The story usually goes that the town of Bretten was once besieged by a large enemy army and was cut off from all supplies. Food supplies were dwindling, so surrendering to the besiegers had to be seriously considered. Then one of the councillors (some versions even mention the mayor himself) came up with a saving idea. He suggested that they should gather the last remaining provisions together, fatten up a small dog with them and then, when it was really round and fat, send it outside the town gate. If the enemy saw the little animal, they would assume that there was still plenty of food within the town walls, which would destroy any hope of imminent starvation and perhaps lead to an end to the siege.
No sooner said than done: the people of Bretten gathered their last supplies together and the little dog was able to feast on food for a few days. It quickly gained weight and size, visible to everyone. When he was really round and fat, he was actually sent outside the city gate into the enemy camp. The desired effect occurred: when the besiegers saw the fattened dog, they had to assume that the city still had plenty of supplies and that the siege could therefore last "forever". They therefore decided to end the operation and left without accomplishing anything. In their frustration, however, they chopped off the poor dog's tail and chased it back into the city, mutilated in this way. However, it is sometimes claimed that the tail was chopped off so that the unsuccessfully withdrawn army could show some result at all - even if it was just a dog's tail that they brought home. The citizens of Bretten are said to have subsequently erected a stone monument to the dog that returned - the savior of the city - out of gratitude.
Of course, everything was completely different - not a single one of the various sieges that Bretten experienced in the course of its history, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, could be averted by a dog. But this did not diminish the popularity of the "Brettener Hundle".