply uncomfortable for me to watch it (as a boy of 10 or so).
Any ideas?
