"I'm a desert dog, a desert dog. / I work from sun to sun. / I'm a skinny dog, as tough as wire. / I own myself alone." In a voice as old and earthy as desert rock, a gruff, hard-working canine tells his tale of a day spent herding goats. From the moment "Dawn Boy walks along the hills" until the moon rises in a night as "black as Raven's wing," he watches over the herd with his boy companion. No cute, storybook pup, this is a flesh-and-blood dog who howls his story to the moon and can "show a lizard who is boss."