W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A . C O M
49
In the traditional western ballad "Git Along Little Dogies" the cowboy sings,
"whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies, it's your misfortune and none of my own,
whoopee ti yi yo, git along little dogies, you know that Wyomin' will be your new home."
e
"DOGIE" immortalized in this song is an undersized orphaned calf, whom cow-
boys claim had lost its mammy and whose daddy run off with another cow. e origin
of this moniker has been lost, but several theories have arisen to explain it.
Some sources claim it comes from the Afro-Creole term dogi meaning "small" or
"short," in reference to the stunted stature of orphaned calves. In another speculation,
the malnourished calves being barely larger than dogs inspired cowboys to call them
doggies or dogies, again in reference to their diminutive size.
e most plausible explanation is given by Ramon Adams, editor of the cowboy
dictionary Western Words. He tells us the motherless calves, forced to eat grass before
they could efficiently digest it, developed distended, bloated bellies. To the cow man,
it looked as though these orphans had a belly full of sour dough. e calves were
called dough-guts, which later became doughies or dogies.
DOGIE
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