Welcome to our "Answers Page" . Well, it's titled the
"Frequently Asked Questions Page", but we know you came here for
the "Answers"! If you don't see your question answered, check
Bob's Blog page, or use our Contact page to ask. Either Bob or one
of his assistants will do their best to respond.
This page was last updated: January 31, 2012
For The Record:
As I regularly receive inquiries regarding Lassie,
future projects for Lassie, and the question of a relationship
between the corporation that owns the Lassie name and the
actual Weatherwax dogs, I feel the following information
should be posted here in the interest of clarification.
The last Lassie movie that featured a Weatherwax trained dog
was Lassie; Best Friends Are Forever in which Lassie eight,
Howard, trained by myself, starred. That movie is
the one still being featured quite regularly on HBO and TCM,
particularly during holiday times.
When my father, Rudd Weatherwax died, there was a
provision in his will which allowed his family to make the decision to allow the Lassie icon to be purchased by a corporation. The majority of the family members agreed to sell. I did not personally agree with that decision, but was outvoted by
the other family members. Allegations that it was I who
"sold the Lassie name" are fully untrue.
The New Lassie series, which was filmed in Canada
after Rudd's death, initially involved myself and the dog
I had trained for the program. When filming went into hiatus
and I came home to California, I heard from a friend that the corporation decided to cut costs by using another trainer and several different dogs. The series continued for a short time
with a number of different Collies, and finally I was asked
to return with my dog, Howard. As I was not, at that point,
wanting to reinvolve myself with a foreign based series from
which I'd been quietly fired, I chose instead to send one of
my employees, Carol Riggins, to Canada with a dog I had
given her as a personal pet (a dog she had named HeyHay
after one of the previous Weatherwax Lassie dogs ). Carol
was never appointed by myself, and certainly not by my long
deceased father to succeed me as a protege, and
HeyHay was never chosen by me to be a suitable successor
to Lassie eight (that's why I had placed the dog as a pet).
The pair were only sent to Canada as a way of sidestepping
a legal issue which may otherwise have ensued with the
corporation.
The series subsequently was canned. Because it never filmed
enough episodes to be used in reruns, it basically disappeared.
Several years later, the corporation filmed what was billed as
a remake of the original Lassie Come Home movie, using a
number of non Weatherwax collies, and ultimately sticking in
Carol's HeyHay for a cameo appearance. The film quickly
fizzled, and was soon to be found in the dollar bin at discount
stores.
A couple of years ago, the corporation then presented a short
lived TV series featuring a Hollywood veterinarian and again,
Carol's HeyHay playing Lassie. Since then Carol has
reportedly been supplying the corporation with various other
dogs to use in representing the character of Lassie at
appearances.
The era of the Weatherwax trained Lassie dogs ended, for the
most part, with the movie Lassie; Best Friends Are Forever
that I did with Howard. Laddie did make the initial appearance
as Lassie nine, and a number of subsequent appearances including an insurance company ad viewable
here, but after that the relationship between myself and
the corporation was ended for good.
I do currently own a Collie who is a grandson of Laddie,
but he is not Lassie, nor would I have chosen him to
represent Lassie had that been the situation. He is my pet,
and that's why I named him MC Hammer - for "My Collie
Hammer".
I consider it an embarrassment when people mistakenly believe
I am somehow still connected with the various projects
that feature the corporate Lassie.
While I have been more than happy to accept respectable requests for interviews and even done a limited amount of television and film work featuring my Weatherwax trained dogs
since parting ways with the corporation (as I have done over
the past several years -- note the archives in the NEWS
section of this web site), I have NOT authorized any former employee or any other trainer to represent me, my training method, or my dogs. Please know that I am not the person to
ask about future projects for the corporate Lassie, or about the failure of their previous projects, as I and my dogs are in no
way affiliated with the current corporation, and have not been
since 2004.
My own reputation is attested to in my vast body of work within
the television and film industry, and I credit my father, Rudd Weatherwax, with the innovative teachings on which I based my long and successful career as a dog trainer. With great pride in the accomplishments of the father who taught me the trade, I am
fully gratified to share a place with him in the World Almanac, where we have both been named as the premier dog trainers
in the world. Additionally, my dad holds the distinction for
being responsible for having trained the dog who represented
"the greatest animal star ever"..
I am happy to talk with anyone about the ten individual Weatherwax trained dogs who have portrayed Lassie over the years, each owned and trained first by my father and later
by myself. Our legacy with the Lassie dogs began with the
highly acclaimed Lassie Come Home film, carried down
through the Emmy winning Jeff's Collie / "Timmy and Lassie
series, the Oscar nominated film, The Magic Of Lassie,
the still popular Lassie; Best Friends Are Forever (starring
my beautiful dog, Howard), and finally the personal and
commercial appearances featuring Laddie as Lassie nine
(the tenth dog of course being Spook, whom you can read
about on the Lassie page of this web site). I am also
happy to talk about my present dogs, my training method, my
upcoming book, my future plans, and my Hollywood memoirs.
I like to encourage everyone to feel free to contact me for interviews, projects, or just personal dog training questions.
For anything concerning the current corporate Lassie, however,
you will have to contact the corporation.
Thank You!
Bob Weatherwax
