Lad, A Dog

Lad, A Dog

Lad: A Dog is a 1919 American novel written by Albert Payson Terhune. It is based on the life of Lad, a Rough Collie of unknown lineage. The novel became a best seller in the adult fiction and children’s fiction markets. Warner Brothers released a film adaptation in June 1962. The sequel, The Last Dragon, was released in 1998.

About Lad, A Dog in brief

Summary Lad, A DogLad: A Dog is a 1919 American novel written by Albert Payson Terhune. It is based on the life of Lad, a Rough Collie of unknown lineage. The novel became a best seller in the adult fiction and children’s fiction markets. It has been reprinted over 70 times by Dutton and republished by a variety of publishers since its original release. Warner Brothers released a film adaptation in June 1962. A series of four children’s picture books based on three of the stories from the novel were published by Margo Lundell between 1997 and 1998. In retrospective reviews, critics considered that the novel had aged badly and that Ter hune displayed little actual writing skill, but noted that it was able to hold long-lasting appeal as it triggered the reader’s desire to have such an ideal dog. It was published by E. P. Dutton, a division of Dutton Publishing Company, which also published Lad’s son, Wolf, as well as many other fictional stories featuring dogs. The book has been translated into at least six international languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. The film adaptation of the novel was released by Warner Brothers on June 22, 1962, and was directed by Robert Redford, who also directed the film version of The Godfather: Part II, which was released the following year. The movie version of the book was released on June 23, 1963, and has been adapted into a number of other films and TV shows, including The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hobbit, The Descendants, and The Great and Powerful, among other things.

The sequel, The Last Dragon, was released in 1998 and is about the adventures of Lad and his friend, the dog-human named Wolf, who live at the same house as Lad. The story was written as a collection of twelve short stories first published in Red Book Magazine in 1915. The stories gained in popularity and, as Terhunes was under contractual obligation to submit something to Doubleday-Page, he collected them into novel form. Lad’s death in 1918 was mourned by many of the story’s fans, particularly children. Through the stories of Lad’s adventures, TerhUNE expresses his views on parenting, obtaining perfect obedience without force and the nature and rights of the “well-bred”. In the stories, Lad saves the baby from a copperhead, but after two puppies die, all of the humans lavishes attention on the surviving puppies. Lad saves a snake from a trap, but the snake’s mother only sees Lad throw her backwards and begins beating him to protect her friend. One night a thief breaks into the house, hoping to take advantage of the absence of the dogs. After he climbs through a window, Lad silently attacks him. During the ensuing fight Lad is cut with a knife before sending the man crashing back through the window. After Lad’s wound is treated, he enjoys praise from the Mistress, then travels some distance from home to enjoy a lengthy session of barking.