Is Bob Weatherwax angry at lassie.net?

Occasionally Lassie goes through "growing pains". Change can be hard for some. We all want the comfort and security of things staying the same. But Lassie has always changed, and we have always changed with Lassie. Sometimes the changes were the actors on the show or the fictional family Lassie lived with. Sometimes the trainer changed, from father to son, or from trainer to co-trainer. Sometimes the dog changed as one dog retired and another younger dog was brought in. Until 1997, the only consistency in the Lassie world had been that all of the dogs that played Lassie were direct descendants of the original Lassie, Pal, and since then even that has been broken several times on screen and appearances.

In 2000 the Weatherwax family sold the Lassie trademark 100% to Classic Media and in 2003 Bob Weatherwax ended his association with Lassie. This meant the family gave up all rights to the use of the name and image of Lassie from that time forward and Bob would no longer supply dogs to be Lassie. These were choices they made. There was no "corporate takeover" and Bob was not forced out. With those decisions, Bob voluntarily gave up any involvement in the breeding, choosing or presentation of current or future Lassies. He might continue to breed line dogs, but none of them will ever be Lassie again, without a contract with Classic Media.

Earlier this year Bob has resurfaced in the public eye and has a new website. We've become aware of a bevy of negative statements and unsubstantiated claims being made about us, and Carol Riggins, on his site, ALL UNTRUE. If such accusations were true, they would be in a courtroom, not on a blog. From our 10+ years experience working with Bob directly, we know that he rarely went near a computer, not even for email, and it would be a radical change for him to actually be writing the web content himself. Even as recently as this past weekend, he made a point later in the day at an event to personally come in to the vendor tent to visit Cathy's table and say hello. His recent comments are not only untrue but were quite a shock coming from out of nowhere a week later.

With the exception of Bob's bookkeeper, the people that are now working with Bob and producing his site are all new business associates since the sale of the Lassie trademark by the Weatherwax family. None of those people are previous business associates of lassie.net or Colliewoode Productions, nor were they involved in the many professional or personal experiences and decisions made by Bob and/or lassie.net during the years we worked together. It's a mystery how anyone who was not present and involved could possibly write about anything that happened between us. What we present on our site is not only the history and ongoing activities of Lassie, but is an autobiographical journey of our past 12+ years with Lassie, which includes 8 years of personal memories with Bob.

It's can be somewhat disturbing, yet humorous, to watch a fan in middle of the Midwest, who doesn't have all the facts, who was never involved, and is relying on heresay, creating fantasies and lies about us that are so different from reality. But it's not funny to see this kind of tactic being used in a way that presents Bob as a bitter, angry man who hates everyone who once worked with him and supported him for many years. As one of the most famous trainers in the world, Bob certainly does not need people to attack anyone's integrity in order for him to succeed in his new endeavors.

Bob deserves to be recognized for his body of work outside of Lassie and significant contribution to Lassie. He also deserves the opportunity to move into new ventures and be successful there as well. Those that think it's necessary to attack the integrity of others to lift Bob up have grossly underestimated Bob's talent. Regardless of what you may read elsewhere, we continue to wish Bob success now and in the future, and will always treasure our years together.