Katts and Dog

This was one of several excellent family-oriented Canadian productions from that time that were broadcast in the US and then disappeared. As other commentators have indicated, they were thoroughly enjoyable for all ages.

Imagine my shock when on visiting Montreal about ten years ago I turned on the hotel tv and, finding nothing better, checked out Katts and Dog. Which I had known exclusively as Rin Tin Tin, K-9 Cop. Now, you have to understand several things. First, Rin Tin Tin was a famous German shepherd dog character from a series in the late 50s. So it was perfectly logical for this dog to have that name. But the dog in Canada was Rudy, and I was amazed to discover that they had gone back over every single "Rudy" and dubbed in "Rinty" for the US audience. The dubbing was absolutely undetectable. But to this day I don't get the point.

Second thing you have to understand: They never made it clear where the show took place. It was intentionally an unspecified city in the Pacific northwest. The police uniforms looked plenty US to me but they must have been designed to look Canadian to the Canadians as well. (They did not have checkered caps.) Standard Canadian and standard US English, if there is such a thing, are scarcely distinguishable, so I guess they got by by not having the characters say "eh?" Because of PC or union considerations or both, there was a sequence of episodes in there where the female interest spoke with a French accent. In the context they made her French French, but obviously she was quebecoise.

Anyway, an excellent family show, and it is a shame that those of its ilk seem to be with us no more.

I have to say "Katts and Dog" was such an awesome show, and even though I was born in 1991, I really didn't see it until 1999 or 2000 when Showcase had rights to broadcast it. It is brought back so many memories of my childhood, and what Toronto really looked like while I was a little kid. Heck there was one episode which was filmed in my current high school, Leaside High School(even though the renamed it "Riverdale" for filming purposes) and it really brought it home for me. They had such good scripts and it brought out the reality of being a cop, and inspired me to go a get a German Shepherd Dog, and at one point made me want to become a cop, but now I don't think that it is a great idea. But it has such good values, and to believe it had better success in the States with 5 seasons and while good old "Due South" had 4 seasons. Heck with 5 seasons there should at least be a DVD out, and I wonder if Atlantique Productions is out of business which would be sad. But man this show is just well put together and had about the same actors that would be later used in Due South. The values such as drugs, losing a loved one, dealing with personal hardships, are just so nice to relate to.

Excellent show, wish there was a DVD. I hope Alliance takes over the distribution and copyright for this stuff.

In the USA, we know this program better as "Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop". I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this program. The concept of an uncle willing to adopt his nephew as his own son is inspiring. Jesse Collins was a pleasure to watch, as he effectively conveyed every emotion such a role would require. As the show contained no profanity or offensive material, it is also a good example of family-oriented material. I only hope that re-runs return soon of this program, as I would enjoy seeing them again.

I would love to see Rinn Tin-Tin K9 Cop on DVD. I haven't seen this show in about 18 years. I had a huge crush on Andrew Bednarski. I wrote him fan letters and he would write me back. It was the highlight of my middle school years.

If I remember correctly, the show was about Hank Katts ( I never heard of the title being "Dog and Katts") and he was a cop in a K9 unit with Rinny the German Shepard who was smarter than everyone on the show. Rinny would save the day every time and could always tell Hank when Stevie was in a well or in trouble. I believe it took place in Canada. Hank was Stevie's uncle and had adopted him after Stevie's mother died.

It was a great show with lots of great family values and adventure. I'd love to catch an episode or two again to remember old times. We need more shows like that on TV today.

I have been a Rin Tin Tin fan for years. Rin Tin Tin K9 Cop(Katts and Dog was the title outside the US) is a wonderful family show that shows the life of a police officer and his partner, a German Shepherd. Just like the original series the Adventures of Rin Tin Tin , there was action and family values in each episode. The father/son relationship played by Jesse Collins as officer Hank Katts and Andrew Bednarski as his nephew/ adopted son Stevie was believable and realistic. The show took place in a generic metropolitan city. Each week brought new stories and unlike many TV series it didn't go preaching to the viewer. This TV show deserves to be released on DVD to be viewed by a new generation of kids and allow us older fans to relive the enjoyment of a family oriented police show.