Despite his flaws Hank is deeply loyal to his family and the ranch community and usually rises to the occasion at the moment of true crisis. Much of the humor of the series comes from Hank as narrator shamelessly attempting to make himself seem more competent with hindsight than he really was, but the reader is rarely fooled. As a result of this, Hank frequently finds himself in sticky situations, usually of his own creation. Hank has a superiority complex which causes him to have an inflated sense of his own intelligence, strength, courage and attractiveness. However his real task is to serve as the assistant to Slim and Loper in herding cattle. He styles himself as the 'Head of Ranch Security' and conducts security sweeps and nightly patrols. According to the official Hank The Cowdog Website, Hank is based on a real Australian Shepherd named 'Hank'. Hank claims to be a 'purebred top-of-the-line blue-ribbon cowdog', and that may in fact be true. Hank is the only character to appear in every single story in the series. Hank: Hank is the main character and narrator of each story in the Hank the Cowdog adventures. Main page: List of Hank the Cowdog characters Teaching programs are available for the series via Maverick Books and a story entitled The Case of the Dancing Cowboy was serialized in 2002, in several American newspapers. In the 1980s, the first book was adapted into an animated segment for CBS Storybreak. It has been published in several languages including Spanish, Danish, Persian, and Chinese. The series has received awards and critical acclaim, and the books have sold more than eight million copies worldwide. Each book features songs that Erickson performs on the audiobook editions. Hank the Cowdog was previously published via Maverick Books, with Puffin Books holding the current American publishing rights in English. The series began in 1982, with a couple of short stories about Hank and his friends since then, over 70 printed books and seven audio-only books have been published. The name of the ranch is never mentioned in any of the stories. In each book Hank and other characters must deal with several events, issues and mysteries that occur at their Texas Panhandle home in Ochiltree County.

The books follow Hank, a dog that views himself as the 'Head of Ranch Security'. Hank the Cowdog is a long running, ongoing series of children's books written by John R.

Slim's Good-bye by John R. Erickson