How My Dog Saved Board Game Night

We were in high school and deep into our board game phase. I hated Monopoly, but I had been outvoted – again. We were in our familiar spots. Devon sitting to my right, Mike across from me, and my dog comfortably warming my feet under the kitchen table. There was the sound of dice hitting the wooden tabletop. I move my piece forward a few spaces.

“Rent,” Devon said, holding his palm up to me. “$1500.”

Normally my friends would call me kind. Warm. Patient. Forgiving. But Monopoly changed me. Devon was brandishing his asymmetrical grin like a weapon. He couldn’t contain his glee. There was no way he didn’t know that his smugness was igniting a flame deep in my belly, unlocking an irrational rage.

I reluctantly slapped my last remaining $500s into his palm, which he placed directly onto his growing pile, using the sides of his fingers to straighten the growing stack. It was Mike’s turn. That didn’t matter, Mike and I were both falling victim to Devon’s strategy: own everything and show no mercy.

The dice hit the table again and Devon smugly handed a meagre payment of $200 my way.

I watched him organize his stack of $500s once again. Why did he have to organize that stack? He didn’t even touch it when handing me my peasant’s payment. He knew what he was doing. He must’ve.

My dog, Kasey, stirred beneath me. She was a beautiful dog. One eye blue and one eye brown, half husky and half German Shepherd. We had almost called her “Cookie” because of the light brown colouring along her shoulders and hind quarters, with a blanket of black fur wrapping around the rest of her back. She was smart and obedient. She caught our eye immediately when she was in the shelter. We couldn’t fathom why she was left there for so long; we were inseparable after we adopted her. She was perfect.

As she stretched, she stood up and put her head in my lap looking for pets. I obliged, making sure to get some good scratches in under her collar as well – she loved that spot.

Then, a plan came to me.

I waited for the perfect moment. Mike was rolling the dice. He’d refuse to play unless he was the car, which moved another 7 spaces as it landed on another one of Devon’s properties. He let out a deep sigh.

Devon outstretched his hand once again, laughing, and staring Mike right in the eyes. I saw my opportunity. I steadied my breath. I slid my hand across the table without moving any other part of my body. I didn’t want Devon seeing me.

I carefully grabbed 3 of the $500 bills – an amount that he’d never notice – and pulled them back to my side. It would be too obvious if I kept them for myself, and I couldn’t take them out of the game. Instead, I folded it into three sections – enough to keep some tension – and hid them carefully under Kasey’s collar. I gave her a good butt scratch with one hand, keeping her in place.

Then, the second phase of my plan. The only way that this could work. I pulled out my phone.

“Call Kasey over. Feel under her collar.” Send.

The phone across from me dinged. Mike opened the message and looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

“Kasey,” he called. She obediently went over, her tail wagging, and put her head in his lap. I could tell the moment his fingertips felt the crisp Monopoly paper as he cracked a smile.

His eyes looked over at Devon, who was fully invested in his roll. He pulled out the money, unraveled it, and smoothed it out onto his own pile.

We were in business.

Carefully, roll after roll, we were still getting penalized for landing on Devon’s spaces, but somehow always found the money to pay the fine. The rage in my belly simmered and was replaced with giddy delight at our money-running ring: me, Mike, and my faithfully obedient dog. Kasey was living her best life, going to both ends of the table and getting endless attention.

The game continued. Devon began to express bewilderment at how long the game was going. It had been hours. Every time he had a degree of exasperation, Mike and I would fight to hide our smiles.

Devon was clever, if a little innocent. He’d notice if we took too many, or if we gave ourselves a bill after we had spent all of them the last round. Eventually, the clock struck 11:00PM. This game had continued for 5 hours. Devon had major control of the board. He was beside himself.

“How are you still in the game!” he gasped, good-naturedly. “You haven’t collected anything for so many turns!”

I had a big grin. He was right. There was no reasonable explanation for our continued success. Mike knew it too, we were backed into a corner.

Devon looked at me. “I knew it! I knew it!” he exclaimed. “You’ve been cheating!” My grin turned into a big smile.

I let out a big laugh, and Mike followed. Mike pulled all his money into his fist and called the dog over. “Come here, Kasey,” he said, laughing. After she was in his hands, he made a show of stuffing the overflowing bills into her collar.

“Come here Kasey,” I echoed, and she walked over as the bills comedically fell from her collar and coated the ground along the way. I gave her a good amount of pets and pulled the remaining bills back onto the table.

Devon was dumbfounded. His wide-mouthed astonishment turned into a cheeky grin. A couple beats passed. And then thunderous belly laughter. “You cheaters!” he yelled. And then, not containing his giddiness: “I win!”

That was fair enough with us. Not because of the game, or the rules, or the people around the board but because of my dog Kasey, that became the most enjoyable game of Monopoly we had ever played.