Day in the Life

01/04/12
I’ve been able to understand what they say for a while. I don’t always let on though because if I show them I understand then I can’t do what I want, and then they yell at me and call me a Bad Dog. I hate being a Bad Dog. I try so hard to be a Good Dog. I’m so happy when she runs her hands over my head and ears and calls me a Good, Good Dog. There is nothing better. The temptations are so great though. The smells, oh goodness the smells! Especially in the morning after the sky has rained and everything is wet. The smells are so clear and vivid, so very interesting.
We go out for a walk this morning in the hills. The feathered things fly about. They smell as if they would taste good and if one flies close enough, I will try to eat it. There are tiny furred four-legs scurrying away. They also smell good, like food. She is talking to me the whole time. I love her voice. Sometimes when I don’t quite understand I will tilt my head way to the side. Maybe the words will find their way into my head quicker and I will understand. We practice Come! And Heal!, but I get distracted with the lessons. Too much is going on around us. A Thought enters my mind: Sometimes, if I’ve been a Very Good Dog!, She will take off the rope. Ahh freedom! I begin to formulate a Plan. I’m still quite puppy minded, but if I think very hard, sometimes I can think up a Plan. This is how it goes: If I am Very Good, she will take the rope off, then, I will RUN. Even though I understand her, I will pretend that I can’t hear her and I will Run.
I am a Very Good Dog, and she takes the rope off. I start to trot, then jog, then I gallop, and then, then I RUN. For a brief minute running is all that there is. In this whole great world of feathered things and furred things, and people that I love and smell so good, there is only running. But then, then I hear her, way, way back there, calling for me. And I must. I must turn around and go to her. I know that when I get to her she will run her hands over my head and ears and call me a Good, Good Dog.