Happy birthday to “Hank,” the Cowdog who turns 35 years old this year. Some of us grew up with this beloved fictional canine (and some of us read it to our kids), but all of us came to love the self-proclaimed smelly “Head of Ranch Security” who lives and works on a ranch in the Texas Panhandle.

“Hank” refers to himself as a “top of the line, purebred, blue ribbon cowdog” and we’re not sure why others have felt the need to opine that Hank is a mutt since many purebred dogs fit the description of a “cowdog,” including the Australian Cattle Dog, Kelpie, Koolie, Blue Lacy, Catahoula, and New Zealand Hathaway, to name a few. We’d like to set the record straight.  Though “Hank’s” appearance over the years has become generic, the Midland, Texas author, John R. Erickson, actually based “Hank” on an Australian Shepherd named (guess!) “Hank.”