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Tawny, a promising racing greyhound, is left with his future in question when his owner drops dead of a heart attack. Two of his owner’s friends take him for a walk in the desert near where his owner dies, and he bolts off into the desert at top speed, leaving them far behind.
Most of the book consists of Tawny’s adventures surviving in the desert, learning to hunt and find water, fighting a pack of feral dogs, and mentoring a young abandoned collie, who looks up to him and adores him. The survival is good but the dog-dog hero worship is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever read, and it really made the book for me. The dog characterization is excellent - they don't speak, they're not more intelligent than a normal dog, but Kjelgaard gives them vivid personalities (Tawny is introverted and aloof, for instance) and uses omniscient narration to explain what the dogs don't know.
Some dogs die and it discusses the short lives of abandoned strays and racing greyhounds, but the two main dogs survive and are headed for a happily ever after at the end.
This is probably not Kjelgaard’s best book and I suspect that it’s uncharacteristic in the lack of time spent on the relationship between human and dog, but I enjoyed it and it made me want to read more. I have Big Red and Outlaw Red at home.
Desert Dog on Project Gutenberg
Most of the book consists of Tawny’s adventures surviving in the desert, learning to hunt and find water, fighting a pack of feral dogs, and mentoring a young abandoned collie, who looks up to him and adores him. The survival is good but the dog-dog hero worship is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever read, and it really made the book for me. The dog characterization is excellent - they don't speak, they're not more intelligent than a normal dog, but Kjelgaard gives them vivid personalities (Tawny is introverted and aloof, for instance) and uses omniscient narration to explain what the dogs don't know.
Some dogs die and it discusses the short lives of abandoned strays and racing greyhounds, but the two main dogs survive and are headed for a happily ever after at the end.
This is probably not Kjelgaard’s best book and I suspect that it’s uncharacteristic in the lack of time spent on the relationship between human and dog, but I enjoyed it and it made me want to read more. I have Big Red and Outlaw Red at home.
Desert Dog on Project Gutenberg
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