Actually the dog seems to change color during the film, somtimes it looks like a boarder collie (same basic colors as Lassin only smaller) but in some scenes it is black and grey, but about the same size and build.
http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?HuckleberryBeej.
"Dog" is actually of the "Lassie" line, owned and trained by Rudd Weatherwax.
http://www.lassieweb.org/lassfact.htm
"uva uvam vivendo varia fit"
If memory serves, I read that Dog was a collie that they dyed dark colors. The dye job was inconsistent between scenes which is why he changes color.
That object you're tracking isn't a large asteroid, it's a very large spacecraft
That's right, Jetfire, it is a standard collie with a bad dye job. His colour runs, thus the odd change of colour between scenes. Why they dyed the dog is beyond me...couldn't Big Jake have had a collie for a companion?
Here's a bit of interest: behind the scenes John Wayne and Russ Weatherwaxx played poker and drank heavily at night. Wayne won the dog from him in a wild game of poker when Weatherwaxx gambled away everything else he owned. The next morning Wayne relented and gave back the dog. John Wayne was a nice guy, wasn't he?
'What you meant is not what you said.'
His name was Dawg not Dog.
shareSomeone mentioned that the Dog who played Dawg was of the Lassie blood line. I was wondering that myself while watching the movie. I thought She/he looked like Lassie in the face. Must of been a well trained dog.
Col. G. Stonehill: Most people around here have heard of Rooster Cogburn.