A Dogs Tale Part Two

By Mike Powers

          My life of crime began when I was just a pup, and it sparked at the intersection of two tendencies I’ve shown since before I could remember. First, I was a born wander. That fence seemed to me as much an enemy as a cat or a - well, a squirrel. Except that if you give the cat or the squirrel a good bark and start chasing them, they get in a hurry. Not so with that stupid fence. You can bark, bite, growl and Howell, and that fence doesn’t go anywhere at all. It stands resolute in unchanging.

          I admit that after my penning, I had a lot of time to ponder that fence, and I came to realize that it was a boundary meant to protect me from “out there” as much as to keep me inside my family’s yard. Once I was on the other side of it, I saw terrible things. But I am getting ahead of myself.

          My other tendency was a pinning for good ciao, especially good Chou that didn’t necessarily belong to me.

          Way back when I was still with Leanna and my brother and two sisters, we go to mama for milk. No matter where it I’d end up, I’d be peaking at my siblings’ pups, and if it looked like they were enjoying their meal more than I was, I would just use my size to knock them out of the way and take up where they left off.

          Now, I’ve pondered this tenancy, too, in the meantime, and I recall that no matter where I ended up, I’d sure as shooting start peeking around again and soon muscle into someone else’s meal with no regard for their feelings and no realization that I wasn’t getting any satisfaction out of my behavior. As I say, though, that was upon further reflection. I was clueless at the time.

          It wasn’t long before I got my very own humans; and I guess I was a handful. After all, I discovered quickly that the fence could be beat. Not only could you make a run at the gate when your boy had to take out the trash, but I learned by watching my next-door neighbor that it was possible to dig underneath. There were benefits to each method. To get out the gate, you had to pass the boy, and he was always watching, so that wasn’t easy. And as for Digging out, that takes time, in inevitably, I would get caught. And my humans would be mad at me and put all the dirt back in the holes. Plus, I would be punished, not getting my doggy treats before bed or getting scolded by the angry voice.

          Really, I had a good life, but I didn’t appreciate it. It all came to an end in a perfect storm of my weaknesses, Sears in Temptations. My humans were cooking out one day, and the man put a big, fat, juicy steak right on a table where I could get it. What’s a dog supposed to do, after all? I got that saucer and have at least half of it got down before the man saw. By Fido and Heaven, was he mad! He’d yell at me. He’d shoot his finger at me. He even rolled up a newspaper and swatted me with it, something he hadn’t done since I was being potty trained.

          Then the rest of the time they were outside, I was tied to a tree. They were laughing, eating and playing, but I could only watch. I looked at sorry and pitiful as I was able, but this time it didn’t work, not even on the little girl. I was definitely in the doghouse this time.

          Usually, I was kept inside and slept in my boys’ room, but not this night. They let me loose from the tree when they finished their outdoor activities, but when I tried to come inside with them, the door was shut in my face! Guess I wasn’t out of trouble yet.

          By dog. I was discouraged, and then something terrible happened. Instead of my boy bringing out the trash as usual, the lady bought it out. I knew she wouldn’t be watching the gate line since I was supposed to, and sure enough, when she opened it, I took off like a shot. I was free! But where was I going?