About Red Dog

Anne here. I've wanted to write the story of Red Dog for ages, ever since a writer friend of mine, Janet Woods, in Western Australia said she'd had a real life encounter with the famous dog. I asked her for a little info for this blog. 
This is what Janet said:


Red Dog was a familiar figure in the Port of Dampier in the 1970s, where my husband worked for a shipping company. Red was a familiar figure when he was in town, usually lying in the stream of air conditioning that flowed from the shopping centre doors as they opened and shut.


I came out from work one day to find Red waiting on the shady side of my car in the car park. I think he smelled my own two dogs, and realized I drove a dog friendly vehicle. I was about to head for home, but as soon as I reached the turnoff and took the right turn he began to bark. There was no mistaking what Red wanted. He was barking directions, and I was going the wrong way.

As soon as I changed direction and took the road out of town he settled down. Red agreed to get out at Karratha half an hour later, by which time the combination of hot car and ripe dog was a bit overpowering. I had no intention of driving any further, so pulled over and told him so. For a moment he ignored me, then we had a bit of a push and shove. He got out, peed on the tyre and trotted off in the direction of the main highway, where he could get a lift further north, or down south, whichever took his fancy.


A dog of great character, don't you think?

This picture shows a living kelpie with the statue of Red Dog.


The sculptor has shown Red Dog always on the move.
Red Dog covered a lot of territory. Below is a map showing the area he travelled in. It's all desert country.

You can listen to Chris reading the story of Red Dog here.


If you have any questions,  or have your own dog story to tell, you can post them in the comments section of this blog