Lula Mae wants a puppy, but times are hard and she'll just have to make do. Her family has plenty of chickens, so she decides maybe a chicken can be a dog.

Pookie, as Lula Mae names her, is an ordinary chicken, but Lula Mae thinks she is very doglike indeed. With a bow in Pookie's hair, Lula Mae declares her a show dog. When she runs circles around the other chickens, Pookie is a shepherd dog. And when Cousin Tater sneaks up with a snake and Pookie starts bawk, bawk, bawking, well, she's a guard dog, too. Then Lula Mae's brother, Baby Berry, wanders away, and who do you think comes to the rescue?

Readers will cheer for plucky Lula Mae and giggle over her beloved Pookie, who quite unknowingly saves the day.