A Dog Named Duke by William D.

Ellis
A Dog Named Duke by William D. Ellis is a story based on the relationship of a dog and his master. The omnipresent narrator describes how Duke, a pincher Doberman, was loved by his master and in return offered his loyalty to Chuck. It is said that a dog can learn as many as upto 100 words of a human language. Though he cannot speak, he understands them. Its a beautiful narrative which shows the understanding Chuck and Duke shared and how they felt responsible for each other. Duke, the dog proved to be a loyal pet when the testing time came. Later when Duke met with an accident, Chuck was as worried as he would have been for his own child. The struggle that the dog went through for his master is appreciable. What the doctors and physiotherapists could not do was done by the dog. Marcy, Chuck's wife, who was so reluctant on having a Doberman at home, was the one to take him to the hospital with much care. The rare friendship between Chuck and Duke is beautifully narrated. Chuck Hooper, a competitive young man, was a hard-charging zone sales manager for a chemical company. One autumn night, he was pulled out by a car and was taken to a hospital with a subdural haemorrhage in the motor section of the brain, completely paralysing his left side. After months of sharing lonely thoughts with himself at home, Hooper and his wife Marcy decided to bring their dog, Duke, a pincher Doberman, back from kernel. When the dog was brought back,

he was a 23-kilo missile of joy. He hit his master in happiness so hard that Chuck almost lost his balance. Duke was no ordinary dog. He sensed the criticality of Chuck's situation instantly. Day and night the dog and the master stared at each other giving way to boredom. Finally, Duke couldn't take it. He poked his pointed nose under Hooper elbow and lifted. He did not listen to Chuck and poked his master-arm at equal intervals. It happened so that one evening Chuck good hand idly hooked the leash onto Duke collar to hold him still. The whole incident was like a lightening, Duke pranced and pulled Chuck to his feet. With much effort he took a few steps and then collapsed on his wheel chair. The Dog then knew what to do. He started early next day. By two weeks they reached the front porch. By April the dog was pulling his master by the least on the side-walk in the neighbourhood. Everybody saw the pattern of progress. The next year in January, Hooper made his big move by walking 200 metres without Duke to the local branch office of his company. The staff of the district office was amazed by Hooper visit. He told the manager that he will be making to the office one hour every day. It presented problems back in the company. When a man fights that hard for a comeback, who wants to tell him that he cannot handle his old job? However, Chuck already had his next objective set: March 1, a full day work. Hooper hit the target and then he no more took the physiotherapy suggested by his doctor and completely turned to Duke for his workouts. Sometimes after dark, Chuck would trip and fall. Duke would stand still as a post while his master struggled to get up. It was as though the dog knew that his job was to get Chuck back on his feet. Then on he worked full days for thirteen months and was promoted to regional manager and he, with Marcy and Duke, moved to a new house. The fate then unleashed another mischief. It was October, while a party was going on, Duke was hit by a vehicle. They rushed the dog to the hospital. Duke was drugged and he made it until 11o' clock the next morning. His injuries were too severe. Now Chuck walked alone to the office. It was

only a few weeks ago, worded as a special tribute to Duke, and order came through from Hooper company: ..therefore, to advance our objectives step by step, Charles Hooper is appointed Assistant National Sales Manager.