 According to the "Booklist", "Publishers Weekly" gave the novel its "highest recommendation" and referred to it as a "marvelous evocation of the animal world".Reviewing the novel for "Best Sellers" magazine, William B. Hill considered it a "corking good novel", praising it for its "simplicity and straightforwardness" with the dog and fox being "real" rather than allegories for social issues.While he felt the novel was overly detailed in a few places, as a whole he considered the story "credible, almost all fascinating" and the characters entertaining.