Hello all

I am looking for the myth/fable to do with a dog bringing rice to humans, and how we must feed dogs rice. Lots of people have no idea what story I am talking about. But when I was little I remember reading it in series of Chinese children story books (that included stories like the man who pushed the sky and land, and lay down to be the mountains). So I know this dog/rice story was widespread enough to be printed. Furthermore, my dog passed away 2 days ago and my father cooked congee for him. He needed to give a spoonful of congee for the dog and said "if the dog leaves this world with rice in his mouth, then he will have food to eat in his afterlife." Since I remember the existence of these physical books, and my dad's independent actions towards this.... it convinces me that this story should be at least be beyond just my immediate family. Has anyone heard of this? Can someone point me to another source?

(The following are details of the story... goes something like this)

Humans used to eat one meal every five days, and were often hungry. The gods pitied them and sent one of them down to convey a message (forgot the god's name).... "if you work harder, you can eat three meals every one day." When he returned to heaven they said "You idiot, the message was eat one meal every three days if they worked harder. " So they turned him into a cow and sent him down to be slaves for humans to plough the land (hence why cows are semi-sacred). Additionally, they sent many animals down with him to assist the humans (something about the Zodiac). They also gave the animals rice grains to carry to the humans. None of the animals were willing to carry it, so the dog volunteered and rolled around in rice. The grains completely covered his body. The animals raced to the humans, but along the way they had to cross the celestial river. The dog tried very hard but the rice grains started washing away from his body... but as he got closer to the humans he raised his tail to hold the last grains of rice out of the river. So because of his effort, humans have rice to plant. So the animals like chickens, etc only get to eat the shells/husks from rice. The animals like cows, etc only get to eat the straw/stems. But the humans feed the dog rice to thank him for his help. To this day, dogs still raise their tails when they greet humans.