Thank you all for reading the stories of America’s dogs and writing to me about many of the subjects covered this summer. Some of my favorite stories were Sinbad (and thanks to Mike Walling for the additional information), Rick Karl at the Hollywood Dog Training School, Toto, the story from the Doberman Foundation, and yesterday’s story about Willy Necker’s Dalmatians.
I also leave you knowing that I have a “to do” list. I have yet to learn more about Bullet, Roy Rogers’ dog. With a little more time, I ought to be able to track down a Roy Rogers biographer who will be able to tell us more; I will look into Frank Lloyd Wright. I have heard from one reader that he at a dog at one point, so I’ll see if he was a real “dog person” or not and get back to you.
In addition, I am putting together a Presidential Pets eBook and will let you know when it’s available. It will include the dogs of the White House but also stories like the one about the Coolidges’ pet raccoon that lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
As just a taste of “dogs to come” for 2013 let me tell you about a book I found this summer in an antique store in Pueblo, Colorado, the town where I grew up. The book is called “Real Tales of Real Dogs” by Albert Payson Terhune (1872-1942). Some of you may know who he is, though I did not. It turns out that Terhune was a dog breeder and prolific writer of true dog stories. His kennel was Sunnybank Kennels, located in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, and the kennel specialized in collies. Next summer we’ll take a look at Sunnybank and also report on some of the dog stories published by Terhune.
Thank you for visiting America Comes Alive, and I hope you’ll return again to read the stories next summer.
If you come across stories—or have questions—please let me know.
All best,
Kate