That Doggone Calf.

Wallace, Bill & Carol. That Doggone Calf.
Holiday House 2009 137p 16.95 978-0-8234-2228-9 elm/ms
Life on the ranch turns frustrating for Hoss, the loyal ranch dog, when a stubborn young bull calf is brought to the ranch with a group of new cattle. Eventually Hoss does educate the young fellow to the way things run on his ranch. Told through the eyes of Hoss, the German shepherd ranch dog, this is a story about ranch life, Hoss’s cows and his human family. When a new group of cows are brought to the ranch, a young bull calf with attitude comes with his mother. The calf acts like he runs the place but he really doesn’t know how to behave or what to do. This calf, not even a teenager yet, wants to be the herd bull but just makes trouble for the home cows, Hoss and everyone else. Hoss knows his job is to protect the cows and his human family, but especially the youngest daughter, Ann who is about five years old. Hoss is getting very frustrated with the bossy calf. After giving the calf some helpful information he finally is beginning to make him understand how to behave and what to do. The climax of the story comes when the calf helps Hoss protect Ann from a pack of wild dogs. This is a heartwarming story of loyalty, courage and growing up that is also funny at times. To hear a dog try to understand and explain human behavior is entertaining. There is also an amazing amount of detail about ranching included in the story. Theal, Joan