Derry Quotes

“And there is much more than merely a good story in this book. For in its pages you will find a great deal of information about how to manage a dog, how to correct his faults, and how to train him in good manners and usefulness. (From the summary on the dust jacket)”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“To put all his strength into the chase, to give battle, these were the only desires his madness left him. Caution, unknown to any of the great-hearted clan of terriers, could never stay him now. To live gloriously and go down bravely was the only creed he knew. And sending him n and on was that strange urge which was in the earth smells and the tang of the autumn air, the urge which had lured him back to the wilds from which he sprang.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“For him, men and their ways were things that had never been and he was an untamed dog leading a ghostly pack as his kind had done when the world was young. Time and place had been turned back ten thousand years by the stirring magic which last night had cast its spell on him.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“All his contacts with man became for Derry things which had never been real as the call of his wild past took possession of him. The unknown telepathy of the wilderness, the sprit of the changing seasons which had entered his blood the previous night, drew him madly on. He forgot Neal, forgot his master, forgot everything except that he was free and on the trail of an unknown foe.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“While the rancher was talking, Ed’s eye fell on Derry, squatted alertly beside him, and vainly he tried to imagine the terrier slinking back to him as Neal’s had done. He felt sure his dog- untried on big game though he was- would never quit. For that very reason Derry must not be allowed to close with the big marauder. His very courage would betray him, for Derry, not knowing the meaning of surrender, would never cease battling until he had been killed – and a cougar that would not tree was a dangerous foe even for an experienced dog.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“Had Derry been a human comrade of the trail whom he had deserted in the time of need, Ed’s abhorrence of his deed could have been no greater. But in the direct mind of the dog a crisis passed was a crisis forgotten and, while they mounted the wide ledge to the top of the cliff, the goat signs his eyes and nose found blurred all thoughts of happenings in the last few moments.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“To have in this high-spirited terrier a partner on those distant trails - not to make him into a docile slave- this was what he longed for. What if the Airedale did sometimes transgress in trifling matters? Wasn’t it better to keep his joyousness of spirit, his gay recklessness, then risk killing it only to gain a sullen, unloving obedience?”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier

“I want my pup to have a good time. This business of keeping a dog chained up and only letting him loose when he works for you, then chaining him again until you need him next time- that don’t strike me as shootin’ square. A dog like Derry, that’s just rarin’ to go - why keeping him locked up would either break his spirit or make him run away.”
― Hubert Evans, Derry: Airedale of the Frontier