A Dog's View.

This is my first time out of the kennel in nine hours. Oh, no, this is not torture. It’s just something that the Hue-Man does to make sure that I don’t wander through the house in the middle of the night. Making me stay put makes them feel better. I have two Hue-Man’s that keep me each day. Well, three if I count the little one. I don’t know if I quite count her yet. She is still new and smells funny. I was taken into this house that I live in now when I was two years old. In dog years, this is supposed to be an adult, but I sure don’t feel like an adult when they ask me to do things all the time.

Sit. I understand this trick well because that usually means there’s a treat coming, or a car is turning onto the street.

One day I was meandering in the yard, sniffing a cat spray, trying to do my business, when one of the Hue-Man’s, the Lady one, calls me. Her name is Lisa. “Connie!” She calls me that even though my name from a puppy is Libby. Since I’ve been here, it’s Connie. She tells me SIT, right in front of her feet. “I want you to meet a new addition to our family. This is Carol.” Lisa is holding the smallest little one that I had ever seen. “She is two, just like you, and she is going to be part of our family now.” I am so excited, I lick the little Hue-Man face, just a little, even though I am not supposed to. I love giving kisses!

Jump. This one is a little harder. Sometimes when they say jump, they want me to jump up. Then other times, they want me to jump down. Or to jump onto the couch. I don’t always get it right and find that it’s easier just to lay down. They usually pat my head for that.

We are swinging together, the Carol Hue-Man and me. Lisa is watching from the bench over there. I am not on the swings, but I run back and forth, up and down, while Carol Hue-Man goes up and back, down and forth. It makes me dizzy. This is the fun part. When her feet go up, I go up, too. Then sometimes Lisa will stop the little one and will play with me, too. She’s trying to show little Carol Hue-Man what I can do, so she says JUMP. This makes the Little Hue-Man cry because I am so much bigger than her. I try to show her that I am not a big monster and not scary. She just cries some more, but then starts laughing when I run in circles. It’s hot outside, but it doesn’t matter now. The fun is better.

Speak. This one I am not allowed to use unless the big Hue-Man, Kyle, has a treat (or one of the other Hue-Man’s, too, but it’s the one that Kyle Hue-Man uses the most). I accidentally used this a couple times when I saw a squirrel or when the stranger tried to pet me and his hands were cold.

The doorbell rings and two strangers enter the house. That scares me so much I start barking without anyone telling me SPEAK, and run over to the little Carol Hue-Man, to make sure that she is not crying. Instead, Lisa Hue-Man takes my collar and puts me in the back room. I don’t like the dark back room. It makes me sad because I am not with my Hue-Mans three. There is lots of talking. I know because she puts me in my kennel, but keeps the door open. She does this because she knows I want to hear everything, even though she doesn’t know I understand Hue-Man speech. Something makes them sad because Lisa Hue-Man is crying when she walks past me into my room. When they eat tonight they let me lay at their feet and they don't shoo me into the living room like they always do. Kyle Hue-Man even gives me a little bit of spaghetti and Carol Hue-Man gives me a wet hug. The air is getting colder and they let me lay by the fire. I watch the sparks jump and think maybe I should practice doing JUMP.

Bath. I do not like this at all. But the Hue-Mans think that this makes my fur smell good. I just think it takes away my dog scent and I try to roll in the dirt as soon as I can.

But BATHS with Carol Hue-Man are fun because she will squirt me with water and I get to bark without them telling me to be quiet. Tonight they even sing their favorite songs and keep going back to whatever Carol wants. Usually they stop at three, but tonight they sing more than seven. I can only count up to seven, but it was like seven and three more.

Lay Down. This is my favorite because it means it’s time for sleep. The Hue-Mans use this when they are too busy to play with me, or maybe I am doing SPEAK when I need to be doing SIT.

Lisa Hue-Man and Kyle Hue-Man are sitting together on the couch. I don’t see the little Hue-Man, so I go into her room. She isn’t there. Lisa Hue-Man pets my head. I don’t usually like her doing that, but I let her this time. She seems sad because she is crying again. I stand next to her, but she lets me LAY DOWN on the couch. Right next to her.“She went back to her other family.” Lisa Hue-Man says the words, but I don’t understand this time. She is a part of our family now, right? She can't leave! Does that mean I am going away, too? “It was our chance to give her a happy home while she was waiting for her mom to get her again.” She cries and Kyle Hue-Man talks to her, but he is talking to me, too, even if he doesn't know it. “We wanted to keep her. We did, really. But she is with her family, and we can take in another child who might need a family just as desperately.”

It’s not fair, and it doesn’t make sense. But I’m an adult now, just like my Hue-Mans, and I breathe, just watching, as I try to make room in my heart for another little Carol Hue-Man. Maybe the next Little Hue-Man will be named Lilly.