A practice that I’m sure would get you locked up nowadays was to post a dog, chained up at each cattle guard along the country roads.

There would be a dog house, to protect them from the weather, whether the hot sun or the freezing cold.

The rancher would come daily and put out food and water for them. It seemed like a lonely existence, but I guess they served their purpose.

Looking back I feel like that was mostly where goats and sheep were kept, but maybe wild cattle too.

They may still be used in some places, but I don’t remember seeing it since the 1970s.

For those of you that aren’t sure what a cattle guard is, this is one. (Yes there are folks out here that don’t know)