Do You Know "Rounder?"
Dick Marlow and Rounder, Sheridan, Wyoming — 1911
Almost any day in 1911, you could find him in front of the Mint Bar, on the corner of Smith and Main — not because anyone tied him there, but because that's where he chose to be. His name was Rounder. He belonged to Dick Marlow, who'd just taken over the bar and rebranded it. And according to the Sheridan Post, he was "the brightest, keenest, wittiest, and altogether the most remarkable dog in Sheridan — perhaps in all the state of Wyoming."
That's not local color. That's a direct quote from a front-page profile the paper ran on July 11, 1911 — a sketch of the most remarkable dog in town, photograph included. Sheridan didn't just tolerate Rounder. Sheridan kept records on him.
"No, he isn't a handsome dog — he runs more to brains than beauty — but that's to his credit rather than otherwise."
The Sheridan Post, July 11, 1911
1911
1911
1918
A dog who took messages
Rounder could take a message over the phone and carry out the orders given — or so the Post reported, marveling that he understood spoken instruction "as well as the average human being." Dick Marlow used to call home and ask his wife to send the dog downtown with a letter or a package. Before long, Rounder learned what the telephone's ring meant. He'd push Mrs. Marlow out of the way to answer it himself.
His other trick was hide-and-seek, played for real stakes. Marlow would blindfold him, hide a wallet in a back room, and send him to find it. Rounder never missed — back in moments, wallet in his mouth, stub tail going at full speed.
And if you told him it was cold out, he'd close the door. Himself. With a slam.
Cleverness, demonstrated
Marlow liked to prove a point. At his quiet instruction, a friend once lifted his handkerchief and walked off with it. "Rounder, that man stole something from me," Marlow said — and the dog was gone. He caught the "thief" by the coattails, seized the handkerchief in his teeth, and carried it back to his master. The Post figured he could hold a job at any detective bureau in the state.
His best story came from a duck hunt in the Basin country. Marlow shot a duck that fell into cold water across the lake. Rounder — one of the finest retrievers in Wyoming, by local reputation — swam out, found it, and started back. The man who'd actually fired the shot intercepted him and took the duck for himself.
Rounder let it go. Then he spotted that hunter's hat lying nearby, snatched it in his teeth, and carried it the long way around the lake — across raw, frozen ground — and laid it at Dick Marlow's feet. The paper called it proof of his sense of humor. It reads more like proof he kept score.
The town didn't forget
By 1918, Dick Marlow had left Sheridan for the book and stationery business in Santa Rosa, California. Rounder went with him. He was old by then — the 1911 profile had already called him "getting old and fat and gray" — but age never dulled what made him remarkable.
That August, the Sheridan Post ran his obituary. Not Marlow's. The dog's. "Many Sheridan people will recall Rounder," it began, "the unusually intelligent Airedale dog... He possessed almost human intelligence and to his dying day, age did not dull his faculties."
It closed with this: "The Marlow family will mourn the old dog almost the same as a member of the family." A town doesn't print that for just any dog.
Today, the Mint still stands on Main Street, the bucking horse sign lit up after dark, the brands still burned into the cedar shingles behind the bar. Rounder is part of its official history now — one line in over a century of legends, the dog who got his own obituary on the news page, seven years after his profile ran and three years after his owner had moved two states away.
Sheridan, it turns out, never really stopped being a dog town.
Sheridan now calls itself the Dog Park Capital of Wyoming — more public dog parks per capita than anywhere else in the state, an estimated 18,000 dogs across the county.
City of Sheridan, Parks & RecreationA hundred years later, the same affection — with a little more infrastructure.
Every Late Checkout property welcomes dogs except the New York Store Suite. The pet fee is $75 at most homes, $250 at the Pressroom and Bay Mare. Every dog-friendly property comes with what we call The Tail End — water and food bowls down before you arrive, treats, waste bags, and leashes ready at the door. We plan for the pup the same way we plan for the guest.
Sheridan has three off-leash dog parks. Sheridan Ave Dog Park is the flagship — small, central, established in 2010, with wading pools that come out for summer. Huntington Dog Park is the largest at just over four acres, with a perimeter walking path of its own. Thorne-Rider Dog Park is the newest, shaded by mature trees and connected directly to the city pathway system. Kendrick Park itself is not off-leash, but it's a short walk from all three.
Sheridan Ave Dog Park
Beyond the parks, Sheridan's paved pathway system runs for miles along the creek corridors, well shaded and dog-friendly the whole way. See the full pathway map →
Smith Alley Brewing keeps a dog-friendly patio downtown. Black Tooth Brewing welcomes them too. And the Mint — fittingly — has never minded a dog at the door. Rounder set that precedent over a century ago.
Moxey Veterinary Clinic is Sheridan's go-to vet, and they handle after-hours emergencies too — one number to know, day or night. For food and gear, Sheridan Seed has outfitted the area's animals since 1926 — eight years after Rounder died, and still on North Scott Street today, now carrying a full pet aisle alongside the feed and seed. PetSmart covers anything Sheridan Seed doesn't.
Are there dog-friendly vacation rentals in Sheridan, Wyoming?
Yes. Every Late Checkout property welcomes dogs except the New York Store Suite. Most charge a $75 pet fee; the Pressroom and Bay Mare are $250. Every dog-friendly home includes The Tail End — bowls, treats, waste bags, and leashes set out before you check in.
Where can I take my dog in Sheridan?
Sheridan has three off-leash dog parks — Sheridan Ave, Huntington, and Thorne-Rider — plus miles of paved, shaded pathway along the creek system. The city calls itself the Dog Park Capital of Wyoming, and the math backs it up.
What's a good Sheridan brewery for dogs?
Smith Alley Brewing and Black Tooth Brewing both welcome dogs on their patios.
Is there an emergency vet in Sheridan?
Moxey Veterinary Clinic handles after-hours emergencies in addition to regular care.
"The Marlow family will mourn the old dog almost the same as a member of the family."The Sheridan Post, August 16, 1918
Stardust comes with a fully fenced yard, a name guests bring up unprompted in their reviews, and a water bowl already down before you check in. It's where most of our four-legged guests end up — and where Rounder, if he were still making his rounds, would probably end up too.
