Gus the Cattle Dog

By Pati Duyckers

This is a story about a dog named Gus. He is an Australian cattle dog about this long and this wide, and his coat is flecked with grey. He lives on Redgum Farm close to the little town of Craftly in the Australian outback. Gus manages the farm with the help of three dogs – Budda, a labrador, big, friendly, outgoing and high-spirited; Izzy, a wolfhound, loyal and lazy; and Beau, a kelpie, a very fast runner.

Every morning, Gus rounds up forty-two cows in the back paddock and brings them up to the house paddock to be milked. Then he says G’day to all the other dogs and the chooks, ducks, cats and horses that live on Redgum Farm.

One of his best friends is the horse Cozzi. Gus tells him all the gossip he has picked up on his way through the farmyard.

On one particular morning, Cozzi’s mate Cooper trotted up to listen as well. Suddenly, there was a loud gunshot.

‘BANG!’.

Ben, the farmer, had taken a shot at a fox near the chicken yard. But as Cooper jumped in fright, one of his hooves connected with Gus’s head. This accident had long term problems for Gus. Although he continued his daily job, he could not see as well as before.

Farmer Ben took him to the Vet, and they found out he was nearly blind. Operations had to be performed, and one of his eyes was replaced with a bright blue glass eye, which made him look like a pirate. Then, his other eye failed and had to be removed. Gus now looked like a squinting pirate.

But not being able to see is not a problem for Gus. Farmer Ben made a few changes around the house, and now Gus sleeps on his bed, and he has breakfast in a special spot in the garden. But although he can no longer round up the cows in the morning, he still does the rounds of the farmyard and tells Cozzi and Cooper all the gossip. Now and again, he runs into a door or a post or a garden bed, but his senses are acute and his head is pretty hard.

Because he cannot see, his hearing has become very keen. Gus hears the gate ‘click’ long before anyone else realises someone is coming. Then Gus leads Budha, Izzy and Beau down the drive, barking excitedly to let Farmer Ben know he has a visitor.

So Farmer Ben nicknamed Gus The Doorbell.

- Total nr. of readings: 904 Copyright © The author [2020] All Rights Reserved. This story may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the author except for personal use.