Lassie’s Owner and Trainer Bob Weatherwax Dead at 83

Bob Weatherwax, who was an icon of Hollywood’s canine world, died on Thursday, August 15, Us Weekly can solely verify. He was 83.

Because the son of Rudd Weatherwax — who was the unique proprietor and coach of Lassie — Bob spent practically his entire life within the leisure canine coaching enterprise.

From a younger age, Bob was by his father’s aspect as he assisted with canines at Rudd’s kennels. As well as, he was typically known as on to help in coaching whereas Lassie or one other Hollywood canine realized a routine.

Bob and his sister JoAnne have been the one youngsters who might actually say that their household pet was the actual Lassie. In reality, Pal — the canine who made film historical past by portraying Lassie in seven MGM movies and starred within the pilot of the Lassie TV sequence — was born one 12 months earlier than Bob’s beginning.

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For a short time, Bob served his nation in america Military. When he returned dwelling to California, nevertheless, Bob determined to comply with in his father’s footsteps and formally grow to be a Hollywood canine coach.

After studying his father’s craft, Bob turned an completed coach and established Weatherwax Educated Canines as his model. All through his profession, Bob labored with a number of well-known canines together with Asta, Toto and Previous Yeller.

On his Fb account, Bob would typically obtain rave opinions for his present of bonding with animals and educating them new expertise and tips.

“He isn’t condescending. He isn’t pushy. He makes use of a reward-based coaching, which I favored,” one canine proprietor wrote in a assessment posted on Bob’s Fb web page in February. “He taught [my dog] to be an obedient canine and gave me the instruments to have the ability to management him. I’m very pleased with the result and I completely advocate him.”

Earlier than his dying, Bob loved spending time together with his final collie, who was a grandson of the final Weatherwax-trained Lassie.

As for what made Bob so good at his job, these closest to the coach imagine it was his skill to kind an genuine relationship with the canines he labored with.

“It was the eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart constructing of belief,” Bob’s crew stated in an announcement to Us. “It was translating the immense potential of a species much like us however totally different sufficient that what we shared might be captured within the elevating of a paw, decreasing of a head, crawling on the bottom, swimming towards treacherous currents, leaping out of home windows into the arms of the grownup or baby who liked the canine and wanted the canine in that prompt.”

The assertion continued, “It was Bob’s magic to have the ability to join by way of voice, eye, gesture, a easy nudge, a elevating of arms. The canines at all times knew what was meant, and audiences reaped the rewards.”

Reporting by Andrea Simpson