"The Loaded Dog" is a humorous short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n writer Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...

. The plot concerns three gold miners and their dog, and the farcical consequences of leaving a bomb cartridge unattended. The story was first published in the collection Joe Wilson and His Mates in 1901.

Plot summary

Three gold miners named Dave Regan

Dave Regan

Dave Regan is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.A laid-back, somewhat mischievous young man, Dave is rarely found without the company of good mates Jim Bently and Andy Page.Arguably, Dave's character first...

, Jim Bently

Jim Bently

Jim Bently is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The somewhat more sensible member of the group, Jim is rarely found without the company of good mates Dave Regan and Andy Page...

, and Andy Page

Andy Page

Andy Page is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. Andy is rarely found without the company of good mates Jim Bently and Dave Regan, and is generally the 'straight man' of the trio.Andy's character first...

 are sinking a shaft

Shaft mining

Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....

 at Stony Creek

Stony Creek (Melbourne)

Stony Creek is located in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs through the suburbs of St Albans, Albion, Sunshine, Braybrook, Tottenham, Brooklyn, Kingsville and Yarraville....

. The trio own a young retriever dog

Retriever

A retriever is a type of gun dog that retrieves game for a hunter. Generally gun-dogs are divided into three major classifications: retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds. Retrievers were bred primarily to retrieve birds or other prey and return them to the hunter without damage...

 named Tommy, described as "an overgrown pup... a big foolish, four-footed mate." Andy and Dave, fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 enthusiasts, devise a unique method of catching fish using explosives. The dog picks up an explosive cartridge in its mouth, and runs the fuse through the campfire, prompting the three men to flee. Tommy, thinking it a game, playfully chases down his "two-legged mates," who try everything in their power to escape the cartridge. They even climb a tree When Dave seeks refuge in the local pub, the dog bounds in after him, causing the Bushmen inside to scatter. Tommy comes across a "vicious yellow mongrel cattle-dog sulking and nursing his nastiness under [the kitchen]," who takes the cartridge for himself. A crowd of dogs, curious about this unusual object, gather around the cartridge. The subsequent explosion blows apart the yellow cattle-dog and maims numerous others. For half an hour, the Bushmen who witnessed the spectacle are laughing hysterically. Tommy the retriever trots home after Dave, "smiling his broadest, longest, and reddest smile of amiability, and apparently satisfied for one afternoon with the fun he’d had."

Characters

• Tommy the retriever: A black, overgrown pup "who was always slobbering... Most of his head was usually a red, idiotic, slobbering grin of appreciation of his own silliness. He seemed to take life, the world, his two-legged mates, and his own instinct as a huge joke."
• Dave Regan: A laid-back gold miner, who is fond of fishing. It is Dave's idea to use a cartridge to catch fish.
• Andy Page: A fellow gold miner, who "usually put Dave’s theories into practice if they were practicable, or bore the blame for the failure and the chaffing of his mates if they weren’t."
• Jim Bently: Described as being uninterested in the "damned silliness" of Dave and Andy's scheme. He enjoys eating fish, but has no interest in fishing.

Publication

"The Loaded Dog" first appeared in the collection Joe Wilson and His Mates, published by Blackwood in 1901. The following year, this collection was published in Australia by Angus and Robertson.

Reception

"The Loaded Dog" is one of Henry Lawson's most popular works. John Barnes cites the story as being illustrative of Lawson's talent for humorous writing, calling it a "hilarious farce." Barnes further remarks that, despite focusing on the actions of the dog, "Lawson raises the story above the level of stock farce by making what happens the result of Dave Regan's bright idea."