Come Thou Long-Expected Farley
A mother of a Boy Scout told me recently of the story how she got her most recent dog. Her son had asked his family to go to a local charity event for the adoption of animals. Her husband found himself at the mercy of a female news anchor who was the celebrity sponsor of the event. Tall and beautiful and well-dressed, she approached the hapless man and said something about the dog at which he was looking with his son along the lines of “Are you going to adopt this one?” And, as the mother of the Boy Scout informed me, the next thing you know they had a dog.
Mrs. Baird in her Who’s Who describes the arrival of Farley like this:
When a breeder she respected begged Thelma to breed Lily and allow him to choose the pick of the litter, she couldn't resist. It was a pleasure to connect again with some of the people she had liked in her dog showing days. More importantly, she thought it was past time that the Pattersons had a dog. Remembering her own early years, she believed firmly that there was nothing better than a dog to teach children responsibility and the wonder of unquestioning love. With a litter of cute, furry puppies to aid her, she had a shrewd notion that she could make John and Elly see things her way. It turned out to be easier than she thought. An ex-farm boy himself, John went down without a struggle. And Thelma knew just how to handle Elly...
For some reason Beth Cruikshank decided to portray Thelma Baird as a conniving dog-giver because she believes a dog will improve the Pattersons. However, in the strip, what you see is that Thelma Baird breeds dogs, and describes Farley as a runt she would not be able to sell. My thought, from observing my cat-breeding sister is that this is the correct answer. Pure breeds, who have some kind of damage to them so they can’t be sold, are sometimes given away because the breeder knows they will be difficult and expensive to take care of. My mother-in-law, has a purebred dog in her family with a deformed back leg, given to her by a breeder. It’s a beautiful dog, that has always run on 3 legs. The original story works for me and hope that new-run Lynn Johnston doesn't destroy it.
Looking at Thelma Baird with those eyes, I see her trying to get rid of a puppy she can’t sell to some people she likes and would take good care of the puppy.
Mrs. Baird in her Who’s Who describes the arrival of Farley like this:
When a breeder she respected begged Thelma to breed Lily and allow him to choose the pick of the litter, she couldn't resist. It was a pleasure to connect again with some of the people she had liked in her dog showing days. More importantly, she thought it was past time that the Pattersons had a dog. Remembering her own early years, she believed firmly that there was nothing better than a dog to teach children responsibility and the wonder of unquestioning love. With a litter of cute, furry puppies to aid her, she had a shrewd notion that she could make John and Elly see things her way. It turned out to be easier than she thought. An ex-farm boy himself, John went down without a struggle. And Thelma knew just how to handle Elly...
For some reason Beth Cruikshank decided to portray Thelma Baird as a conniving dog-giver because she believes a dog will improve the Pattersons. However, in the strip, what you see is that Thelma Baird breeds dogs, and describes Farley as a runt she would not be able to sell. My thought, from observing my cat-breeding sister is that this is the correct answer. Pure breeds, who have some kind of damage to them so they can’t be sold, are sometimes given away because the breeder knows they will be difficult and expensive to take care of. My mother-in-law, has a purebred dog in her family with a deformed back leg, given to her by a breeder. It’s a beautiful dog, that has always run on 3 legs. The original story works for me and hope that new-run Lynn Johnston doesn't destroy it.
Looking at Thelma Baird with those eyes, I see her trying to get rid of a puppy she can’t sell to some people she likes and would take good care of the puppy.
posted by howard at 11:04 PM
13 Comments:
howard,
Looking at Thelma Baird with those eyes, I see her trying to get rid of a puppy she can’t sell to some people she likes and would take good care of the puppy.
Too bad she gave him to the Pattersons. Having grown up without exposure to domestic pets of any kind means (or should I say meant) that Elly is as ignorant as Mile when it comes to dealing with a puppy; what's more, her being in her early thirties makes it harder for her to learn what to expect. If they'd taken him down to obedience school, not only would Farley be better off having been trained by experts, Elly would have a better life because she'd shed a few thousand counterproductive pre-expectations.
Ugh, another reason to dislike the stupid, overwrought biographies. I'd either missed or forgotten this: "More importantly, she thought it was past time that the Pattersons had a dog." WTF? Officious bint. Thelma Baird comes off much better when the strips are permitted to speak for themselves (fancy that!).
dreadedcandiru2, I'll have to check the collections when I have the time and energy, but I think Farley was sent to obedience school.
DreadedCandiru2,
Having grown up without exposure to domestic pets of any kind means (or should I say meant) that Elly is as ignorant as Mile when it comes to dealing with a puppy; what's more, her being in her early thirties makes it harder for her to learn what to expect.
I presume you are talking about the numerous strips where Elly screams at Farley doing his business. It reminds me of one of my favourite recent strips, where it appears that Elly’s expectations on how to deal with animals also applied to people too. She is equal opportunity impatient.
aprilp_katje,
WTF? Officious bint. Thelma Baird comes off much better when the strips are permitted to speak for themselves (fancy that!).
I mention it because if there were some need for Lynn Johnston to retcon this storyline with a new-run, that is probably the direction it will go, with Thelma Baird coming off as more of a busybody than she was before. As for why Lynn Johnston would feel that need to retcon, I have no idea.
I mention it because if there were some need for Lynn Johnston to retcon this storyline with a new-run, that is probably the direction it will go, with Thelma Baird coming off as more of a busybody than she was before. As for why Lynn Johnston would feel that need to retcon, I have no idea.
OTOH, I wouldn't put it past Lynn to forget all about the bio or at least opt not to consult it, as consulting it might seem too much like the research she's determined to avoid. So she might either let original-strip Thelma Baird stand or come up with a second retcon. I guess we'll find out soon. :)
howard,
It reminds me of one of my favourite recent strips, where it appears that Elly’s expectations on how to deal with animals also applied to people too. She is equal opportunity impatient.
She's also equal-opportunity dim, I'd say. In all the years I've read the strip not once have I seen her actually clean up the mounds of doo-doo her dogs leave in her yard. Sure, she got John to mix Farley's leavings in the leaf pile to discourage Mike from fun she didn't approve of but that's only because there was so much of it just sitting around attracting vermin.
aprilp_katje
OTOH, I wouldn't put it past Lynn to forget all about the bio or at least opt not to consult it, as consulting it might seem too much like the research she's determined to avoid.
The thing about the bios is that when there are retcons, oftentimes I can see Lynn’s hand in it. It is as if Lynn is saying, for example, “Hey, Beth! Everyone thinks Anthony stinks because of that ‘I have no home’ speech. Can you retcon that?” Of course there have been other times, like where Beth manages to work together a timeline with Connie and her first husband and the father of Lawrence, only to have Lynn Johnston write a strip sequence where the first husband never existed. In that case, Lynn and Beth were clearly not working together. With Thelma, I can’t tell what Lynn’s intent is. The changes is so mild, it could easily be Beth filling in a motivation she felt Lynn left out.
DreadedCandiru2,
In all the years I've read the strip not once have I seen her actually clean up the mounds of doo-doo her dogs leave in her yard.
Although not in the yard, this strip showed Elly cleaning a Dixie mess.
I remember Farley getting some training much later than puppyhood. John was consulting a book, Mike was relatively small; when "heel!" didn't work, Mike got pulled off his feet. I also seem to recall a scene with multiple dogs on leashes. Hopefully April will shed some light on it.
It might have taken an incident (the garbage-eating illness? being picked up by the pound?) to get it to happen. I'm pretty sure it didn't happen early, which would have been best for all concerned.
I found it--Farley does go to obedience school while he's still a puppy. On page 40 of Is This "One of Those Days," Daddy? John finds an ad for obedience-training school in the newspaper, and the next three strips (page 41) are devoted to before/during/after the session.
"She thought it was past time that the Pattersons had a dog"?
I really hope that I never meet anyone outside my own household who thinks that they should make the decision that it is time for my family to get a pet.
I really hope that I never meet anyone outside my own household who thinks that they should make the decision that it is time for my family to get a pet.
Seriously. I can't imagine thinking that way about some other family.
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