Footrot Flats - Minor Characters

Minor Characters

Rex

Wal's younger brother who lives in town and is a potter. Rex is better than Wal at sports and they often compete with Wal coming out for the worst. He also owns Boobsie, The Dog's mum.

Puti Puti

Rangi's Cousin. A city slicker, often gains a culture shock when coming to the farm. Usually confuses Dog, who attempts to be hip like the city dogs.

Pew

Cooch's pet magpie. Orphaned when Wal cut down his parents' tree; socially confused and always seeking revenge on Wal. Wal gave Pew to Cooch as a birthday present - the first time Wal ever remembered it - to get rid of him, but Pew's revenge continues. Cooch became a surrogate mother for Pew, coaching him in the way of birds as best he can.

Jess

Cooch's dog as well as the Dog's girlfriend and co-parent. She mainly lives in the "Bitches Box" and has had several litters of puppies with the Dog. The Dog's Tail Tale contains the story of their meeting as puppies.

Cooch's cousin Kathy

A beautiful, occasional visitor to Cooch and Wal. Her face remains a mystery as she is always drawn facing away from the reader. Loved by everyone, including The Dog, and especially Cooch.

Stewart "Irish" Murphy

Wal's other neighbour, a brutish man who does not welcome visitors and shoots any dog that strays onto his property, or mercifully hang them by their heels on the fence. Once he did this to Prince Charles and lived to regret it when Aunt Dolly found out. Always appears filthy ("health warning: do not approach this man downwind"), probably due to farming numerous pigs, who cause Wal plenty of grief. Has two loutish sons; Hunk and Spit. There is also Lex Murphy, who is known to be Hunk's nephew.

"Irish" Murphy's pigs

A fearsome gang of five or six enormous beasts. Often lurk in the nearby river, causing consternation to unsuspecting fishermen or dogs. Always ravenous, they once defeated and ate some large sharks that swam up the estuary.

Tiger, Wolf and Creampuff, "Irish" Murphy's pig-dogs

They often terrorise Dog who seeks help from Wal, Horse or Major. Now and then Dog tries to take all three of them on at once.

Major

Wal's first dog. A hunting dog, very stern and usually foul-tempered. But has some fondness for Dog, often saving him from Murphy's dogs.

Hermit Ram "The Buffalo"

This character appears now and then. It's a ram that's run off from the group and lives in the scrub of the farm. Now and then it appears with interest in the female sheep and Dog is often sent to stop it. Now and then it's hunted — but often outdoes its pursuers.

Cecil the Ram

An aged stud ram, who patently lacks zest for the task of servicing Wal's ewes. He soon rediscovers his libido when Wal sharpens the butchery knife.

The Goat

The third strongest animal on the farm (the first being Horse and the second Aunt Dolly), The Goat lives tethered to a chain in Wal's backyard. Wal bought him to keep the grass down, but The Goat is a pest, eating trousers and chasing the Dog and Wal. At one point Wal tried to get rid of it by selling it, but when he couldn't he decided to kill it. He couldn't do it exclaiming "dammit, I know this goat!". Didn't have many appearances at first, but soon became more popular in the strip.

Cooch's goats

A cunning pack of goats that use gang tactics to annoy Wal. For example if he plants trees behind a fence, Cooch's goats will stand on each other to get over and eat them. The dog often has to muster Cooch's goats and hates doing so.

Wal's unruly goose

Another classic character would be Wal's goose, who occasionally stalks Wal and bites Wal's backside all the time. In the film "The Dog's Tale", the goose is seen now and then, making an attempt to bite Wal in the farm and finally gets his chance when Wal rescues Murphy from a river.

Other hostile animals

In the early strip, the Dog's main tormentors were the Turkey, Goat, and Pigs (Boris and Dolores). In one strip, the Goose is chasing Wal and the Turkey is chasing the Dog, but Wal kicks the Turkey's head in and the Dog jumps on the Goose's neck, then Wal and the Dog celebrate their partnership.