Remember those old Lassie Come Home films that made generations of children – and their parents – go all weepy?
Surprise, surprise, despite the name, Lassie was not female. Male dogs were considered to be more photogenic that females.
Lassie wasn’t just one dog, either.
The first film was made in 1942 and was quickly followed by several more, so multiple hounds were used.
No snoozing all day in the dog kennel for these stars. Anyone familiar with the Lassie films will know that here was one very adventurous dog that went off on exciting adventures… but always came home to its own dog runs.
By way of contrast, the prolific playwright William Shakespeare only every featured one dog in his writings. That was Crab, in Two Gentlemen of Verona.
