Hank the Cowdog
The popular Hank the Cowdog series is based on the humorous antics of the canine Head of Ranch Security. In this first book, Hank and his little buddy, Drover, set out to solve a series of baffling murders on the ranch. Is Hank a suspect? An Outlaw? Can he clear his good name?
The second book in the Hank the Cowdog series opens with Hank defending the ranch against the attack of a Silver Monster Bird. Later he is stricken with the dreaded disease, Eye-Crosserosis, and unless he can find a cure for this dangerous condition, his position as Head of Ranch Security is at stake! In his quest for the cure, Hank visits the cave of a witchy little owl named Madame Moonshine, and some crazy adventures follow.
Hank's third adventure opens with Hank in trouble again, so he heads to town to make a surprise visit to his sister, Maggie. Sounds innocent enough, but while in town, Hank contracts a mysterious case of "soap hydrophobia" - and ends up in the dog pound! Will he find a way out?
The fourth book in the Hank the Cowdog series, Murder in the Middle Pasture, begins with a baffling new mystery - the death of a calf on the ranch, and, as Head of Ranch Security, Hank must go on a very dangerous mission to spy on the coyote village and arrest the murderer. However, a pack of wild dogs soon complicates the plot, and it takes all of Hank's deductive powers to solve this one!
5) Faded Love
Heading into the wild outback, Hank goes in search of his true love, the charming Miss Beulah. Hank is sure he can win Beulah's heart - but first he'll need the help of a powerful aphrodisiac.
Who - or what - has been killing the chickens? And, more importantly, what is Ranch Security going to do about it? These are the critical questions in the sixth adventure of Hank the Cowdog. A fiendish murderer is loose on the ranch, and never before has Hank followed so many clues or interrogated more suspects. Every character in the book turns out to be a suspect - including Hank himself. Can he solve the crime and prove his innocence before
...As the proud new owner of a Priceless Corncob, Hank knows that being rich can change your life. But does it mean giving up his position as Head of Ranch Security?
When it comes to dealing with Tuerto, the one-eyed stud horse from the next ranch over, Hank's usual approach is not to approach him at all. But when Tuerto breaks loose and charges Little Alfred and his cousins, it's up to Hank to save them.
It's Halloween, and strange things are happening on the ranch. When darkness falls, Drover reports that he has seen a witch, a ghost, a pirate, and two skeletons on Slim's front porch . . . and, these terrifying creatures were saying something about "Tricker Trees." Can Hank and Drover solve the mystery—before they get too spooked?
Hank is literally at the end of his rope in his tenth adventure. It's roundup time at the ranch and Hank is left behind, tied to a post, while a high-bred border collie named Bennie takes Hank's place and runs the show. How can Hank restore himself as Head of Ranch Security and reclaim his fame and fortune?
Little Alfred is having a hard time accepting his new baby sister, Molly. Hank tries to give him some advice, but Alfred decides to run away from home. It's up to Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, to save Alfred from the coyotes, bobcats, and other monsters that lurk in the "dark unchanted forest."
Accompanying Slim and Little Alfred into town on a Christmas shopping trip, Hank and Drover run into a wounded buzzard and a gang of toughs so mean and heartless, they begin to wonder they'll ever make it back to the ranch.
14) Monkey Business
A convoy of circus trucks is passing through the ranch. The last truck in the column hits a bump and a large red box falls off and comes to rest in the pasture. Hank and Drover investigate the box and discover that it contains a circus monkey. Pete advises Hank not to open it, but Hank's curiosity gets the best of him. What follows is fun and adventure.
Hank makes a foolish bet with his archenemy, Pete the Barncat, that he can catch the Lumberpile Bunny. He loses the wager, his job, his pride, and even his gunny sack bed under the gas tanks. Hank begins to plot revenge. He must dispose of the cat. That sounds simple, but, without Pete, Hank discovers scrap time has lost all its joy and meaning.
A terrible winter storm strikes the Texas Panhandle. Down at Slim's place, Hank and Drover listen to the wind howling outside, watching the snow pile up outside. The phone rings. It's High Loper. Baby Molly has a bad cough and needs medicine. Can Hank go out into the blizzard and make it all the way to Headquarters with the cough medicine? Or, will he be captured and eaten by Rip and Snort?
Against her better judgment, Sally May leaves the ranch in Slim's care. While Slim naps, Hank and Little Alfred subject strawberry ice cream to rigorous product testing and then go for a ride in a mysterious spaceship. But, it's when Slim finally awakens that their adventures really begin. Hank saves Slim from sure death, endures a terrible whipping from the Hooking Bull, and much, much more.
Wonder if cattle rustlers still exist? Well, they do. Hank and Slim go on a camping trip to see if they can catch the mysterious stranger who is stealing calves. Hank devours all of Slim's camp meat (weenies) and chews the tent rope in half during a thunderstorm. Slim gets soaked, but fortunately he never figures out why the rope broke.
Pete warns Hank that a stray dog has invaded the ranch and is lurking inside the machine shed. Naturally, Hank goes to investigate, and sure enough, he finds the Phantom Dog—in an old mirror stored in the machine shed. But then Drover looks into the same mirror and sees a "Handsome Prince." Holy smokes, it appears that two dogs have invaded the ranch!
When Hank, Slim, Drover, and Little Alfred head over to the Hodge's place to feed the cattle, Hank encounters the weirdest cat he's ever seen. Then, when Hank gets bumped out of the back of the Cammo-Stealth army truck, Mary D. Cat is the only one around to help keep Rip and Snort at bay. Will Slim realize Hank is missing in action? Is Mary D. Cat really a vampire? Or could it be—gulp—that she's a good cat after all?
While Slim and Loper are away from the ranch for three days, Hank suffers from...is it a double bumblebee sting, or much worse? It falls upon Sally May to nurse the stricken Hank back to health. Her patience and compassion are seriously tested, while the afflicted Hank endures humiliation at the hands of Pete, Wallace and Junior, and an insulting veterinarian. Does Sally May care after all?
Slim rescues an orphan raccoon, and much to Hank's dismay, everyone on the ranch is enchanted with the "cute" baby coon with the beady little eyes and amazing little hands. Yet, little do they know that every time midnight rolls around, Eddy the Rac is seized with uncontrollable fits and it's Hank's responsibility to guard the crafty masked bandit every moment! Soon Hank finds himself teaming up with Eddy to liberate the poor "singing" cookies.
...Hank assists Eddy the Rac performing amazing feats of illusion. But the magic tricks backfire when Hank becomes a prime suspect in a felony and Eddy pulls a disappearing act. This tale leads Hank through the creepy haunted house as he tries to save his friend and clear his name.
Hank and Drover must deal with all sorts of strange phenomena. They must defend the ranch against an attack of the terrible Charlie Monsters and a polka-dot midget. Then they must gather every ounce of courage they have to save the ranch from the Swirling Killer Tornado.
Quail season has started, and Plato the Birddog is impressing the lovely Miss Beulah with his pointing ability. So, Hank tries to impress her with some bird work of his own by chasing a flock of noisy, wild turkeys away from the house. However, Sally May had been watching the turkeys, and that means that Hank is in deep trouble. But, in the middle of all of this, Beulah gets kidnapped by Scraunch. Can Hank save her?
Hank discovers an elixir that gives him a huge burst of energy - Sally May's bucket of root stimulator. It gave him such a kick, he challenges Rufus, the Doberman Pincher to a fight, only to discover that, in the meantime, Sally May has filled the bucket with mopwater! Big trouble for the Head of Ranch Security.
Marauding trespassers are threatening to stampede the cattle. It's Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, to the rescue as he: tracks down the enemy agent, "Mysterious Esther", escapes the relentless Vampire Vacuum Sweeper, and confronts Buster and his gang. Will Hank prevail and save the ranch? Find out in this action-packed episode.
Hank has his paws full when he discovers a mother cat and six kittens trespassing in a haystack on his very own ranch. (Have we mentioned that cowdogs don't like cats?) Join Hank as he is trapped in a runaway pickup, surrounded by a herd of stray cats, and forced to battle a raging bull. Can Hank stop the cats from taking over his ranch?
Someone has been stealing feed out of the feed shed, and Hank knows that it's his job to do whatever he can to help nab the culprit. Slim sets a live-animal trap in the shed, and Hank checks it in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, the trap is a little trickier than Hank anticipated, and in the process of his investigation Hank manages to get himself...well...trapped. Can Hank find a way out of this sticky situation?
It's New Year's Eve day on the ranch, and Slim and Miss Viola are both having second thoughts about their engagement - but for what reasons? Viola returns the lock-washer ring Slim had given her a week before, but before Slim can fix things, Uncle Johnny asks for his help with a "little job." Like all of Uncle Johnny's "little jobs," this one ends up being a lot more than Slim signed-up for, and the day's events put him in a race against the clock.
...Hank the Cowdog has seen dry summers in his years as the Head of Ranch Security, but nobody on the ranch has seen a drought like this. Ponds have dried up, the creek is down to a trickle, pastures have turned to burned toast, and the cows are kicking up clouds of dust. Then, to top it all off, Pete the Barncat hatches a dastardly plot to ruin Loper's birthday! The last thing the cowboys need is a prairie fire, but that's what they get, and it begins
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