Far from Home – The Adventures of Yellow Dog
Labradors take to water as readily as any duck and Yellow, the Golden Labrador in the movie Far from home – Adventure of Yellow Dog was no exception. John, a sailing enthusiast, decided to take his 16-year-old son, Angus, and a newly-acquired canine companion, Yellow, on a boat outing along the coast of British Columbia, to teach the young man some basic sailing and outdoor survival skills. A storm with hurricane-force winds decided that the best way to learn was by doing and tossed them all into the foaming, churning brine. John was rescued in a trice while Angus and Yellow had their survival quotient tested to the limit.
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Phillip Borsos both wrote and directed the movie Far from home – The Adventures of Yellow Dog which was produced by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 1995. This movie was his last because he died of leukemia not long after finishing it. The McCormick family was played by Mimi Rogers as Katherine, the mother, Bruce Davison as John the father and Jesse Bradford as Angus the son. Yellow Dog was played by Dakotah, a Golden Labrador.
The Labrador Retriever is a type of gun dog originally bred to help fishermen retrieve their nets. To this end, the breed was equipped with webbed feet and an otter-like tail. It took its name from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. The founding breed was the St. John’s Water Dog which was also the ancestor of the Newfoundland, another water-loving but bigger breed. The St. John’s Dog itself was a mix of English, Irish and Portuguese working breeds.
The first Yellow Labrador, alternatively called Golden Labrador, was born in 1899. Its name was Ben of Hyde from the kennels of Major C.J. Radclyffe and the breed was given official recognition by The Kennel Club in 1903. Chocolate Labradors were often found in the same litter with Yellows until fancier-driven breeding established the darker Labrador as a separate breed.
Golden Labradors have fairly short and straight interwoven hair which made it relatively waterproof. Being a retriever, a Golden Labrador instinctively holds objects very gently in its mouth. It can even carry an egg without making an impromptu omelet. The retrieving instinct also makes this breed an excellent companion for children because it never seem to tire of fetching. However, it’s easy-going and trusting nature, even of strangers, does not make it pass the test as a guard dog.
In the movie Far from home – The Adventures of Yellow Dog, Yellow passed with flying colors when it accompanied Angus through all the trials and obstacles that the script-writer could think of. After the unscheduled storm threw Angus and Yellow up on a rugged coastal area, it was still a very long walk home. Said walk was interrupted by sundry wild animals and slippery rocks. While Angus stumbled, tumbled and fell, Yellow, more or less, padded along blithely. Of course, Yellow had the advantage of having two more legs than Angus did.
Back home, John and Catherine worked desperately with the Coast Guard to locate the missing duo. Perhaps they would have breathed easier if they had known that Yellow was a fully-accredited member of a breed that was well-known for rescue work. BTW: a Golden Labrador, Endal, was distinguished as the most decorated dog in the world. Said decorations included the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) Gold Medal for Animal Gallantry and Devotion to Duty.
Somewhere near the end of the movie, when a rescue helicopter finally found Angus and his canine companion, Yellow, uncharacteristically, missed his footing and fell into the river far below. Was the producer staging the setting for a sequel? Find out by watching this beautifully-filmed Adventures of Yellow Dog movie to the end.
If, after watching the Far from Home Adventures of Yellow Dog movie, you feel inspired to get a Golden Labrador as a companion, just remember to lock the door yourself because the Golden Labrador is much better at keeping the lonesome blues away than keeping unwanted intruders out of the house.
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