In the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the family dog’s name is Jack. He is the loyal bulldog associated with the Ingalls family during their travels and settlement on the American frontier.
Jack appears across the Laura Years, including On the Banks of Plum Creek, where he moves with the family to Minnesota. His presence gives the family continuity as they leave one home for another, and he is remembered as one of the series’ most recognizable animals alongside the Ingalls horses.
The books are autobiographical children’s novels based on Wilder’s childhood, but they are not literal transcripts of every event. Jack was based on a real dog, yet Wilder altered the chronology: the real dog was no longer with the family during part of the period depicted, so she included his death as a narrative transition. Bandit, another dog, belongs mainly to the television adaptation, which is a common source of mix-ups.