Read an Excerpt
The True Adventures of Tip
The Catahoula-Leopard Cowdog
By BARBARA GOURLEY
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Barbara Gourley
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2316-2
Chapter One
MY STORY MY STORY begins with Sweetie and her newborn puppies. Seven cute and cuddly pups began their journey through life at the Russell house. Now, Mr. Russell is a cowboy. He trains horses and breeds dogs for the specific purpose of training them to be good cowdogs. Mother says, "being a good cowdog means that you go out into the pasture with the cowboys to help gather and pen the cows when it's time to take the calves to market." I can tell you it sure can get a little scary when those mama cows turn suddenly and run toward you with the sole intent of trampling you. You have to be alert and quick so you can get out of the way. It's really lots of fun, even if it is hard work. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I want to tell you about my parents. Sweetie is my mother. She really has been sweet to me, making sure I was well fed and cared for, with a proper upbringing. She taught me to say please, thank you and you're welcome, or you might get a swat behind the ear with her paw. She has very good breeding. She's a Leopard dog. I don't know exactly what that means, but I've been told it means she is a high-class cowdog.
My dad's name is Friendly. He is three-quarter Leopard and one-quarter Lacy. He's a real tough dude. I have an awful lot to live up to. I wouldn't want to disappoint either of them. Now, let me tell you about my dad. He has traveled quite a bit, all the way to south Texas to work on a big ranch down there. One day when the cowboys were moving cattle across the road and he was helping them, a car drove all the way out into the ditch and hit him. It hurt his head and he had to go to the doctor, but he was tough and recovered from that injury.
Boy, did he have a scary story to tell about the time he went to the bayou to get a drink of water after he had been working cattle all day. An alligator bit him on his hip and wouldn't let go. If he hadn't been so strong he might not have gotten away. He walks with a limp from that accident. You think that's bad? He was out with the cowboys repairing fences one day and all these killer bees started stinging him. He said his head swelled up really big. The cowboys rescued him and helped him recover from that, too. After that his master decided he should come back to the Russell's before something else bad happened. That's when I was born. It was fun growing up with my brothers and sisters. I had lots of good times teasing my sisters and pulling their tails. My brothers and I romped around the house and yard until Mother would scold us and make us take a nap.
One day two men came by to see our family. One man thought my sister was a real cutie. She has spots - all different colors - gray, black and white spots. Now me, I'm more like my dad and the Lacy breed. I'm red - except for a little white tip on my tail. One of the men said he sure would like for me to come live with him when I get old enough. I can't wait to grow up and see the world. The man seems to be very nice. I guess my sister will go live with the other man. We'll be lucky to have them as our masters.
Well, the day has come for us to leave home and go live with our new masters. I'm excited, but also a little sad about leaving my family. I have a name!!! My new master named me TIP because of the white tip on my tail. That's neat! I like my new name a lot. I like my master and I like the lady who lives here, too. She feeds me and plays with me and gives me treats that taste sooooo good. I'll do just about anything she asks me to for a treat. But sometimes when I get rowdy, she swats me with a rolled up paper. It doesn't hurt, but I don't like it. I'll try to be good. My master and I do lots of fun things together. I have a big back porch to play on and a big yard to run around. And you know what? On the other side of the fence there is a heifer and a baby calf. Master and Lady feed the baby calf with a great big bottle. I think I heard them say she's an orphan, but I don't know what that means. They feed Heifer every afternoon, but during the day she just eats grass. I'm kind of afraid of Heifer, but I act like I'm not. I bark at her, but I'm sure glad there's a fence between us.
I hadn't been living here very long when some visitors came to see Master and Lady. They came from someplace called Atlanta, I think. There was a little blue eyed girl with blonde hair called Ariel and a real nice boy named Brian. They played with me and I had so much fun. I nipped them on the arms and legs, but I wasn't trying to hurt them. Master fussed at me though, so I had to stop doing that. Master let the kids feed the baby calf with that big bottle. They said they live in the city so they don't get to do things like that. I didn't want them to go inside. I tried to make them stay outside with me. I put my paws around their legs and laid in front of the door to try to keep them out here on the porch. That was a real fun time. I like kids. I hope I didn't play too rough.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The True Adventures of Tip by BARBARA GOURLEY Copyright © 2011 by Barbara Gourley. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
