Yukon King was a fictional dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

 on the radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 versions of Challenge of the Yukon

Challenge of the Yukon

Challenge of the Yukon was a radio series that began on Detroit's station WXYZ , and an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on February 3, 1938...

(aka Sergeant Preston of the Yukon).

Although nominally the sidekick to Sergeant Preston, in both versions, the real hero was often King, his "wonder dog". Yukon King, an Alaskan husky

Alaskan Husky

The Alaskan husky is not a breed of dog rather it is a type or a category. It falls short of being a breed in that there is no preferred type of and no restriction as to ancestry; it is defined only by its purpose, which is that of a highly efficient sled dog...

, was the lead dog for Preston's sled team, as well as his faithful companion. King had a keen instinct for sensing criminals, and was equally valuable dealing with wild animals, once saving a small child from a wolverine.

In the radio version, King's barks were usually provided by animal imitators, usually sound effects artist Dewey Cole, and later, actor Ted Johnstone. The radio series supplied King with a backstory. As radio historian Jim Harmon recalled, King had been a Husky puppy raised by a mother wolf. When a lynx attacks the wolf and her cub, Sergeant Preston arrives in time to save King. Preston then raised the animal as his own dogteam captain.

On television, Yukon King was still a vital element, though the dog was now played by an Alaskan Malamute

Alaskan Malamute

The Alaskan Malamute is a generally large breed of domestic dog originally bred for use as a utilitarian dog and later an Alaskan sled dog. They are sometimes mistaken for a Siberian Husky, but in fact are quite different in many ways...

. Trained by Beverly Allen, the dog received star billing right after Preston, alongside Rex the horse.

Sources

• Bartel, Pauline (1997). Amazing Animal Actors. p. 169-170. Dallas: Taylor Publishing. ISBN 0-87833-974-4
• Harmon, Jim (1967). The Great Radio Heroes. p. 215-219. New York: Doubleday and Company.
• Osgood, Dick (1981). Wyxie Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit. Ohio: Bowling Green University Press.