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Buff: A Collie - A Story
A swirl of gold-and-white and gray and black, -** Rackety, vibrant, glad with life's hot zest, - Sunnybank collies, gaily surging pack, - These are my churns; the chums that love me b
348 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2007
22 people want to read
About the author
Albert Payson Terhune
329 books75 followersAlbert Payson Terhune (1872 - 1942), a local author of some fame, wrote numerous adventures about Collies, most notably, "Lad, A Dog", "Sunnybank: Home of Lad", and "Further Adventures of Lad". Sunnybank, his home on the eastern shore of Pompton Lakes in northern New Jersey, was originally the home of Terhune's parents, Edward Payson Terhune and Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune. Later as his home with his wife, Anice Stockton Terhune, Sunnybank became famous as "The Place" in the many stories of Terhune. Much of the land once constituting the Sunnybank estate was lost to developers in the 1960's with the house being demolished in 1969. Fortunately though, the central 9.6 acres was preserved through the dedicated efforts of Terhune fans and dog fanciers, and is now Terhune Sunnybank Memorial Park, administered by the Wayne Township Parks Department.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 6, 2023
I am putting it in my short list of top favorite dog books but I am going to put some caveats into my review for others to consider. It is published in 1921 so as an old book there are some elements about dogs that can be off-putting to some.
The actual title in the jacket is Buff a Collie and other Dog Stories. Buff takes up about half the book and is a grand story and classic Terhune. When I especially love is in addition to the big quest, the dog makes some random saves of people along the way. I also love the way little details are added to make an action by the dog more plausible like in this somewhat common bit that dogs do when trying to get in and save their master:
"Buff paused beneath a shut and locked window, some three feet from the ground. He gathered his waning strength for one more effort, and sprang upward.
Through the thin and cracked glass and the rotting sash he chose his way, alighting on the slimy concrete floor of the garage amid a shower of window particles."
Love the imagery of the dog coming to the rescue:
"Over the brow of a ridge, across the winding high road, flashed a tawny and white shape that was silhouetted for an instant on the pulsing sky-line – the shape of a large collie running as not dog but a collie or a greyhound can run. Close to earth, in his sweeping stride, Buff was coming at full speed in response the far-heard whistle."
Terhune often writes about collies, and as anyone familiar with his books, other dogs are just dogs and collies are something special. He says it in more than one place in this book, including at the start of one story, although I don’t know the second part:
A dog is only a dog. But a collie is – a collie. Says the scotch proverb:
“A collie has the brain of a man, and the ways of a woman!”
As much as the collie is portrayed as the king of dogs, unfortunately, I don't like how mongrels are often the villains. And as I have said in reviews of previous vintage books, when our hero kills or maims a ‘bad’ dog, I still mourn a dog lost. Old books like this one also mention when litters are drowned, like if the puppies are mongrels, and in one story that includes a part with a dog pound, their way of disposing of dogs is to put them in a wire cage that is lowered into a river. The book says of dog pounds:
A dog-pound is not pleasant to look upon. It is little pleasanter to think upon. It is one of the needful evils of every large town – an evil that is needful to public health and to public safety, so say the city fathers.
From that passage it goes on to say that while humans think about birth control, it is not so much done with dogs. I am glad that has changed, as well as of the rise of those to help diminish the need to euthanize dogs by rescue efforts.
The book definitely has some different types of dog stories in it. One story is about a boxer and his dog. Another is about his master going off to war, as of course why not join up?
'Then, over the smugly complacent land, rang a bugle call. Half the world was sick unto death with the Hun pestilence, and America alone could stay the hideous disease’s assault on humanity. America alone could cure a dying world. To achieve this Heaven-sent miracle, the lives of thousands of brave men were needed. An at the terrible blast of the bugle-call these men responded in the millions.
Dick Snowden was one of them'
Some may not like the melodramatic way of some old books, but I relish it. As I am reading a book, when I come across a passage I like, I put a post-it note on the place so later I can copy it out. There were a fair amount of post-it notes at the end of this book. I look for writing I really like, that won’t give too much away, and for those who have read the book, something to rekindle remembering great parts within the book. You do have to like the dramatic:
'He had failed. He had awakened with the sudden knowledge of his master’s peril. He had followed the urge of the call. And all at once he had realized that for some reason he could not hope to lead his mistress to the man who so sorely needed her aid. Perplexed, heartsick, he had crawled back; helpless to do more.'
'This dog, Robin Adair, was the joy of Eve’s heart – or he had been, when her heart still could hold joy and not merely fever and delirium.'
'Watch me do it, Jeff! Watch me do it, square!'
The last chapter in the book is Terhune talking about his actual dogs and the amazing things they do. I liked this next bit I reference, but you will need to read the book to find out what the dog brought as a gift. I imagine many with dogs have had them bring back some interesting gifts so you might enjoy imagining what it is.
'Humans had celebrated her recovery with presents, and he, watching, had imitated them. He had gone far and had toiled hard to bring her an offering that his canine mind deemed all-desirable.'
Great stories and a book I consider to be one of the best dog books by the best writer of dog books.
The actual title in the jacket is Buff a Collie and other Dog Stories. Buff takes up about half the book and is a grand story and classic Terhune. When I especially love is in addition to the big quest, the dog makes some random saves of people along the way. I also love the way little details are added to make an action by the dog more plausible like in this somewhat common bit that dogs do when trying to get in and save their master:
"Buff paused beneath a shut and locked window, some three feet from the ground. He gathered his waning strength for one more effort, and sprang upward.
Through the thin and cracked glass and the rotting sash he chose his way, alighting on the slimy concrete floor of the garage amid a shower of window particles."
Love the imagery of the dog coming to the rescue:
"Over the brow of a ridge, across the winding high road, flashed a tawny and white shape that was silhouetted for an instant on the pulsing sky-line – the shape of a large collie running as not dog but a collie or a greyhound can run. Close to earth, in his sweeping stride, Buff was coming at full speed in response the far-heard whistle."
Terhune often writes about collies, and as anyone familiar with his books, other dogs are just dogs and collies are something special. He says it in more than one place in this book, including at the start of one story, although I don’t know the second part:
A dog is only a dog. But a collie is – a collie. Says the scotch proverb:
“A collie has the brain of a man, and the ways of a woman!”
As much as the collie is portrayed as the king of dogs, unfortunately, I don't like how mongrels are often the villains. And as I have said in reviews of previous vintage books, when our hero kills or maims a ‘bad’ dog, I still mourn a dog lost. Old books like this one also mention when litters are drowned, like if the puppies are mongrels, and in one story that includes a part with a dog pound, their way of disposing of dogs is to put them in a wire cage that is lowered into a river. The book says of dog pounds:
A dog-pound is not pleasant to look upon. It is little pleasanter to think upon. It is one of the needful evils of every large town – an evil that is needful to public health and to public safety, so say the city fathers.
From that passage it goes on to say that while humans think about birth control, it is not so much done with dogs. I am glad that has changed, as well as of the rise of those to help diminish the need to euthanize dogs by rescue efforts.
The book definitely has some different types of dog stories in it. One story is about a boxer and his dog. Another is about his master going off to war, as of course why not join up?
'Then, over the smugly complacent land, rang a bugle call. Half the world was sick unto death with the Hun pestilence, and America alone could stay the hideous disease’s assault on humanity. America alone could cure a dying world. To achieve this Heaven-sent miracle, the lives of thousands of brave men were needed. An at the terrible blast of the bugle-call these men responded in the millions.
Dick Snowden was one of them'
Some may not like the melodramatic way of some old books, but I relish it. As I am reading a book, when I come across a passage I like, I put a post-it note on the place so later I can copy it out. There were a fair amount of post-it notes at the end of this book. I look for writing I really like, that won’t give too much away, and for those who have read the book, something to rekindle remembering great parts within the book. You do have to like the dramatic:
'He had failed. He had awakened with the sudden knowledge of his master’s peril. He had followed the urge of the call. And all at once he had realized that for some reason he could not hope to lead his mistress to the man who so sorely needed her aid. Perplexed, heartsick, he had crawled back; helpless to do more.'
'This dog, Robin Adair, was the joy of Eve’s heart – or he had been, when her heart still could hold joy and not merely fever and delirium.'
'Watch me do it, Jeff! Watch me do it, square!'
The last chapter in the book is Terhune talking about his actual dogs and the amazing things they do. I liked this next bit I reference, but you will need to read the book to find out what the dog brought as a gift. I imagine many with dogs have had them bring back some interesting gifts so you might enjoy imagining what it is.
'Humans had celebrated her recovery with presents, and he, watching, had imitated them. He had gone far and had toiled hard to bring her an offering that his canine mind deemed all-desirable.'
Great stories and a book I consider to be one of the best dog books by the best writer of dog books.
May 13, 2012
I loved this book, if you love dogs or animals, you will be delighted at any age! The edition I have is a 1921's hardcopy with a gorgeous illustrated cover -- made the book all the more magical to me. I believe my intense love OF dogs came from reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews