A DOG'S POINT OF VIEW

                                                





​                   A DOG'S LIFE
   

       

​      I was playing with my toy bone when someone walked in the front door; she stopped and looked at me.  She told Joe, my breeder her name was Rita.  I heard them talking about the ad Joe had in the paper. 

          “You’re ad said Shih Tzu, eleven weeks old full breed for sale.”

          “There she is.”  Joe said and pointed to me.  I was still trying to play, but my eyes were on Rita and Joe, listening to what they were saying.  All of a sudden she bent over and picked me up.  After she looked me over, she told Joe she wanted to take me home.  She paid Joe and said she would be in touch.  Joe told her if anything was wrong after she took me to the Vet she could return me.  I wasn’t sure what the Vet was, I was a little nervous about that. 

 
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​      We went to the car and she drove straight to the Vet.  I sat in the front seat on a red towel she brought to wrap me in.    “Everything is going to be fine.” She said as she started rubbing my back.  

      The Vet was a short lady with black hair; she wore black rimmed glasses and a white jacket.  Her name was Maryann.  She gave me a good examination; she checked my ears, nose, eyes, stomach and heart.  The Vet told Rita that I was a healthy pup.  There were all kinds of animals there, birds, cats, dogs, big ones, small ones, barking ones, whining ones, some were trembling, and I don’t know if I would like to go there again.   

       Rita was happy my exam went well.  She started kissing me, rubbing my back and my head as she held me in one hand.  On the way home, she started talking to me asking what she should name me.  I looked up at her hoping it would not be a funny name like, bouncy, pouch, or one of those other funny names people give their pets.  All of a sudden she said,   ”I got it, how about Princess?  You look like a princess, so Princess it is.”

        Before I go on, let me give you a little of  where I came from.

 
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      My breed originated in Tibet where we were considered a sacred dog.  I bet you didn’t know that?

     Now and then we were given to the Emperors of China in the 17th Century.  Our greatest feature is our personality.  My coat is white and champagne with a little black on my ears, I don’t walk, and I strut like a true Imperial lady.

          On the way home from the Vet Rita stopped to do some shopping, at the pet store.  She bought me a bed, a cage for training, toys, food, cookies, brushes and bows for my hair.  When we got home she put the bags on the counter and started to play with me.  A little later she started to call family and friends to tell them about me. 

     “Wait until you see her she said with excitement.”  

     She told her grandson John, “When you come over you’re going to have a playmate.  I named her Princess.”  John was happy and couldn’t wait to visit.

     I was kept in the cage until I was fully trained.  I never liked the cage, she trained me pretty fast and the cage was gone for good.  She never used a cage before; everyone told her the cage was the easiest way to train a pup.  It wasn’t so bad; I had a lot of open space when mom was home.

 

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     (That’s what I call her now, she’s my mom).  This was the start of my Dog’s Life fourteen years ago with mom.

     I had my accidents and left my smell in every room. All I had to do was look up at her with my big black eyes and she would melt like butter, she was a push over.  She said my eyes remind her of big black olives. I’m a lucky dog; I get so much love I think I’m a Princess.

     She always talks to me and that makes me feel good even when I don’t understand what she is saying. Every now and then we would go over the training routine, sit, stay, down, come and no.  They were the words she used and I still listen to them.  Every now and then she has to repeat some of the commands because I try to get away with stuff.  When I listen I get cookies she tells me what a good dog I am.

     In the summer we play ball on the deck and when Mom is relaxing I
sit and watch the ducks go by.  One day while we were playing, mom
started laughing. I stopped and looked up.  She looked at me and said “you’re the one who has to fetch, not me.”
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     Mom has been trying to stop me from jumping on people who come to visit.  I get excited when people come.  She found a trick in a training book; it’s called the penny trick.  When you fill a small can with pennies and close it tight and throw it, not to hit me, just to scare me from the noise it makes.
 

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     I kept jumping for a long time I think it’s the tiny stubborn streak in me.  Mom still tries the penny trick every now and then.

     Now that I am fully trained I have no more cage I remember one time when she left me alone I broke a flower pot and there was dirt all over.  I was punished, out came the cage and there I was laying my face on my front paws and rolling my eyes at her.  I knew this would get to her so it turned out be a one day punishment.  I did learn a lesson and from that day on I stayed away from her plants.  I never slept in the bed she bought me; it is used for my toys. I keep getting new toys for one reason or another and my bed is getting too small for all the toys.
 
​     Every morning she puts a pretty bow at the top of my head in a top ponytail.  Mom never wanted to cut my hair; she said the long hair is my beauty.  It stayed long for a long time, about ten years and one day at the groomer she said, “Cut it.  When she saw me with my new hair cut, she loved it and made a big fuss.  Now I get it cut every time I get groomed.  I feel more comfortable with it short.  It’s called the puppy cut.

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     There are the times when she gets ready to go out and I look at her with a sad look on my face.  I know this makes her feel bad for leaving me alone so she gives me a treat and tells me she will be right back.  I’m lonesome when she’s not home.  I love my mom she is the only mom I know; I jump and bark when she comes through the door.  So she knows I’m glad she’s back.    She has made my fourteen years very happy I couldn’t think of being with anyone else but her.  I hope we have more years to come
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     I’m not sure what people mean when they say they worked like a dog.  I don’t do much, all I do is eat, sleep and play, and that’s a dog’s life to me.

     Whenever mom and dad would go on a trip for vacation she would leave me with Nanny.  Now that Nanny went to heaven, they stayed home for several years without a vacation because mom said no kennel for me.
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     When I was about ten years old, mom decided t take a mini vacation with me along. She found a motel in Boston that accepted dogs and off we went, Mom, Dad and me. We left early in the morning.  Dad put our bags in the car.  I took one of my toys as we were leaving I had it in my mouth.  They put me in the back seat on a soft flat doggie bed Mom bought for me.  Everyone was settled and off we went. 

 
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     When we got there we left our bags in the room and went looking around outside.  We walked in the park, playing catch with my Frisbee; we went to an outside restaurant so I could sit with them.  We had lots of
fun during the day but at night they left me alone so they could go out to dinner alone.  I whined a little when they left but I knew I couldn’t go,I stopped and fell asleep until they came back.  I like vacations, we had lots of fun.
     
​     One day when we were back home Mom’s grandson John came to visit.  I was hiding behind the big white couch in the living room, John asked, “What are you doing?”  He asked but I know he knew why I was hiding.  I was lying on my stomach with my paws under my face looking up without moving a muscle.
     
I wet on the new rug I know I shouldn’t but I waited too long and couldn’t make it to my wee-wee paper.  John walked over looked at the rug; I got up and followed him. John giggled waving his little finger in my face. 
     
“Bad girl” He whispered. “Nanny is going to be mad at you.”
I ran back to the couch.  John ran after me. 
 “Oh boy here she comes.”  John is showing her where I wet the rug. 


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“Hey guess what?  She just looked at the rug then at me behind the couch then went to get the rug cleaner.”
With a smile on her face, all she said was, “If you want a pooch around, get used to the accidents.” 
I have to go now, Mom is going to bed and we watch T.V. together every night before going to sleep.
I’m happy Mom came to pick me up fourteen years ago.
This is a great dog’s life in my house. 

This is the end of my story, I hope you liked it.   I will be back with more short stories
​Hope you enjoyed this little story as much as I did creating it.