One of the most powerful themes of Where the Red Fern Grows is the bond between child and dog, or in this case, between Billy and Old Dan and Little Ann. The emotion of their bond exists long before Billy even acquires the hounds, appearing when Billy discovers the ad and prays for his hounds:

There on the banks of the Illinois River, in the cool shade of the tall white sycamores, I asked God to help me get two hound pups. It wasn’t much of a prayer, but it did come right from the heart (18).

Once Billy has Old Dan and Little Ann, it’s clear there is some mystical connection between the three of them. Grandpa and Papa are constantly observing how attentively the hounds listen to Billy and how uncanny their relationship is. While Billy saves their lives several times: first, from a mountain lion as pups; second, saving Old Dan from a tree; and third, saving Little Ann from the ice, Old Dan and Little Ann save Billy from a mountain lion in the end. Their relationship ends much like it began—with their first enemy. In this way, Rawls bookends their story with a mountain lion.