Pets Run, Toto, Run!

tr> I finally got to see the 1939 Classic “The Wizard of Oz” on a big screen in a fabulous old theatre. I have probably seen this movie at least 20 times but nothing beats seeing it large and in a theatre. Spoiler Alert: if you have never seen this movie, then go and buy a dvd....don’t even think of just downloading it...everyone needs to have this movie in their collection.

So now I realize that Toto, a Cairn Terrier, just doesn’t get the credit for the major part played in the movie. There is no greater love that a lonely girl can have for her dog and the dog for her girl! Dorothy runs away from home with Toto to save Toto from Miss Gulch and thus starts the whole story. Remember he was “just being a dog” towards Miss Almira Gulch’s old cat, oh and biting Miss Gulch on the leg. (But hey do we really believe that Toto would bite anyone!) Anyway, it’s Toto who really saves the day. Dorothy and Toto get picked up by the Wicked Witches of the West’s flying monkeys and taken to the Wicked Witch’s castle, that’s when Toto seizes the chance to escape and Dorothy yells “Run, Toto, run! But Toto is smart enough to find the Scarecrow, Tin Man and The Cowardly Lion and together they get into the castle to try and save Dorothy. Back in the Wizard of Oz’s Throne Room, it’s Toto who pulls back the curtain and reveals that the Wizard of Oz is just a regular man. The Good Witch then tells Dorothy how to get home with the help of those fabulous ruby slippers. But now that Dorothy and Toto have arrived safely back in Kansas...what happens to Toto? Won’t Miss Gulch just come back for Toto?! I have always wondered...

Toto has become one of the most famous and loved dogs in the world. In real life, Toto was played by Terry. Terry goes on, with the aid of writer Willard Carroll, to write her autobiography, I, Toto. Fun fact: Toto is in more scenes than Judy Garland, who of course, played Dorothy. Terry, who was born in 1933 in Alta Dena, California, was trained by Carl Spitz. Spitz had his own dog training, state-of-the-art school in Hollywood. Terry’s owners had taken the dog to Spitz to help in housebreaking. Seems that Terry had a control problem and wet everywhere! Under “Mr. Carl’s” guidance, Terry is patiently trained and has soon learned to roll over and “play dead.” Turns out that Terry’s owners had pretty much dropped of Terry and never paid the rent for the kennel board. Terry ended up staying permanently with the Spitz family, much to the delight of Terry and “Mrs. Carl!” This is also when Terry realized that the other dogs that were staying at the kennel would occasionally work in moving pictures. Clark Gable was sharing “Call of the Wild”, 1935 with Buck, a St. Bernard that Spitz trained. Once when Mr. Gable came over, Terry started barking to get his attention. So Mr. Gable kneels down to have a look at Terry when just as soon as Spitz opens up the dog cage, Terry runs out right into Mr. Gable’s face and knocks out his false teeth! Mr. Gable, picked up Terry and told her that the “Lesson for the day: take care of your teeth!” Terry responded by giving him a long, wet lick. Terry went on to do her first film with none other than Shirley Temple in “Bright Eyes, 1934.” Terry was in some five other films before landing her most famous role as “Toto.” From being called “Toto” so many times, in the year following making “The Wizard of Oz,” Terry stopped responding to being called “Terry” and was officially re-named “Toto.” Toto’s autobiography is a must read for anyone that has always loved “The Wizard of Oz.” Toto “writes” about her many adventures making this movie as well as others.

“It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh and save her from growing as gray as her other surroundings” — L. Frank Baum.

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