BOB THE RAILWAY DOG
For Bob the railway dog, travelling wasn’t about reaching a destination — it was all about the journey. Finding that life as a hotel keeper’s dog didn’t suit him, Bob took to the road and after spending some time as a stray was eventually adopted in 1884 by William Ferry, a porter/guard at Peterborough Railway Station in South Australia. He quickly got a taste for rail travel, either sitting in front of the coal space in the locomotive tender or taking over a third-class compartment for his own private use by barking at any passengers who considered joining him. He was reckoned to have travelled many thousands of miles, visiting all the mainland states of Australia, as well as taking tram rides and trips on the Murray steamers as the inclination took him. His journeying was not without drama; he suffered a number of falls from trains, on one occasion making a miraculous escape when he rolled right under and out the other side of a passing train. Despite other accidents during which he lost an inch of his tail, had his coat catch fire, and was abducted by a sheep farmer, Bob lived to the ripe old age of 17, never losing his appetite for travel.
almost the same route. Frank wrote that along the way: “He would turn up at some house where we had stopped or some town we had passed through, his eyes half-closed and red with strain, his feet bleeding, ravenously hungry, so tired he was ready to drop. Some friend of dogs would feed and doctor him and he would rest for a while, but as soon as he could, he would be up and away again.” Just like his fictional counterpart Lassie, a book was written about him and a movie made about his epic journey — in which he played himself. He is still remembered in Silverton, where the date of his return, February 15, is commemorated as Bobbie Day.
SEAMAN
Some dogs have covered great distances to become legendary trailblazers. Leoncico stowed away onboard a ship, sharing a barrel with his owner, explorer and conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa, before going on to cross the Isthmus of Panama and becoming the first European dog to gaze on the Pacific Ocean in 1513. Nearly 300 years later, the Pacific was to be the destination of yet another epic trek, this time the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 – 1806. Accompanying the explorers was Seaman, a Newfoundland bought by Lewis for $20, and destined to become one of the furthest travelled dogs of his time. He endured tremendous discomforts including being tormented by mosquitoes, overheating in his thick coat, and getting bitten on a back leg by a beaver, which severed an artery. After surviving all that, he was then kidnapped by native Americans, although they promptly returned him when the furious Lewis threatened to burn down their village. After the expedition, he remained faithfully by Lewis’ side until his death in 1809; Seaman was inconsolable, refusing to leave Lewis’ body and remaining by his grave until he eventually died, of, it is said, a broken heart.