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

Going On Sixteen
Betty Cavanna, il. unknown
19__, The Westminster Press

Julie's an awkward, shy 13-year-old agonizing over her unpopularity when she's given three orphaned collie puppies to raise. Her father, long widowed, is a gruff farmer but the puppies are all the comfort a motherless girl could want after a hard day in the freshman class. As Julie sorts out her social problems, the puppies grow to leggy adolescence and are reclaimed by their owner, a famous breeder who'd left them with the farmer to grow up. But by now, Julie loves one of the puppies, Sonny - and as the breeder and his show handler will find out, Sonny loves her.

Deliriously he flung himself on Julie - barking, writhing, panting. She stumbled back from the force with which he hurled himself against her. He was a vibrant mass of ectasy, trying to lick her face, moaning and sobbing with joy.

and the comment by the breeder's kennel man:

I've seen 'em like that. All fire and flame for one person. For the rest, nothing.

There is the continuing story of Julie's struggle with self-consciousness and making friends, which is worthy in its own right, but the heart of the story is right there.

Nice if simple drawings for illustrations - can't find the illustrator.

Setting
suburban Philadelphia

Themes
Show dog
Shy girl

Other Books by Author
Puppy Stakes
The Black Spaniel Mystery

About the Author
1909–2001
Also wrote as Betsy Allen and Elizabeth Headley


Other Editions

Lad, A Dog
Albert Payson Terhune
1919, E.P. Dutton

Lad was an eighty-pound collie, thoroughbred in spirit as well as blood. He had the benign dignity that was a heritage from endless generations of high-strain ancestors. He had, too, the gay courage of a d'Artagnan, and an uncanny wisdom. Also - who could doubt it, after a look into his mournful brown eyes - he had a Soul.

Having thrilled to that typical Terhune introduction, I have to plunge into the negatives first. This book - this whole series - is old. Very old. By today's standards, the Master is abusive to his adored dogs. He uses a 'dog whip' on Lady and Lad in the first chapter. He's also abusive toward other people. He lets Lad, slumped miserably on guard at the Mistress's sick bed, snarl at the nurse every time she passes. He relentlessly lectures anyone who objects to being constantly supervised by an 80lb dog with a mild case of resentment toward outsiders that Lad is a perfect gentleman. He seems to see no contradiction in this view of the dog, and his many tales of Lad trying to kill people - not just bite, but actually rip their throats out.

In one of the many jolly recollections of Lad's defense of The Place, the collie, having bitten and driven off a would-be burglar, pursues the man. As the Master arrives on the scene:

On the ground below, stunned by striking against a stone jardiniere in his fall, the burglar sprawled senseless upon his back. Above him was Lad, his searching teeth at last having found their coveted throat-hold. Steadily, the great dog was grinding his way through toward the jugular.

These 'boy's own adventure' meets Hemingway action scenes are thrilling. I saw nothing wrong with them as a child. As an adult, I'm forced to admit that Terhune was a jerk, and his dogs were scary.

Now for the good. Terhune's ruthless description of breeding trends, voiced by a show-ring expert in "For A Bit Of Ribbon," rings true:

"The up-to-date collie - this year's style, at least - is bred with a borzoi (wolfhound) head and with graceful, small bones. What's the use of his having brain and scenting power? He's used for exhibition or kept as a pet nowadays - not to herd sheep. Long nose, narrow head.."

Lad's Lassie Come Home-style travails lost in New York City are wildly over the top (though they seemed absolutely real and perfectly acceptable when I was a child who just loved to read dog books) but the chapter "Lost!" contains a passionate cry of compassion at the plight of a lost dog.

A dog, at some turn in the street, misses his master - doubles back to where the human demigod was last seen - darts ahead once more to find him, through the press of other human folk - halts, hesitates, begins the same maneuvers all over again; then stands, shaking in panic at his utter aloneness.

But it is in "The Gold Hat" that Terhune presents a scene that encapsulates the unique bond between dogs and humans. The Mistress is trying to get Lad to go through an intricate set of maneuvers generally known only to trained sheepdogs. The willing collie, utterly puzzled, does his best to obey her.

Her pointing hand waved him ahead and, as before, he follower its guidance. Walking heavily, his brain more and more befogged, Lad obeyed... Head and tail down, he went. But, as he passed the third of those silly posts, she recalled him. Gleeful to know he was no longer in disgrace, he galloped toward the Mistress; only to be halted again...Utterly bewildered at his usually moodless Mistress' crazy mood and spurred by the sharp reprimand in her voice, Lad moved away at a crestfallen walk. Four times he stopped and looked back at her, in piteous appeal, asking forgiveness of the unknown fault for which she was ordering him away; but always he was met by the same fierce "Go on!"

What other animal has both the intelligence and the patience to attempt the incomprehensible with us? Lad, of course, completes the course and wins the day.

Editions
Anniversary edition illustrated by Sam Savitt (pictured)

Dogs and other animals
Lad - sable and white Rough Collie
Lady - gold and white Rough Collie
Wolf - gold and white Rough Collie
Knave - red/gold Rough Collie with black 'saddle'
Ch. Coldstream Guard - gold and white Rough Collie
Melisande - Prussian Sheep Dog (maybe)
Ch. Lochnivar III - blue merle Rough Collie
Mac - gold and white Rough Collie
Rex - mixed breed of Rough Collie and bull terrier
Peter Grimm - cat
Tipperary - gray Persian cat
Tenebris - Holstein bull

Other Books by Author
Lad, A Dog
Lad Of Sunnybank
Wolf
Further Adventures of Lad
My Friend The Dog
Buff, A Collie
The Critter - And Other Dogs
A Dog Named Chips
A Highland Collie
Gray Dawn
Lochinvar Luck
Treve
The Way Of A Dog
Dog Of The High Sierras
Collie To The Rescue

Other editions:
Paperback, Signet