RIP Robert Weatherwax

 

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By Leslie Rugg

8/16/2024

 

Robert (Bob) Weatherwax

June 4, 1941 – Aug 15, 2024

 

A Man and his Many Dogs

Bob and his dad, Rudd Weatherwax, brought 60 + years of “Lassie” to the world. In their careers, they trained and handled many more dogs for film and television – even radio! But it was Lassie with whom their names will forever be intertwined.

Prior to Rudd's success, Hollywood animal trainers received no on-screen credit. Again, it was Lassie who made the difference. The relationship that these two men with the “dog gene” had with each other and with their dozens of dogs in background, foreground, and center stage was familial, professional, and all-consuming. The methods they constantly perfected changed the way dogs were perceived. Rudd and Bob brought out not only canine physical prowess and feats rivaling Superman, but they also knew how to extract the intelligence and emotion that could bring audiences to tears and remind them of the depth of love and devotion possible between dogs and humans. We all viewed the results on big and little screens.

Few were fortunate enough to see the intensity of the magic between Rudd and a dog and Bob with one of his dogs behind the scenes. Training wasn't just a collar, leash, and obedience commands. It was the establishment of a relationship that blotted out any distraction. It was the eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart building of trust. It was dissecting a desired action and movement down to the most minute step that a dog could literally learn and perform forwards and backwards. It was translating the immense potential of a species similar to us but different enough that what we shared could be captured in the raising of a paw, lowering of a head, crawling on the ground, swimming against treacherous currents, leaping out of windows into the arms of the adult or child who loved the dog and needed the dog in that instant.

It was pure magic to see that process that didn't involve tricks or any equipment. It was Rudd and Bob's magic to be able to connect through voice, eye, gesture, a simple nudge, a raising of arms. The dogs always knew what was meant, and audiences reaped the rewards.

Bob was literally brought up by Pal, the first Lassie of the MGM films. Pal was born exactly one year  before Bob and became his babysitter while the rest of the family was busy. Rudd often made use of Bob and his older sister, JoAnne, when training dogs. The two children had to stand a certain way, face a certain way, look a certain way while Rudd taught the dogs to react according to script demands. Bob eventually worked for and with his dad on scores of the Lassie TV show, and then he eventually established his own professional training business for the entertainment industry. Like his father, Bob trained little and big dogs, dogs with flat and shaggy coats – whatever was required for a movie or television show.

And then there was the Lassie legacy, left to him when Rudd died. Bob took over for another several decades and three more generations of Lassies that included a film and TV series. In his retirement years, he had one more collie, whom he considered the first pet he'd ever shared his life with. “Hammer”'s only job was to be Bob's companion. Of course Bob couldn't help training him, although not to the level of a working Lassie. But it was his supreme joy to wake up each morning and go to bed each night with a loving collie, just as so many of us do because of the incredible, indelible canine persona Rudd and Bob gifted to all dog lovers.

WEATHERWAX, Robert (Robert Walter Weatherwax)

Born: 6/14/1941, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Died: 8/16/2024, Jessup, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

 

Robert Weatherwax’s westerns – dog trainer:

Big Jake – 1971

Stone Fox – 1987