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Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1938
36 people want to read
About the author
S.P. Meek
99 books10 followersSterner St. Paul Meek was a US military chemist, early science fiction author, and children's author. He published much of his work first as Capt. S.P. Meek, then, briefly, as Major S.P. Meek and, after 1933, as Col. S.P. Meek. He also published one story as Sterner St. Paul.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 10, 2022
Feb 8, 940pm ~~ Oh, dear, another review for the ASAP pile!
Feb 9, 930pm ~~ This is another book I found many many years ago at the library book sales. At that time all hardcovers were fifty cents each and all paperbacks a quarter. Ah, the good old days, right? lol
I had forgotten all about this book until I was setting myself up for a 2022 reading of as many dog books as I could find in my bookcases. And then I still could not remember the plot, so as usual with these books that have been around for so long, my current reading felt like my first one.
Before I talk about the book itself, I have to say that I was surprised about the author. When I finished I wondered if any of his titles were available at Project Gutenberg, and went to check. Turned up with half a dozen or so science fiction stories by a Capt. S. P. Meek. Could it have been the same? Checking further at Wiki, I found out that yes indeed, this Meek and 'my' Meek were one and the same. Seems he was a chemist and ordnance expert in the Army from 1917 to his retirement in 1947. Between 1920 and 1933 he wrote science fiction stories for the pulp magazines and was popular with both readers and editors of the day. But with the dawning of the Golden Age Of Science Fiction his 'crudely executed' stories fell out of favor and Meek abandoned the field. Instead he began to write children's novels. From 1932 to 1956 he wrote twenty-one books, mostly about either horses or dogs. Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel was published in 1938.
A quick look through the list of other titles at his Wiki page makes me tend to drool. I would love to read a few, but another quick check at Thriftbooks reveals high prices for any they have in stock. So I will be content with my copy of Rusty. But I must admit, I was intrigued by the titles of the other books he wrote. "Surfman, A Dog Of The Coast Guard", for instance. Okay, I may be weird, but that sounds like a fun read!
In his preface to Rusty, Meek explained that the book was inspired by a real dog Meek got to know when he was acting as a co-judge at the 1937 cocker spaniel and springer spaniel field trials held by the Northern California Field Trial Club. Bunny and Rusty both were bought in pet shops for fifteen dollars. They were both small for their breed, and anyone with an eye for proper conformation would not have looked twice at either dog. Not that they were freaks, of course, but they were both too small with many subtle flaws that would keep them from the show ring, and neither one had registration papers anyway. But luckily those details do not keep a dog from competing in field trials. The whole point of the field trial is to work the dog at the job his breed was intended to perform. So after getting to know Bunny, Meek wrote a story about another cocker spaniel with apparent flaws but with the courageous heart of a champion.
In our story Ruth Hilton is the first person (and for quite a long time the only person) to appreciate little Rusty, beginning with the day she sees him in the pet shop window. Her fiance (snooty Allen Trevor, whose hobby is breeding and training champion dogs) tries to talk her out of buying the pup, but Ruth has made up her mind and insists that Rusty is the only dog she wants, and once Ruth decides on something, she rarely changes course. And the rest of the story would have exhausted Lassie with all that Rusty went through in his very first year with Miss Ruth: a burglar, a savage dog, a forest fire, and a house fire to deal with just for a start! (Meek was careful to say in that preface that all of this type of activity was imagined, not actual events from the life of the inspiring Bunny, by the way.)
I loved the story, and Rusty was portrayed wonderfully. But even though I admired Ruth for her devotion to and belief in Rusty, I wanted to smack her upside the head more than once for various things, including her habit of calling Rusty 'doggums dear'. Blech. Sorry, but baby talk to any animal simply turns my stomach. Talk to your pets all you like, but talk to them as equals, not as cutesy foo-foos.
Ruth was a rich and fairly well spoiled young lady, and I only really forgave her for all the doggums dears in the latter part of the story when she decided she needed to prove a point to that snooty Allen Trevor. Was she able to show him that Rusty had the heart of a champion even without those silly registration papers? I was rooting for her, and I was also hoping that Allen would get his nose rubbed in stuff a little bit, since there were many times throughout the story that I wanted to smack his snooty self upside the head too. Oh, he was basically a nice guy (and very generous), but he had a blind spot about this particular dog and simply could not leave Ruth to enjoy and love the choice she made.
Well, sorry to ramble on so long here. I suppose the he-ing and she-ing on display here was a sign of the times and perhaps of Meek's own attitudes, who knows. I noticed it and even though it may not sound like it, I was still able to look beyond the relationship between our two lovebirds and immerse myself in the heart of the story, which was Rusty and how he lived his life: with loyalty and joy in every moment.
Oh, one more thing and then I promise I will stop. There was a written note inside my edition. To Mac from Valma Xmas 1954. I would like to think that maybe Mac had a little red Cocker Spaniel of his own, maybe even one named Rusty!
Feb 9, 930pm ~~ This is another book I found many many years ago at the library book sales. At that time all hardcovers were fifty cents each and all paperbacks a quarter. Ah, the good old days, right? lol
I had forgotten all about this book until I was setting myself up for a 2022 reading of as many dog books as I could find in my bookcases. And then I still could not remember the plot, so as usual with these books that have been around for so long, my current reading felt like my first one.
Before I talk about the book itself, I have to say that I was surprised about the author. When I finished I wondered if any of his titles were available at Project Gutenberg, and went to check. Turned up with half a dozen or so science fiction stories by a Capt. S. P. Meek. Could it have been the same? Checking further at Wiki, I found out that yes indeed, this Meek and 'my' Meek were one and the same. Seems he was a chemist and ordnance expert in the Army from 1917 to his retirement in 1947. Between 1920 and 1933 he wrote science fiction stories for the pulp magazines and was popular with both readers and editors of the day. But with the dawning of the Golden Age Of Science Fiction his 'crudely executed' stories fell out of favor and Meek abandoned the field. Instead he began to write children's novels. From 1932 to 1956 he wrote twenty-one books, mostly about either horses or dogs. Rusty, A Cocker Spaniel was published in 1938.
A quick look through the list of other titles at his Wiki page makes me tend to drool. I would love to read a few, but another quick check at Thriftbooks reveals high prices for any they have in stock. So I will be content with my copy of Rusty. But I must admit, I was intrigued by the titles of the other books he wrote. "Surfman, A Dog Of The Coast Guard", for instance. Okay, I may be weird, but that sounds like a fun read!
In his preface to Rusty, Meek explained that the book was inspired by a real dog Meek got to know when he was acting as a co-judge at the 1937 cocker spaniel and springer spaniel field trials held by the Northern California Field Trial Club. Bunny and Rusty both were bought in pet shops for fifteen dollars. They were both small for their breed, and anyone with an eye for proper conformation would not have looked twice at either dog. Not that they were freaks, of course, but they were both too small with many subtle flaws that would keep them from the show ring, and neither one had registration papers anyway. But luckily those details do not keep a dog from competing in field trials. The whole point of the field trial is to work the dog at the job his breed was intended to perform. So after getting to know Bunny, Meek wrote a story about another cocker spaniel with apparent flaws but with the courageous heart of a champion.
In our story Ruth Hilton is the first person (and for quite a long time the only person) to appreciate little Rusty, beginning with the day she sees him in the pet shop window. Her fiance (snooty Allen Trevor, whose hobby is breeding and training champion dogs) tries to talk her out of buying the pup, but Ruth has made up her mind and insists that Rusty is the only dog she wants, and once Ruth decides on something, she rarely changes course. And the rest of the story would have exhausted Lassie with all that Rusty went through in his very first year with Miss Ruth: a burglar, a savage dog, a forest fire, and a house fire to deal with just for a start! (Meek was careful to say in that preface that all of this type of activity was imagined, not actual events from the life of the inspiring Bunny, by the way.)
I loved the story, and Rusty was portrayed wonderfully. But even though I admired Ruth for her devotion to and belief in Rusty, I wanted to smack her upside the head more than once for various things, including her habit of calling Rusty 'doggums dear'. Blech. Sorry, but baby talk to any animal simply turns my stomach. Talk to your pets all you like, but talk to them as equals, not as cutesy foo-foos.
Ruth was a rich and fairly well spoiled young lady, and I only really forgave her for all the doggums dears in the latter part of the story when she decided she needed to prove a point to that snooty Allen Trevor. Was she able to show him that Rusty had the heart of a champion even without those silly registration papers? I was rooting for her, and I was also hoping that Allen would get his nose rubbed in stuff a little bit, since there were many times throughout the story that I wanted to smack his snooty self upside the head too. Oh, he was basically a nice guy (and very generous), but he had a blind spot about this particular dog and simply could not leave Ruth to enjoy and love the choice she made.
Well, sorry to ramble on so long here. I suppose the he-ing and she-ing on display here was a sign of the times and perhaps of Meek's own attitudes, who knows. I noticed it and even though it may not sound like it, I was still able to look beyond the relationship between our two lovebirds and immerse myself in the heart of the story, which was Rusty and how he lived his life: with loyalty and joy in every moment.
Oh, one more thing and then I promise I will stop. There was a written note inside my edition. To Mac from Valma Xmas 1954. I would like to think that maybe Mac had a little red Cocker Spaniel of his own, maybe even one named Rusty!
December 9, 2021
This book was copyright 1938. I would say it is a cute and quant book. The book is based taking a poor specimen of a pet store dog and having it turned into a dog show winner.
Old books just have a different feel to them, sometimes with little bents that are not PC by today's standards, but this one maybe only has minor hints to anyone easily triggered. Fun to see the old language, 'Anyone who'll welsh on a bet suck eggs'. It involves an aspect of hunting, which is another trigger for some people. No Kleenex is needed in the end, but in the middle there is one part when I teared up, like when I read:
“Look!” he cried, staring with unbelieving eyes.
Rusty, almost through the gates of death, had heard the anguished cry of the mistress he worshipped. Death was beckoning imperatively to him, but the brave little heart would not surrender. His glazed yes opened and his hot, dry tongue went out in a feeble attempt to lick the tears away from the cheeks he loved. - Colonel S.P. Meek, Rusty: A Cocker Spaniel
Overall a great book I would definitely recommend.
Old books just have a different feel to them, sometimes with little bents that are not PC by today's standards, but this one maybe only has minor hints to anyone easily triggered. Fun to see the old language, 'Anyone who'll welsh on a bet suck eggs'. It involves an aspect of hunting, which is another trigger for some people. No Kleenex is needed in the end, but in the middle there is one part when I teared up, like when I read:
“Look!” he cried, staring with unbelieving eyes.
Rusty, almost through the gates of death, had heard the anguished cry of the mistress he worshipped. Death was beckoning imperatively to him, but the brave little heart would not surrender. His glazed yes opened and his hot, dry tongue went out in a feeble attempt to lick the tears away from the cheeks he loved. - Colonel S.P. Meek, Rusty: A Cocker Spaniel
Overall a great book I would definitely recommend.
November 1, 2012
Read and loved as a child. Searched for, bought and read again as an adult and loved it all over again.
January 15, 2018
The life of a hunting dog written in the 1930s. Kleenex necessary at the end of the book.
November 26, 2015
Best of his books so far!
August 17, 2021
The story of Rusty, a cocker spaniel born the runt of his litter, who succeeds in becoming a field trial champion.
September 15, 2023
This was one of my absolute favorites books, as a child. As an adult, I feel certain that I would not appreciate it as much. But, it will always have a special place in my heart.
May 19, 2025
a favorite of mine from childhood. reread as an adult after getting a ruby cavalier king charles spaniel. a heartwarming read for dog lovers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews