Another dog story -Charlie the dog
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:25 am
Most of this is mostly true. Although all the participants are no longer living, their names (except for Charlie the dog) have been changed to protect the innocent, or perhaps the guilty. The setting is rural Texas, but could have been anywhere.
Two ranchers, we'll call them Jones and Smith, lived about a mile from each other, and over twenty miles from the nearest town of any size. One day, a mixed-breed stray male dog turned up at the Smith ranch house. After several attempts to chase the stray off, rancher Smith gave in to the pleas of his children and decided to keep the stray. They named him Charlie. After a year or so, for reasons known only to him, Charlie began to roam, spending more and more time at the neighboring Jones Ranch. The only way Charlie would go home was if rancher Jones would load Charlie into the back of his old pick-up truck and deliver him back to the Smith place.
This went on for some time, Charlie running off to the Jones ranch only to be brought back again to the Smiths. Finally one day Smith says to Jones "why don't you just keep Charlie? It's for sure he won't stay here at my place and he likes your place better". Jones replied "I don't want him." After several more weeks of this, Jones finally stopped bringing Charlie back. One day not long after, Jones had to make the twenty-plus mile trip into town to go to the feed store. He put Charlie into the back of his truck, and thinking someone in town would adopt Charlie, put him out at the feed store parking lot and left to continue some other errands in town.
As luck would have it, that same day rancher Smith also had to go to town to get some parts for his tractor. When he exited the tractor dealer, Smith saw a dog that looked a lot like Charlie across the street at the feed store. He called "here Charlie!" and the dog came running. "By golly it is you Charlie. What on earth are you doing here?" Smith put Charlie in his truck and on his way home, dropped Charlie off at the Jones Ranch. A few days later the two ranchers saw each other at church. "How's old Charlie doing" asked Smith. Jones replied "He's fine. You won't believe this but I took Charlie in to town one day last week and dumped him out at the feed store. Damned if that rascal didn't beat me back home! So I decided if he likes my place that well I'll just keep him!" Charlie lived well cared for at the Jones place the rest of his life.
Smith never told Jones that he brought Charlie back from town that day. He did tell a few others, swearing them to secrecy. When the locals gathered to swap stories, Jones would often repeat the story of how he took Charlie to town only to return home and find that Charlie had beat him back. The others would laugh, winking at each other. Jones went to his grave none the wiser.
And that's the true story of Charlie the dog.
Ken
Two ranchers, we'll call them Jones and Smith, lived about a mile from each other, and over twenty miles from the nearest town of any size. One day, a mixed-breed stray male dog turned up at the Smith ranch house. After several attempts to chase the stray off, rancher Smith gave in to the pleas of his children and decided to keep the stray. They named him Charlie. After a year or so, for reasons known only to him, Charlie began to roam, spending more and more time at the neighboring Jones Ranch. The only way Charlie would go home was if rancher Jones would load Charlie into the back of his old pick-up truck and deliver him back to the Smith place.
This went on for some time, Charlie running off to the Jones ranch only to be brought back again to the Smiths. Finally one day Smith says to Jones "why don't you just keep Charlie? It's for sure he won't stay here at my place and he likes your place better". Jones replied "I don't want him." After several more weeks of this, Jones finally stopped bringing Charlie back. One day not long after, Jones had to make the twenty-plus mile trip into town to go to the feed store. He put Charlie into the back of his truck, and thinking someone in town would adopt Charlie, put him out at the feed store parking lot and left to continue some other errands in town.
As luck would have it, that same day rancher Smith also had to go to town to get some parts for his tractor. When he exited the tractor dealer, Smith saw a dog that looked a lot like Charlie across the street at the feed store. He called "here Charlie!" and the dog came running. "By golly it is you Charlie. What on earth are you doing here?" Smith put Charlie in his truck and on his way home, dropped Charlie off at the Jones Ranch. A few days later the two ranchers saw each other at church. "How's old Charlie doing" asked Smith. Jones replied "He's fine. You won't believe this but I took Charlie in to town one day last week and dumped him out at the feed store. Damned if that rascal didn't beat me back home! So I decided if he likes my place that well I'll just keep him!" Charlie lived well cared for at the Jones place the rest of his life.
Smith never told Jones that he brought Charlie back from town that day. He did tell a few others, swearing them to secrecy. When the locals gathered to swap stories, Jones would often repeat the story of how he took Charlie to town only to return home and find that Charlie had beat him back. The others would laugh, winking at each other. Jones went to his grave none the wiser.
And that's the true story of Charlie the dog.
Ken
