Sing along, folks. This only the best movie ever made about a dog in the Old West:
Actually, it may be the only movie about a dog in the Old West.
The book is really good. In fact, after reading the book, I was surprised how much of the plot stayed true to the text– even down to the dialog.
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The best children’s book about a dog is Big Red.
The movie isn’t that great, and no one has uploaded it onto youtube.
I like the book. The sequels are okay, and Jim Kjelgaard wrote dozens of books about dogs for adolescent boys.
But there is only one Big Red.
Miley liked Old Yeller so much that she even sang a song about him:
“it may be the only movie about a dog in the Old West.”
There’s Savage Sam, the sequel to Ole Yeller which really isn’t that bad for a sequel.
As far as kids books about dogs, I have to put my vote in for Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune.
http://books.google.com/books?id=TSoFAQAAIAAJ&dq=lad+a+dog+terhune&source=gbs_navlinks_s
there’s also the “101 problems of Hercules” which is about a LGD, and OES and a third dog being left in charge of a flock of sheep when their master falls ill. It’s a Disney, and can sometimes be found on video in conjunction with “run Appaloosa run” — famous in herding dog circles for the absolutely stunning work done by the Aussie handling the rodeo bull. The dog’s owner, Sisler, was a rodeo clown (along with having a dog/animal act) and the footage is probably NOT staged. Stub: The Greatest Cowdog in the West, is another Disney film featuring Aussies, but it’s pretty hard to find.
Peggy Richter.
Peggy, if you like mixed breed livestock guarding dogs, there is “Big Mutt” – who I pictured as “whatever you own crossed with a Great Dane” but I don’t remember how he was described in the book except as “Bit Mutt”.
It takes place on a sheep ranch – if I remember right – in Montana. I don’t remember the details of the story, but I do remember that I liked it, and while I have forgotten so many dog books, I remember bits of that one.
The Big Mutt by John Reese was part GSD, part Great Dane, and part Irish Wolfhound (as I recall). (I have the book, but I’m at work so I can’t confirm that right this minute.) He was dumped in a desolate area of Montana by “summer people” and turned sheep-killer to save himself. It’s a pretty good yarn.
Speaking of good dogs accused of killing sheep reminds me of yet another classic dog story: Bob, Son of Battle.
There’s an old Wonderful Word of Disney movie about a sheepdog on the Navajo reservation who, if memory serves, gets separated from the master and continues to move the sheep to their destination without him. I have been trying to find that one for years, since you seem to know so much about Disney dog movies, do you know the name of that one Peggy?
not sure it isn’t a variant of the 101 problems of Hercules. I’ll ask around. I know about the 101 problems film because if you watch carefully, the OES actually IS doing some of the herding. It’s one of the few videos of a working herding dog other than an aussie or a BC. A lot of written “information” about how herding dogs worked in the past are “just so” stories or clearly misunderstood relations of what some herdsman told the writer. This includes some of what Von Stephantiz has and certainly includes a great deal of what’s passed on as “fact” regarding tending styles, how Bouviers worked (Engels) and a virtually complete overlook in archeological and anthropological work. It infuriated me a few years ago when National Geographic had an article about a herding peoples in India. You’d never know these people used dogs other than one vague (dog partly in the photo) photo and ONE sentence saying “they use dogs”. NOTHING about how these dogs worked or the relationship of the dogs to people. There’s a dearth of old videos other than for BCs (there’s some of early ISDS trials or BCs “just working”) – partially because many European videos were destroyed during WWI & WWII, but also because only the BCs seem to have been of interest. For example, there’s a 1926 film of “clever dogs” showing a trial — shows that the trial was run on more than 3-5 head. Note also that there are TWO sheds in the run. http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=24638
There’s an 1934 Australian film is of a kelpie “Blue Maid” running in the “Australian course” trial but the oldest HGH tape I’ve seen was made in 1959.
Anyone knows of any old videos of working herding dogs, let me know.
Peggy Richter.
I ws told years ago that the movie “How Green Was My Valley” had a scene with a golden retriever herding sheep. I haven’t been able to find it in video (movie made in the 1940s, I think). Maybe the dog was a golden-sable working collie, but the viewer was familiar with goldens and should have known.
The Fred Gipson books(by the same names–“Old Yeller” and “Savage Sam”) that they based the movies on are even better! And how I love Jim Kjelgaard, let me count the ways! I still reread those books even now! I have gathered quite a collection of them over the years….. When I was in elemetary school, his books were some of the hottest competed for in the school library! There IS a Disney movie about an Aussie left to guard a campsite with livestock–I think it is titled “something-something-fastest dog in the West”, or something like that–check Amazon under Disney dog movies–I’ve seen it there before, so it is available.
I saw Old Yeller in the theater when it was first run. (yes we had moving pictures IN COLOR back in them days.) This was after Ma and I had read the book. Even though I knew the ending, I cried right along with all the rest of the little kids.
Love all the Jim Kjelgaard books, but Fred Gipson’s books are much more realistic and true-to-nature. Another great dog story series is by Zachary Ball (Bristle Face). And don’t forget the really “Old West” dog stories: those by Thomas C. Hinkle.
But. There are no finer, more heart-wrenchingly realistic dog stories, for children, adults, or anyone in between, than those by Helen Griffiths. Among them are The Greyhound & Leon, two of the best books ever written about dogs. She has several other books about dogs, & also some about horses & cats, that are very good, too, but those two… I make it a point to reread both of them several times a year (along with Old Yelle and another extremely well-written dog story, Bel Ria by Sheila Burnford)