The film was made and released about thirty-seven years after its source novel of the same name by Frank Dalby Davison had been first published in 1946.
The breed of dog that Dusty was, was a Kelpie-Dingo cross-breed. The breed that Tom Lincoln (Bill Kerr) thought he was at first was a pure-bred Australian Kelpie.
According to the book 'Australian Film 1978-1994', the dog playing Dusty "was specially prepared for the role for more than eighteen months".
The movie spurred a television series Dusty (1988) which was first broadcast about five years after this cinema movie debuted.
The film's closing credits declare that the "prologue was read by John Stanton" and not as a narrator despite the fact that Stanton is billed predominantly in the cast credits for portraying the major role of Railey Jordan.