Buff: A Collie

A little more than a third of this book is about Buff, the titular collie dog. The other short stories mostly feature collies, a few have some other type of dog. They’re darn good stories, well-told and interesting, in spite of being old fashioned in language and stereotypes. Some racism and some exaggerated, untrue statements. Just like in the other books, the author goes on a few rants about motor cars, the evils of vivisection, and the irrationality of mad-dog scares. The dogs in his stories don’t talk or have abilities beyond their nature, but they do some incredible things sometimes- one stops to randomly herd sheep and cows that a stranger is having difficulty controlling. Dogs in other stories go on incredible journeys, help show more track down criminals, save children from falling through the ice in winter, lead the household to a person lost and injured in the woods, and perform other feats of bravery, usually showing high intelligence.

One of my favorite stories was about a poor “hillbilly” family that owned a collie mix. When the mistress fell ill and was taking a long time to recover, the doctor encouraged the husband to find something to cheer her up. Knowing she was inordinately proud of the dog, he took it into town and entered it in a dog show. He was irate and insulted when the dog was dismissed from the class for “not being a collie.” So he stormed out and bought a trophy cup from a silversmith, had it inscribed, and brought it back to the show to display to his dog and then take them home. Some reporters who came through, not knowing anything about dogs or dog shows, saw him with the silver cup, assumed he’d won it properly, and put a picture of them in the paper! I was cracking up at that one.

Another story featured a boxer who wasn’t the greatest fighter but had been taught lots of tricks to pull fake fouls on his opponents, and thus win against men he really had no chance otherwise. He obtained a collie dog, and at some point witnessed it fight against a larger, tougher, more experienced dog. He was impressed that his dog wouldn’t “play foul” – it beat the bigger dog when something turned to its advantage, but then didn’t attack and let it the other dog run off without chasing it. So now the owner determined not to let a dog be better than him, and follow its example and win his next fight fairly! To the utter dismay of his manager. In spite of all the descriptions of fighting (men and dogs), I liked this one.

Yet another story was about a kid who ran away after loosing some money he’d been entrusted with to put in the bank for his parents. He was ashamed to go back home and decided the best course of action was to find a job in the city until he’d saved up enough to replace the money. But he couldn’t get an actual job, ended up carrying luggage for people at the train station to earn tips. He slept in a crate a ways off the roadside, and was befriended by two stray dogs. Shared his meager food with them, taught them some little tricks, and took comfort in their company. He thought he could still make things work out, until his dogs were picked up by the pound. What an awful story of how this pound was managed! The boy was heartbroken to find his dogs locked up, and desperate to get them out, except he could barely save a few pennies a week. Then his father showed up . . . a good ending, with lots of forgiveness, and the dogs saved just in the nick of time.

More stories of course, but I will not write them all here so I have something to surprise myself with when years from now I read this book again. show less

I am putting it in my short list of top favorite dog books but I am going to put some caveats into my review for others to consider. It is published in 1921 so as an old book there are some elements about dogs that can be off-putting to some.

The actual title in the jacket is Buff a Collie and other Dog Stories. Buff takes up about half the book and is a grand story and classic Terhune. When I especially love is in addition to the big quest, the dog makes some random saves of people along the way. I also love the way little details are added to make an action by the dog more plausible like in this somewhat common bit that dogs do when trying to get in and save their master:

"Buff paused beneath a shut and locked window, some three feet show more from the ground. He gathered his waning strength for one more effort, and sprang upward.
Through the thin and cracked glass and the rotting sash he chose his way, alighting on the slimy concrete floor of the garage amid a shower of window particles."

Love the imagery of the dog coming to the rescue:

"Over the brow of a ridge, across the winding high road, flashed a tawny and white shape that was silhouetted for an instant on the pulsing sky-line – the shape of a large collie running as not dog but a collie or a greyhound can run. Close to earth, in his sweeping stride, Buff was coming at full speed in response the far-heard whistle."

Terhune often writes about collies, and as anyone familiar with his books, other dogs are just dogs and collies are something special. He says it in more than one place in this book, including at the start of one story, although I don’t know the second part:

A dog is only a dog. But a collie is – a collie. Says the scotch proverb:
“A collie has the brain of a man, and the ways of a woman!”

As much as the collie is portrayed as the king of dogs, unfortunately, I don't like how mongrels are often the villains. And as I have said in reviews of previous vintage books, when our hero kills or maims a ‘bad’ dog, I still mourn a dog lost. Old books like this one also mention when litters are drowned, like if the puppies are mongrels, and in one story that includes a part with a dog pound, their way of disposing of dogs is to put them in a wire cage that is lowered into a river. The book says of dog pounds:

A dog-pound is not pleasant to look upon. It is little pleasanter to think upon. It is one of the needful evils of every large town – an evil that is needful to public health and to public safety, so say the city fathers.

From that passage it goes on to say that while humans think about birth control, it is not so much done with dogs. I am glad that has changed, as well as of the rise of those to help diminish the need to euthanize dogs by rescue efforts.

The book definitely has some different types of dog stories in it. One story is about a boxer and his dog. Another is about his master going off to war, as of course why not join up?

'Then, over the smugly complacent land, rang a bugle call. Half the world was sick unto death with the Hun pestilence, and America alone could stay the hideous disease’s assault on humanity. America alone could cure a dying world. To achieve this Heaven-sent miracle, the lives of thousands of brave men were needed. An at the terrible blast of the bugle-call these men responded in the millions.
Dick Snowden was one of them'

Some may not like the melodramatic way of some old books, but I relish it. As I am reading a book, when I come across a passage I like, I put a post-it note on the place so later I can copy it out. There were a fair amount of post-it notes at the end of this book. I look for writing I really like, that won’t give too much away, and for those who have read the book, something to rekindle remembering great parts within the book. You do have to like the dramatic:

'He had failed. He had awakened with the sudden knowledge of his master’s peril. He had followed the urge of the call. And all at once he had realized that for some reason he could not hope to lead his mistress to the man who so sorely needed her aid. Perplexed, heartsick, he had crawled back; helpless to do more.'

'This dog, Robin Adair, was the joy of Eve’s heart – or he had been, when her heart still could hold joy and not merely fever and delirium.'

'Watch me do it, Jeff! Watch me do it, square!'

The last chapter in the book is Terhune talking about his actual dogs and the amazing things they do. I liked this next bit I reference, but you will need to read the book to find out what the dog brought as a gift. I imagine many with dogs have had them bring back some interesting gifts so you might enjoy imagining what it is.

'Humans had celebrated her recovery with presents, and he, watching, had imitated them. He had gone far and had toiled hard to bring her an offering that his canine mind deemed all-desirable.'

Great stories and a book I consider to be one of the best dog books by the best writer of dog books. show less

I am putting it in my short list of top favorite dog books but I am going to put some caveats into my review for others to consider. It is published in 1921 so as an old book there are some elements about dogs that can be off-putting to some.

The actual title in the jacket is Buff a Collie and other Dog Stories. Buff takes up about half the book and is a grand story and classic Terhune. When I especially love is in addition to the big quest, the dog makes some random saves of people along the way. I also love the way little details are added to make an action by the dog more plausible like in this somewhat common bit that dogs do when trying to get in and save their master:

"Buff paused beneath a shut and locked window, some three feet show more from the ground. He gathered his waning strength for one more effort, and sprang upward.
Through the thin and cracked glass and the rotting sash he chose his way, alighting on the slimy concrete floor of the garage amid a shower of window particles."

Love the imagery of the dog coming to the rescue:

"Over the brow of a ridge, across the winding high road, flashed a tawny and white shape that was silhouetted for an instant on the pulsing sky-line – the shape of a large collie running as not dog but a collie or a greyhound can run. Close to earth, in his sweeping stride, Buff was coming at full speed in response the far-heard whistle."

Terhune often writes about collies, and as anyone familiar with his books, other dogs are just dogs and collies are something special. He says it in more than one place in this book, including at the start of one story, although I don’t know the second part:

A dog is only a dog. But a collie is – a collie. Says the scotch proverb:
“A collie has the brain of a man, and the ways of a woman!”

As much as the collie is portrayed as the king of dogs, unfortunately, I don't like how mongrels are often the villains. And as I have said in reviews of previous vintage books, when our hero kills or maims a ‘bad’ dog, I still mourn a dog lost. Old books like this one also mention when litters are drowned, like if the puppies are mongrels, and in one story that includes a part with a dog pound, their way of disposing of dogs is to put them in a wire cage that is lowered into a river. The book says of dog pounds:

A dog-pound is not pleasant to look upon. It is little pleasanter to think upon. It is one of the needful evils of every large town – an evil that is needful to public health and to public safety, so say the city fathers.

From that passage it goes on to say that while humans think about birth control, it is not so much done with dogs. I am glad that has changed, as well as of the rise of those to help diminish the need to euthanize dogs by rescue efforts.

The book definitely has some different types of dog stories in it. One story is about a boxer and his dog. Another is about his master going off to war, as of course why not join up?

'Then, over the smugly complacent land, rang a bugle call. Half the world was sick unto death with the Hun pestilence, and America alone could stay the hideous disease’s assault on humanity. America alone could cure a dying world. To achieve this Heaven-sent miracle, the lives of thousands of brave men were needed. An at the terrible blast of the bugle-call these men responded in the millions.
Dick Snowden was one of them'

Some may not like the melodramatic way of some old books, but I relish it. As I am reading a book, when I come across a passage I like, I put a post-it note on the place so later I can copy it out. There were a fair amount of post-it notes at the end of this book. I look for writing I really like, that won’t give too much away, and for those who have read the book, something to rekindle remembering great parts within the book. You do have to like the dramatic:

'He had failed. He had awakened with the sudden knowledge of his master’s peril. He had followed the urge of the call. And all at once he had realized that for some reason he could not hope to lead his mistress to the man who so sorely needed her aid. Perplexed, heartsick, he had crawled back; helpless to do more.'

'This dog, Robin Adair, was the joy of Eve’s heart – or he had been, when her heart still could hold joy and not merely fever and delirium.'

'Watch me do it, Jeff! Watch me do it, square!'

The last chapter in the book is Terhune talking about his actual dogs and the amazing things they do. I liked this next bit I reference, but you will need to read the book to find out what the dog brought as a gift. I imagine many with dogs have had them bring back some interesting gifts so you might enjoy imagining what it is.

'Humans had celebrated her recovery with presents, and he, watching, had imitated them. He had gone far and had toiled hard to bring her an offering that his canine mind deemed all-desirable.'

Great stories and a book I consider to be one of the best dog books by the best writer of dog books. show less

About half of the book is about the title character, "Buff" -- his accidental breeding, his lonely puppyhood, his faithfulness to his master, and his quest for revenge against the men who abducted his master. The rest of the book is made up of single chapters (short-stories) about various other dogs (collie and non-collie). These 100+ year old stories are rich in description and imagery and praise of collies and dogs in general. There are always dog fights (to the death) in his stories, so sensitive readers might not enjoy them. There are also always harangues about reckless motor-cars , "mad dog" scares, and vivisectionists, issues which are outdated now. But they are still fun stories for ardent dog lovers. Probably not recommended show more for less than 12, unless particularly mature and advanced in reading abilities (because of the advanced vocabulary). show less

Terhune's Sunnybank books were favorites of mine from childhood and I'm having a good time revisiting them now. Written is 1921, a couple of the stories were a bit on the violent side but for the most part they were all very enjoyable, especially the title story. Recommended for anyone who likes old fashioned dog stories.

Read for LIBR 465. Historic Book Review Assignment.