Former Canyon Country resident Robert Walter Weatherwax, a professional dog trainer for film and TV productions, including “Lassie,” died Thursday, Aug. 15 at a Veterans Affairs facility in Scranton, Pa.

Weatherwax, 83, was born June 4, 1941 in Burbank.

Robert Ruddell Weatherwax, the son of Robert Weatherwax and a third-generation dog trainer, announced his father’s death on his Instagram page.

“It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my legendary dog training father. Robert Walter Weatherwax… He was born exactly one year after my grandfather’s MGM Lassie – “Pal.” I’m proud to be the last representative of the greatest dog training family in history.”

He also posted a photo on his Instagram page of his father and himself with a collie descended from the original “Lassie.”

Robert Ruddell Weatherwax is the author of “Training Your Dog the Weatherwax Way.”

Robert Walter Weatherwax owned a modest house and kennels located on Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country near Sand Canyon Road for several decades. He could often be seen training the collies, descendants of the original “Lassie,” in his front yard. He eventually sold his property, which was then razed, to the developers of the Sand Canyon Villas and Townhomes.

Weatherwax learned the dog training business from his father, Rudd Weatherwax, who created “Lassie” for CBS in 1954 with producer Robert Maxwell. he joined his father on the show in the early 1960s and continued to carry on the “Lassie” legacy after Rudd Weatherwax died at age 77 in 1985.

The family voted to sell the “Lassie” trademark, reportedly against Robert Weatherwax’s wishes, in 2002.

His grandfather, Walter S. Weatherwax, was an animal trainer during the silent movie era.

Weatherwax’s uncles Jack Weatherwax and Frank Weatherwax were also Hollywood dog trainers.

The Weatherwax family’s Hollywood clientele included Skippy, known as “Asta,” who appeared in Golden Age comedies such as “The Thin Man” and “The Awful Truth” and Terry, the famous “Toto” in “The Wizard of Oz.” Spike, the dog known to audiences as “Old Yeller” in the Disney classic was another of the family’s “stars.”

In addition to his work on Lassie, Robert Weatherwax trained the dog “Einstein” from the “Back to the Future” films, animals on “Big Jake” (1971), “The Thing” (1982), “Nickelodeon” and “Dennis the Menace” (1993).

Weatherwax served in the U.S. Army in West Germany then returned to Southern California where he eventually started his own dog training business, Weatherwax Trained Dogs.

His book, “Four Feet to Fame: A Hollywood Dog Trainer’s Journey,” was published in 2017 and co-authored by Richard Lester.

He is survived by his children, Robert Ruddell Weatherwax and Mary Duxbury.