Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner, 1980

This book read like a bad made-for-tv children's movie. Flat characters, too emotional, no outside motivation for the events of the plot. Grandfather gets "sick" when he doesn't have the money for 10 years' worth of back taxes, so Little Willy (who's 10, but seems much younger, like 4 or 5) takes over the farm and with the help of Searchlight the Dog harvests something like 60 acres of potatoes, single-handedly! He then runs the dogsled race to win the cash prize of (who would guess it?) $500. But ten feet from the finish line, Searchlight drops dead. Ah, too bad for him. I know, I'm heartless. I won't spoil the ending. Hah!