Handy Of The Triple S (1949)

Handy Of The Triple S
Genevieve Torrey Eames, il. Paul Brown
1949, Julian Messner, Inc.

...there was something about that head - he groped around in his mind for the right word. Anyhow, it was something special; something the dogs around Solito didn't have. A collie judge, looking at the clean, straight line of that head, would have called it "quality,"

Sandy Ferguson is determined to prove that the family's new collie puppy will be a good ranch dog, but his father thinks the pup, from his sister's Eastern show kennel, will never be more than a pretty face. Sandy's mother, whose childhood dog was an intelligent and capable show collie, secretly sides with her son, but Sam Ferguson thinks the animal's name - Handsome - says it all.

He's a show dog and they can't take it. They aren't bred for rugged living and hard work. Your Aunt Frances has been raising show-type collies for so long she doesn't know what the old-fashioned kind looks like. Probably they don't have 'em in the East anymore.


Handy is treated kindly by Sam, befriended by Sandy and quite frankly adored by little sister Susie. It's while caring for Susie that Handy first shows signs of having more than just looks. The toddler slips out of the fenced yard and vanishes; when she reappears, it's with Handy patiently leading the way.

Handy paid no attention to Susie until he had put about fifteen feet between himself and the child. Then he sat down and waited for her. Again she almost caught up with him and again he moved on, keeping always just out of reach.

Sandy is heartbroken when Handy himself disappears, snatched by a Basque shepherd on his way to the summer grazing. When Sandy next meets his dog, Handy is thrilled - but has a new, adult responsibility. It's up to Sandy and his pal Frank to find a way to get the proud young herding dog away from his flock and back to the Triple S.

Animals - dogs
Handsome aka Handy - sable and white male Rough Collie
Ben - mixed breed ranch dog (deceased)
Rico - black mix herding dog


Animals - equines
Charlie - elderly retired horse
Trail Breaker - Quarter Horse stallion
Blazes - roping horse
Jennie - female burro (aka donkey)

Other books (horses)
Pat Rides The Trail 1946 il. Dan Noonan
A Horse To Remember 1947 il. Paul Brown
Ghost Town Cowboy 1951 il. Paul Brown
The Good Luck Colt 1953 il. Paul Brown
Flying Roundup 1957 il. Lorence F. Bjorklund