Travis assures Katie that the hogs were not rabid, and both he and Old Yeller recover. Searcy leaves, and Lisbeth stays with the Coateses to help them harvest corn. As Old Yeller recovers, Searcy warns the Coates family of hydrophobia in the area but Katie chastises him for trying to scare Travis. Travis' mother then retrieves Old Yeller and uses horse hair to suture his wounds. However, Old Yeller is severely injured by the hog and Travis hides him in a large hole. Old Yeller defends Travis as he crawls away with an injured leg. However, Travis then falls into the group of hogs and is attacked by one. Advised by Bud Searcy, he sits in a tree, trying to rope them from above as Old Yeller corners them. One day, Travis sets out to trap a family of feral hogs. Sanderson later takes Travis aside and warns him of the growing plague of hydrophobia (rabies). Realizing that the Coates family really needs Old Yeller, he agrees to trade him to Arliss for a horny toad and a home-cooked meal. One day, Old Yeller's original master, Burn Sanderson, arrives looking for his dog. The next day, Old Yeller proves himself as a cow dog by protecting Travis from Rose, their cow, and restraining her while Travis milks her. After she and Bud leave, Travis scolds Old Yeller. Travis grows to love and respect Old Yeller, who comes to profoundly affect the boy's life.Д«ud Searcy and his granddaughter Lisbeth come for supper one day, and Lisbeth takes Travis aside to tell him Old Yeller has been stealing food all over the county. Its angry mother hears her cub wailing and attacks, but Old Yeller frightens her away, winning over the family. Later, Arliss tries to capture a black bear cub by feeding it cornbread and grabbing it. However, Yeller's habit of stealing meat from smokehouses and robbing hens' nests does not endear him to Travis. Travis unsuccessfully tries to shoo the dog away, but Arliss defends him from Travis.

While Jim is away, Travis sets off to work in the cornfield, where he encounters a Black Mouth Cur he names 'Old Yeller', as 'yeller' is a dialect pronunciation of 'yellow' and the dog's bark resembles a human yell. In the late 1860s, Jim Coates leaves his wife Katie, his teenage son Travis, and his small son Arliss to collect cattle in Kansas.

Old yeller