Adventures of Greyfriar's Bobby, 2006 Movie

[tlwtheq]

Guess what?  You absolutely cannot find a credit for the pup that played Bobby in the

2006 Piccadilly Films production.  I know with all my heart that's a Cairn.

(The original Bobby was supposed to be a Silky Terrier.)

Anyone have any knowledge about the pup who played Bobby in the 2006 film?

Thanks!

[Jack]

From the Wikipedia article on the film:

 

The original Greyfriars Bobby, in the book by Eleanor Atkinson,^[1] is actually a Skye Terrier. The appearance of a Westie in the title role of the film caused protests from the Skye Terrier breed club, who complained about filmmakers using an incorrect dog breed.^[2] Christopher Figg, the producer, said that a Westie was used "because its white coat would stand out in the dark and because its eyes would not be hidden from the camera by a fringe."

 

A Westie is close!

[tlwtheq]

But he's not a Westie, unless they dyed his hair...

 

But that would explain the lack of points and the pink nose.

 

Pardon the edits; I'm watching the movie right now.  If he's a Westie,

he's a Cairn shaped Westie.  The mannerisms are Cairn as well.

 

Oh, and in further scenes the nose is black...I dunno.  I tend to

get caught up in details.

Edited January 5, 2013 by tlwtheq

[MegsMom]

But he's not a Westie, unless they dyed his hair...

 

But that would explain the lack of points and the pink nose.

 

Pardon the edits; I'm watching the movie right now.  If he's a Westie,

he's a Cairn shaped Westie.  The mannerisms are Cairn as well.

 

Oh, and in further scenes the nose is black...I dunno.  I tend to

get caught up in details.

 

I do remember when this remake was coming out, there was very little about the westie actor.  I think there was only one article I saw that included some non-stock shots of the westie.  For some reason, they didn't 'play up the dog actor to the dog lovers' with the advertising of this movie.  Maybe because of the pre-filming hoopla that they'd cast another breed in the role, although that seemed very mild from this side of the pond.

 

Nonetheless, it's a westie cast in the role: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4688550.stm

 

 

The dog in that plays Bobby is a West Highland terrier

Pretty good similarity to a cream cairn, isn't it? Particularly in a more 'natural' coat.  Love the part "because its eyes would not be hidden from the camera by a fringe" hmmffph, terrier ignorance!  

 

And as a former westie owner..pink nose?  Westies are not supposed to have pink noses! 

Well, not unless they've had some skin scraped off in an antic; or maybe are a 'snow nose'.  Pink ears and skin, yup, but black is also normal.  

 

Oh, didn't you mean Skye?  Isn't Silky a Australian-originating breed...? 

[mattoleriver]

I believe that all three breeds (Skye, Cairn and Westie) were originally referred to as Skye terriers. They may all still have all been referred to as Skye Terriers when Bobby was alive. Does anybody know Bobby's pedigree? Bobby may have been any of 'em.

 

George    

[Hillscreek]

That's right. Prior to dog shows they were all Skye terriers. Called long haired or short haired.

 

 The long haired one was  more silky and was often for a pet.It could have prick or drop ears. The short haired ones were often preferred for work.

The westie was originally a white cairn. These were usually culled, until Colonel Malcolm of Poltalloch chose to keep and breed the white ones which came to be called West Highland Terriers.

 

[tlwtheq]

Nonetheless, it's a westie cast in the role: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4688550.stm

 

 

The dog in that plays Bobby is a West Highland terrier

Pretty good similarity to a cream cairn, isn't it? Particularly in a more 'natural' coat.  Love the part "because its eyes would not be hidden from the camera by a fringe" hmmffph, terrier ignorance!  

 

 

 In most of the film he's substantially darker than that.  I  give up.

[pkcrossley]

this seems familiar, like we had this discussion before. i think my conviction, which i still think is right, is that the dog is a very light wheaten coated cairn, and that somebody connected with the movie may have sincerely thought it was a westie. it may be academic since westies actually are deviant cairns, but i agree with others that the dog is not convincing as a westie --it really does seem to be a blond cairn, not a truly white westie. 

Edited January 6, 2013 by pkcrossley

[Zekey's Mom]

this seems familiar, like we had this discussion before.

 

PK, you've got a good memory! Here's the link to the earlier discussion, from 2007.

 

 

I did some digging, and found an article about the owner of the Westie (yes, it is a Westie), and you'll be pleased to know that the dog actor has also played a Cairn in the Wizard of Oz. A blond Toto - imagine that.

 

Turns out that the dog was originally named Billy, but renamed after the movie! I guess it must be a little interesting for the dog if all of the actors/crew call you by another name all the time!

 

But thanks for posting the thread -- sounds like a good film to watch.

[tlwtheq]

I did some digging, and found an article about the owner of the Westie (yes, it is a Westie), and you'll be pleased to know that the dog actor has also played a Cairn in the Wizard of Oz. A blond Toto - imagine that.

 

Turns out that the dog was originally named Billy, but renamed after the movie! I guess it must be a little interesting for the dog if all of the actors/crew call you by another name all the time!

 

But thanks for posting the thread -- sounds like a good film to watch.

Thanks.  This was the information I was seeking at the outset.  But I still don't understand where one draws the line between

a Westie and a Cairn.  My beautiful Holdsworth, RIP, was that color, and he was all Cairn.  I thought Westies were supposed

to be white.

[Zekey's Mom]

I thought Westies were supposed to be white.

 

Here we go -- from the AKC site, the breed standard for Westies:

"The color is white, as defined by the breed's name. Faults--Any coat color other than white. Heavy wheaten color."

 

Bobby must be a faulty Westie!

[lubowiem]

Funny. Every time I see a very light cream/wheaten colored terrorier of the Cairn/Westie general shape I ask "Bleached Cairn or Dirty Westie?" The ones who say Cairn always laugh. Those who say Westie usually give me a withering look when they reply. I'm surprised how many "Westies" are the exact same color as my light wheaten colored Cairn, Max.

[sanford]

 The ones who say Cairn always laugh. Those who say Westie usually give me a withering look when they reply. 

I've had the exact same experience! It make me wonder if some unscrupulous sellers might dupe some people by selling them light-colored cairns, misrepresenting them as Westies instead.    

[josie&holly]

In respect of Greyfriars Bobby the cast of the statue is going for auction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-21108428

[cheryl Pasquariello]

I loved the movie BOBBY I had a carrion terrier for 16 yrs . 
and now I have a new carrier terrier he is 7 months old and he acts ect like Bobby and he is blonde so he even looks like him! 
carrin terriers come skye The westie is a carrin that has the color breed out of them so that they can be white.  They are so smart and cute.
 

[Toto-lee Cairn]

If you've never seen the film, it really is sweet.  'Bobby,' is endearing, and Cairn-lovers, terrier-lovers, will recognize the traits.  One way to find the film is just to google the title, and several outlets for watching it will be posted.

Growing up, I always loved Toto in The Wizard of Oz -- the book and the film.  I thought he was just a cute little mongrel, obviously with some non-descript terrier in him.  The book never identifies Toto as to breed, and it was the film that used the little 'actress' Cairn -- and she was such a delight!

 

[CamilleatGaelforce]

You all can imagine how many times my wheaten Scotties have been mistaken for Westies, and that's even the relatively red ones.  Things like size and muzzle to topskull ratio and overall head length and height on leg and body length make no never mind to the average person on the street, they see color and general size, and assume from there.  

Regarding the "white" in the Westie's official breed name, genetically speaking, it is not white.   It's just that the black mask genes have been bred out, as they have in wheaten Scotties, and then only the palest cream colored dogs have been selected for in every generation, until one gets the general impression of a white dog, but genetically, they are simply extremely dilute wheatens.  There's a reason the professional handlers use so much chalk on their Westies that one can often see the outline of a dog on the black grooming table when they are done, it's to hide any darker wheaten color along the topline or on the ear edges, places where the color is often slightly darker in a stripped coat.  They are in a real pickle, grooming that breed.  If they only clippered the dog, the remaining color would be trimmed off at the ends, but oops, then you'd lose the texture.  Thus, chalk.  Oh, Colonel Malcolm is said to have chosen to breed only the "white" dogs after having shot his favorite red Cairn coming out of a den, mistaking it for a fox.  I don't know the truth of that, not having been there, but that's what's in more than one of my old terrier books. 

I can't complain too much about filmmakers using a Westie in place of a Skye, Disney used a little mongrel that was probably part Shih Tzu, and who knows what else.  There are frequently substitutions for theatrical purposes, in the books Toto is described as black, for instance, and Terry, who played him in the most well-known "Wizard of Oz", was not solid black, nor was he a "he", she was a bitch.  "Lassie" was always played by male Collies, as females are often out of full coat due to hormonal fluctuations, and the filmmakers always wanted that lush, extravagant Rough Collie look, so "Lassie" couldn't be blowing undercoat due to coming in season.  Thankfully, the hair hid the "bits" that would have given that ruse away.  Show business really is all about creative lying, in the end, and the willing suspension of disbelief.