Dog was a Rough Collie, trained by Robert "Bob" Weatherwax, who owned and trained all of the Collies that played Lassie. Two Rough Collies were used in Big Jake, and their coats were dyed to make them appear black. Throughout the film, you can see varying degrees of the black dye on their coats.
Quoted from Lassieweb.org: "Many movie information sites and books list "Lassie" in the cast of the classic John Wayne Western Hondo. Close, but not true, according to a correspondent who knows the Weatherwax family: the collies in Hondo and the later Wayne Western Big Jake were trained by the Weatherwax kennels and were Lassie siblings and children, but were not played by Lassie himself."
"In 1971 a rough collie starred in the John Wayne movie "Big Jake". The collies playing a dog named "Dawg" were actually 2 Weatherwax collies named Silver and Laddie. Their coats had been dyed for the part."
[–] drk1996 15 years ago
Dog was a BAD as The Duke!!! That is what a man wants in a dog!!!
That is what we need now: A tough man and tough dog handling a tough assignment.
Long Life John Wayne!!!
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[–] dadoo4050 15 years ago
I believe this Dog was trained by Weatherwax, the owner and trainer of Lassie. In fact, like the dog in "Hondo," he may have been of the Lassie family line. I'll see if I can find some confirmation.
"uva uvam vivendo varia fit"
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[–] dadoo4050 15 years ago
From a "Lassie" website:
Many movie information sites and books list "Lassie" in the cast of the classic John Wayne Western "Hondo." Close, but not true, according to a correspondent who knows the Weatherwax family: the collies in "Hondo" and the later Wayne Western "Big Jake" were trained by the Weatherwax kennels and were Lassie siblings and children, but were not played by Lassie himself. There is a story, very probably apocryphal, that says during the filming of "Hondo" Wayne won Lassie away from Rudd Weatherwax in a very "highly lubricated" after-shooting-hours poker game, then "gave the dog back" in the morning.
Source: //www.lassieweb.org/lassfact.htm
"uva uvam vivendo varia fit"
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[–] drk1996 15 years ago
That would make sense that "Dog" was a Lassie off-spring. It is very obvious to me that whomever owned and trained "Dog," they did an excellent job in doing it.
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[–] holdencopywriting 15 years ago
I was just watching Big Jake again on DVD. Dog is usually described as a black collie. But tonight I noticed that he only appears to be black during certain parts of the film, including the early scene with the sheepherder and the boy. In later parts of the film (see the part just after Christopher Mitchum has played dead and Wayne has slugged Mitchum), Dog appears to have a bright brown coat with a swatch of blue or blue merle around his neck and into his ruff.
I've seen blue merle collies before, but never this bi-color type.
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[–] chocolatepiazza 14 years ago
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[–] buyorsell888 14 years ago
They dyed the dogs, probably to disguise their almost perfect resemblance to Lassie.
You can tell the white areas of the ruff and on their faces are dyed brown in several scenes in both movies.
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[–] thundercloud47 10 years ago
Yeah I saw the color changes on the dogs too. That was because Weatherwax did not like his dogs getting too overworked. If he thought one dog was tired he'd send in another.
My wife and I are watching this film now on AMC. I hate the part where "Dog" gets killed even though I know it's only a movie and that "Dog" probably lived a good long life afterward.
There is an IMDB site for animal actors. I saw it a long time ago but I'm going to have to offer an apology here for I have forgotten the name of the site. If i recall correctly it was not the same quality as IMDB but still it was a site for animal actors. If I find that site again I'll try to remember to come back here and add the link to it.
Dog in some ways,is my idea of the perfect dog. It knows what it's human wants it to do sometimes even without a command. Intelligent and always alert.
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[–] kyhomer 14 years ago
I always just kinda assumed the color changes in Dog was because of him being a dog that never got anything like a washing unless he was just caught out in the rain or something. With a dog's natural inclination to roll around in every stinky thing they can find, the color changes didn't surprise me a bit.
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[–] kinara94-128-405265 8 years ago
We just watched and I noticed that too, thought I was seeing things. He starts off black, then for the most part is reddish with some dirty white around the neck, except a couple of scenes where he is black again.
So were there 2 dogs trained for the movie?--and why weren't they both acknowledged?
Kathy ...dog mom
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[–] shalmayan-1 15 years ago
Hey!
Thanks for replying to my post, Everyone.
Special thanks to dadoo4050 for the information...
Actors like--Dog, John Wayne, Trigger...now THAT'S what makes for a great movie... ;)
Be well...
Shal...
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[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 15 years ago
I find it refreshing to see the relationship between a man and his dog so well portrayed in "Hondo" and "Big Jake". Dogs and humans have forged a partnership that has endured to the profit of both species for several millenia, and to see it portrayed in a non-child oriented setting is both entertaining and realistic. Cats, however, are another story... ;-)
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[–] bullit2513 15 years ago
It's always bothered me though that in both Hondo with Sam and Big Jake with Dog, both are killed. Their death scenes are often as surprising and moving as any actors death.
"Congratulations, Major. It appears that at last you have found yourself a real war." Ben Tyreen
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[–] HillW2 14 years ago
"Their death scenes are often as ... moving as any actors death."
Bullit is 100% accurate: I saw Big Jake at the theater when I a kid. As I remember it, there was no noticable audience reaction when Sam the Indian was killed in this movie. However, when Fatty killed Dog, there was a huge moan from the audience.
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[–] brower8 11 years ago
Remember -- Dog is far more developed a character than many of the human characters in the movie. The victims of the outlaw raid don't get much time in which to develop their characters. It would be very confusing to develop appreciable complexity in one of the villains -- and confusion is a bad quality in a movie. The dog? More virtues than most of the human participants. Such must be intended.
The death of a hero is always tragedy even if the hero is a dog.
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[–] sstarl1324 9 years ago
That is funny about the audience reaction! The dog could sleep in the hotel room too.
One of the themes of the movie was that times were changing. Jake lost his "family" (the Indian and dog) and reconnected with his blood family.
Remember Rabbit Ears with tin foil?
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[–] saga_heart 10 years ago
Four years later and I agree with you! Dog was a dog that knew what to do and was serious about it and more than once showed that he was part of the team.
I too was saddened by the death of both Dog and Sam and slightly bothered by how the movies ended with a "Good idea, let's go home" without any moment of thought to their fallen colleagues. Regards.
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[–] PlatinumScreen (220) 5 years ago
I too was saddened by the death of both Dog and Sam and slightly bothered by how the movies ended with a "Good idea, let's go home" without any moment of thought to their fallen colleagues.
I thought the same thing while watching the movie. I thought it was a seriously tone-deaf moment. I'm not saying Jake McCandles and sons had to openly weep over Sam's and Dog's remains, but some acknowledgement of their sacrifices for the cause would've been nice.
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[–] kinara94-128-405265 8 years ago
Being that I only was allowed John Wayne and Disney when young--"Dog"s
death affected me a lot. It was the first time I rejoiced in a humans death.....I wish I had remember the sob killed his Indian friend too, I'm sure I felt for him but after the dog...well I was preoccupied.
Sort of wierd though that as much as the Indian and the dog meant to him, they don't show him acknowledging their loss, my memory thought they had.
Kathy....dog mom
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[–] brower8 11 years ago
Dogs are as individual as people. So it is with "Dog"... which is ironic in that the dog deserves a more distinguished name than "Dog". Maybe that's part of the dry humor that one expects from John Wayne -- without which he would be insufferable.
"Dog" gets unusual respect as a character -- and except for the dog in <i>Bringing Up Baby</i> he is the most aggressive dog that you could tolerate.
Cats... cats are much the same as each other. Cats are interchangeable. You love them or you hate them.
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[–] Carycomic 10 years ago
To Brower8: I certainly _loved_ that one alley cat who almost got Pop Dawson's head (deservedly) blown off.
"Y-You fellas is gettin' a mite nervous. A'intcha?"
LOL!
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[–] Kev11sky 9 years ago
Dog is obedient, loyal, well-trained for attack, and he doesn't stop even when he's shot.
A cat would never behave like that... but you gotta love them anyway.
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[–] koala_t_98 6 years ago
"That's no fittin' name for a dog!"
"I don't see why not!"
"You don't see why not?!"
"Nope. He always came when I called him!"
An exchange between two characters (The Sheriff and File) in the stage version of "The Rainmaker" by N. Richard Nash.
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[–] Carycomic 10 years ago
I agree with you, Shalmayan. In fact, everytime I see commercials for DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER, I instantly picture John Wayne yelling, "Dog!" Followed by the collie replying: "Grrrrrrrah-rah-rah-rah-rah-rah-rah!"
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[–] giraudthierry 14 years ago
It's the best actor of the picture !
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[–] Carycomic 10 years ago
I agree with Giraudthierry. Dog the Collie is certainly a better _actor_ than Dog the Bounty Hunter.
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[–] Corthier 13 years ago
This is the first movie I saw in a theater, and all I remember is that dog getting shot!
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[–] artistathome 12 years ago
I always thought the dog looked very strange; Now it makes sense that they had to dye him so he wouldn't look like a collie.
And yes, in several scenes Dog is NOT black.
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[–] Carycomic 10 years ago
Dog might've required a dye job. But, I'm pretty sure there is such a color variety, as black-and-tan, among long-haired collies. One such reportedly being one of the breed progenitors of the Gordon setter!
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[–] gflagoot 10 years ago
I recall that "dog" was spelled "Dawg". I also saw this in the theater when I was 12. Dawg was killed with Fatty's machete.
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[–] artistathome 10 years ago
Not only shot, but when he tried to help Little Jake, he got macheted!!
Yes, there must have been several dogs used, and also the color does change between shots.
I can't imagine HOW they kept the dogs dyed properly with
getting in and out of water and dust and such.
Still a great movie to watch. I bet I have seen it 10 times over the years.
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[–] mattjilek 10 years ago
AMC was showing Hondo and Big Jake back-to-back, I thought the dogs resembled each other. I appreciate the above posts on the history of the animals. And true, the man who killed Dawg, didn't die horrible enough. But Dawg did die in the service to his master, so major props to him for doing so.
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