The Wonder Dog

A dog with a mission.

When you hear The Wonder Dog you might think about Lenny the Wonder Dog* an Oscar Isaac classic, but the Wonder Dog I'm talking about is Kookie. This mutt had a love for motorcycles. He races with his owner, John McCown. The story tells of how Kookie came to the McCowns and how he was trained to racing motorcycles (with his person). In American Motorcyclist May 1981, Cindy McCown wrote, "Kookie didn't just hang on either, he was a real racer. Kookie learned to read the terrain, leaning back in the rough stuff and standing up on the smooth terrain." In the 1960's John McCown and his dog Kookie, picked up motorcycling as an activity together. "McCown bough a small off-road motorcycle, and surprisingly enough Kookie wasn't the least bit intimidated by the motorized two-wheeler." It had no basket, so McCown simply taped a piece of carpet over his gas tank and Kookie hopped on board. Let's just say Kookie paved the way for dogs to come in the future as canine co-pilots.

* The 2005 Film Lenny the Wonder Dog was a strange move about dogs with chips in their heads. Here's the synompsis: Doctor Island (Tim Derricourt) has invented a computer microchip he plans to use to train dogs instantly. However, his former colleague, Doctor Wagner (Allan Kumpulandien), has other plans for the microchip: he wants to implant copies in every child in order to brainwash them to come work for him after they turn 18, and be exceedingly loyal. In the fight between Doctor Island and Doctor Wagner's henchmen, Hanky (Mark Harding), Panky (Ned Cooke), and Doctor Island get injured and his dog Lenny (R. Brandon Johnson) is injected with the computer microchip. On the run, Lenny finds his brainpower growing. And when he finds a girl, CeCe (Bella Thorne), to be his friend and savior, Lenny discovers he can talk. Lenny (continually amazed by the new powers the embedded microchip keeps giving him), CeCe (full of unrequited love for longtime friend Rocky), and school newspaper reporter Rocky (Zendaya) (out to write the story of the century) team up with downtrodden police officer John Wyndham (Dave Rennick) to defeat Dr. Wagner and his henchmen. The showdown culminates at the school concert given by Pop Star Angie (IM5), where CeCe's inspiring speech and Lenny's audio powers combine to incriminate Doctor Wagner, who is arrested by the police captain, now appreciative of Officer Wyndham's talents for police-work and crime-solving, while CeCe and Rocky kiss.