A boy named Claude, nicknamed "Skeeter", lives with his elderly uncle in a cabin in the Mississippi woods. They hunt for a living and have been able to get by. One day Skeeter sees a strange, beautiful little dog being chased by hounds. He watches the unusual creature who makes a melodious yodeling sound, who cleans herself like a cat and has a tightly curled tail. After warding off the pack of hounds, the strange little dog shyly approaches Skeeter. He befriends the little dog, whom he names Lady and teaches her how to hunt. A bright, spirited little dog, Lady proves herself to be an able hunter. She and Skeeter are almost never apart.

Almost never, until...a neighbor reads of a missing basenji in the local paper. Skeeter is devastated by this as he loves his dog. Sidney Poitier, who plays a neighboring farmer is familiar with basenjis and had originally hoped to catch Lady for the reward. He sees how the basenji has bonded with Skeeter, so he tells the boy he could not part them.

Skeeter is torn between returning the beautiful basenji to her rightful owners or keeping her. It is a very moving story about the love of basenji. You might cry when Skeeter wipes the dog's tears away when he says, "Goodbye, My Lady."

http://www.byhigh.org/Faculty/Clark-Welsford-Gus.html 

http://www.heraldextra.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/welsford-hone-gus-clark/article_0251a0b4-2fa9-5f86-9051-811364864933.html