[D66] Shaggy dog story

[A.O.]

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/shaggy-dog-story.html

Shaggy dog story
Other phrases about:

    Animals

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Shaggy dog story'?

A lengthy, improbable and ultimately pointless story, often told in an
attempt at humour.
What's the origin of the phrase 'Shaggy dog story'?

This appears to be an American phrase. The first mention of 'shaggy dog
story' in print that I can find is in Esquire magazine, May 1937:

    "One of the more sporting ways of finding out which ones are not
[sane] is to try shaggy-dog stories on them."

Why the phrase 'shaggy dog story' was coined is difficult to determine.
Presumably, it derives from an actual but improbable story about a
shaggy dog. There are a few contenders for the honour of being the first
such story. For my money the one that is the most likely source of the
phrase originates from the pen of the American author, dog breeder and
journalist - Albert Payson Terhune. He was quite a celebrated author of
animal stories, especially dog stories, in the early years of the 20th
century. Terhune's best-known creation was Lad, the collie dog that took
the lead, so to speak, in several popular books (and later a film),
including his 1919 story Lad: A Dog. The later canine star Lassie is
clearly modelled on Lad, who in Lad: A Dog tackles a poisonous snake,
saves a crippled child and prevents the family barn from being burned down.

On 6th November 1926 the Canadian paper The Manitoba Free Press printed
a piece by Terhune, which he wrote as if it were a true account of a dog
called Lad – who is described in the text as a ‘shaggy dog’. The
tediously detailed and meandering story certainly fits the bill of
'shaggy dog story', in that it requires us to believe that the hero
survived shooting, clubbing and burial and came bounding back for more.
The account is of a stray collie that was shot for killing sheep and
which the author claims it to be 'true in all but details'. It is headed
The Strangest Dog Story I Know:

    "I tied Lad to a tree" he said, "with a lot of good stout wire. Then
I shot him three times in the head, at close range. Then I hammered his
head with a club. Then I dug a grave two feet deep and buried him. He
didn't suffer, though. He never moved after the first shot hit him."...

    "Imagine my astonishment, Sunday morning, three days later, when my
little son rushed into my room, shouting:
    'Dad, Laddie has come back. He still has the wire around him and
there's a big hole in his neck! And he's all covered with earth.' There
the dog stood on the front porch."...