Cast of Characters

An introduction to the people, animals, and places in my life.

My Pack:

• : She does most of the writing for me (you realized I don’t have opposable thumbs, didn’t you?) and also is my primary handler when we go to class. She also teaches me more tricks, but she only comes for walks with us at night, and sometimes on the days she doesn’t go away, we all go on super-long walks first thing in the morning.
• Tug the Sucker: He walks me the most because he gets home first and takes me for a long walk. He also loves to play tug-of-war like a real dog, he even lets me wrestle and play-bite if I don’t do it too hard. He’s a good pack leader, but I can usually get him to do what I want by looking at him just right and maybe doing a trick or two. If that doesn’t work, yelping in just the right way will annoy him into playing with me!
• Squeaky Big-Eyes: One of the cats I live with. She is very small for a cat and sits and watches me with her big eyes, but she doesn’t get very close. She makes squeaky noises. I’ve never heard a cat make noises like that before.
• Mrow the Broad: Mrow is the other cat I live with. She is a lot bigger than Squeaky and likes to lie in the hall on the other side of the pet gate and talk to me. She says “Mrow!” and I say “Woof!” It’s such a shame we don’t speak the same language. The people keep telling us we’d get along if we did.

My People Friends:

• Yellow-Hair: Yellow-Hair was my first human friend since I came to live with my new pack. I know she has two dogs, both girls, but I’ve never met them. When my people go out of town, sometimes she goes and visits me at the kennel.
• Ponytail: Ponytail is my friend Willie’s person. He makes all of Willie’s food himself, and feeds him by hand in the park. (Willie is a little bit spoiled.)
• Dr. Long-Hair: Dr. Long-Hair is my medical doctor. She weighs me and pokes me with sharp things, but she also pets me and loves me. I love her, too.  I think she’s very young for a person, younger than my people, but not a puppy anymore.
• Dr. Glasses: Dr. Glasses is a funny doctor. He asks me to do tricks and asks a lot of questions about how I’m feeling.

My Dog Friends:

• Willie: Ponytail says Willie’s a Miniature Australian Shepherd. He and I like to run in circles together and then wrestle. He’s a little bit smaller than me, but he’s just as fast.
• Ruth & Esther: Ruth and Esther are Great Danes, and they’re so big I can run right under them! But they can run really fast, and that’s fun.
• Scruffy: Scruffy lives next door to Willie, and she’s a Jack Russell/Australian Cattle Dog mix. She and I are the same size and the same age. She used to be my best friend, but then I hurt one of my people really badly when I was chasing Scruffy, so I don’t get to play with her much anymore. But her not-quite-full-grown person works at PetSmart so I see him there sometimes when my people take me.

Places I Go:

• Home: I live in a pretty big house, but I don’t get to go in most of it, only the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Except sometimes my people take me through to the other end to put me in the car. Or to give me a bath. I love the car. I hate baths.
• The Yard: I have a really big yard with a lot of trees. Unfortunately these nasty little thorns called “goatshead” grow there and stick in my paws, and the dogs next door snarl at me all the time.
• The Close Park: I used to go play with other dogs in the close park a lot, but my people don’t take me anymore.
• The Dog Park: I used to see a lot of other dogs there. I loved to run along behind them when they were chasing balls.
• The Bike Path: There’s a path not too far from my house that’s away from the road and goes through natural landscapes.
• The Dog Club: I used to take classes here. I was the best sit-er in my obedience class and the best table-er in my agility class. But my people don’t want to take me back until they figure out what treats won’t mess up my tummy.
• The Store: Sometimes my people take me to a store that’s filled with dog and cat treats and food and toys. And the people who work there have their dogs there, too!