How many faithful dogs served their masters well in Montana can never be known. However, one dog's devotion is forever immortalized in Fort Benton. Shep, a mixed breed dog, became famous for waiting at the train station for the return of his master. For five years.

What is known, is that throughout the years many people in Montana have relied on dogs to assist in everyday life and to provide companionship. Today, while dogs continue to serve in many of their traditional functions, dogs have taken on new and unique tasks that enhance the lives of their owners and the community. Therapy, medical assistance, and search and rescue are only a few of the many services dogs provide.

Today, dogs contribute more to welfare of individuals and society than perhaps any other time in the history of the human-dog bond. Additionally, over the past three decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in drastically lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

At times, the media spotlight on an individual, and infrequent, case of a dog attack has given the false impression that dogs pose a significant threat to the community. Occasionally, this type of sensationalized publicity, and/or a lack of awareness of the infrequency and true causes of dog attacks, has resulted in reactive and uniformed policies directed against certain types of dogs.

In January 2009, a bill was introduced to make it illegal to own a "pit bull" in Montana. Noting that it is still legal to be a spectator at a dog fight in Montana, Rep. Driscoll nevertheless introduced a bill that would have required that cherished pet dogs be killed, solely on account of their appearance. Dog owners in Montana were justifiably outraged. Animal professionals who understand the nature of the human/canine bond weighed in as well. Rep. Driscoll's bill was quickly defeated.

Fortunately, most people in Montana understand the value of dogs, and the responsibility of owners to provide humane care and control.

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Ft. Benton is best known for -- and most proud of -- Old Shep, its "forever faithful" sheep dog. In the summer of 1936, a sheep herder fell ill and headed to Ft. Benton for treatment. His dog, Shep, came along. When the herder died a few days later, his body was crated up and sent back east to relatives. Shep followed the box to the Ft. Benton train depot, and watched nervously as his master was put on board and taken away.

For the next five and a half years, Shep maintained a vigil at the station, greeting the four trains that arrived each day, devotedly waiting for his master to return.

Two and a half years into the watch, Old Shep was featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not, and became a Depression-era sensation. Fan mail poured in. School children sent Christmas gifts. Rail travelers took long detours off the mainline, just to stop in Ft. Benton and see this devoted dog meet their train.

Eventually, tragedy struck. On January 12, 1942, an old and deaf Shep failed to hear the 10:17 train coming into the station. At the last moment, Shep heard the train; but he slipped on an icy rail trying to get away.

Shep's obituary was carried on both wire services, and his funeral two days later, complete with honor guard and pall bearers, was attended by hundreds. "Eulogy on the Dog," originally written for fellow brave dog, Old Drum, was read by the town's minister.

Shep was buried on a lonely bluff looking down on the train depot. The Great Northern Railroad put up a simple obelisk, with a painted wooden cutout of Shep next to it. Just beneath, white stones spelled out SHEP. Lights illuminated the display at night, and conductors pointed it out to their passengers. Eventually, though, the passenger line stopped coming through Ft. Benton, the lights went out, and the grave fell into disrepair.

But a new generation of Shep fans, perhaps motivated by a Paul Harvey mention in 1988, repaired and refurbished the grave. The Shep cutout is now painted steel, and lights are back up. The site is well-maintained by the Kiwanis Key Club and Ft. Benton Community Improvement Society. In town, the Museum of the Upper Missouri shows off Shep's collar and dog bowl.

In 1994, the town unveiled a larger-than-life bronze Shep, both front feet on a train rail, down at one end of its historic levee. The town had raised money by selling miniatures of the statue, as well as memorial bricks which were placed in a thirty-foot octagon beneath it.

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A rare photograph from the early 1870's in Montana territory, showing General George A. Custer with his dogs.

What is a dog bite?

While the question seems simple enough, the answer is often not what we imagine.

Over the past 3 decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been successful in lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

National Canine Research Council

Over the past 45 years (1965 - present) there have been three (3) dog bite-related fatalities in Montana, an average of one (1) fatality every 15 years.

NCRC's 2010 Preliminary Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities illustrates the challenge of accurately reporting on these extremely rare, tragic events. Our mission of preserving the human-canine bond obligates us to be as accurate about these emotionally charged incidents as we can, so that they are calmly, correctly and, therefore, usefully understood. Accuracy takes time.

At least three (3) different breeds/types of dogs have been reported to be involved in these incidents.*

None of the dogs involved in dog bite-related fatalities in Montana had been spayed or neutered by their owners.

In all three incidents, young children had been unsupervised and encountered unfamiliar dogs:

In 1975, a 3-year-old girl wandered off and approached a dog chained behind a store (Helena).

In 1999, a 6-year-old boy was attacked by his uncle's loose roaming dogs (Blackfeet Reservation).

In 2006, a 4-year-old boy wandered out into the yard where his uncle kept numerous dogs (Cascade County).

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*Note: In recent years, scientists have established that visual identification of dogs of unknown origin is extremely unreliable; therefore, while we can be sure these listed incidents involved varied types of dogs, we cannot be certain of the accuracy of most breed identifications.  

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In spite of reckless or negligent ownership practices of some dog owners and/or parents, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality:

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Fact is, people in Montana routinely accept greater risks from ATVs, bicycles and swimming pools than any that are associated with companion animals.

National Canine Research Council