also do·gy (dōˈgē)
noun pl. do·gies Western U.S. A stray or motherless calf.
Regional Note: In the language of the American West, a motherless calf is known as a
dogie. In
Western Words Ramon F. Adams gives one possible etymology for
dogie, whose origin is unknown. During the 1880s, when a series of harsh winters left large numbers of orphaned calves, the little calves, weaned too early, were unable to digest coarse range grass, and their swollen bellies “very much resembled a batch of sourdough carried in a sack.” Such a calf was referred to as
dough-guts. The term, altered to
dogie according to Adams, “has been used ever since throughout cattleland to refer to a pot-gutted orphan calf.” Another possibility is that
dogie is an alteration of Spanish
dogal, “lariat.” Still another is that it is simply a variant pronunciation of
doggie.
