A dog for Douglas (revised 01)

A Dog for DouglasBy Scott C. Johnson

         On a warm sunny afternoon, Mom called the children in for a family meeting.  “Dad and I have decided it’s time for us to get a family pet,” she said “what would you children like to get”?  “A dog!” all the children said, except for Douglas.  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, dogs gave Douglas a great fright.  So Douglas protested.  “I don’t want a dog…” he said.  “Then what would you like Douglas?” asked Mom.  “Instead of a dog, let’s get a frog!  Frogs are fun and do not bite, tell Dad we should get a frog tonight.”

“No!” yelled the other children, “we don’t want a frog.  Frogs aren’t fun, they do not play.  We want Dad to get a dog today.”  But Douglas didn’t want a dog.  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, dogs gave Douglas a great fright.  So he protested.  “If you don’t want a frog, then how about a rabbit?  Rabbit’s hop and hop like this, tell Dad a rabbit is what we wish.” 

“No!” yelled the other children, “we don’t want a rabbit.  Rabbits just hop but can’t do tricks, tell Dad we want a dog that licks.”  But Douglas still didn’t want a dog.  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, dogs gave Douglas a great fright.  So he protested.  “If you don’t want a rabbit, how about a cat?  Cats meow and curl up in a ball, surely a cat would please us all.”

“No!” yelled the other children, “we don’t want a cat.  Cats won’t play catch or ball or chase, we want a dog that we can race.”  But Douglas still didn’t want a dog.  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, dogs gave Douglas a great fright.  So he protested.  “If you don’t want a cat, then how about a fish?  Fish swim and sparkle in their aquarium, a fish would give us lots of fun.”

“No!” yelled the other children, “we don’t want a fish.  Fish might swim but so can dogs.  No fish, no rabbits, no cats, no frogs!  We want a dog!”  But Douglas still didn’t want a dog. 

“Douglas”, Mom said, “why don’t you want a dog?”  “Well”, he replied “Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, dogs give me a great big fright.”  “But you’ve never had a dog”, said Mom, “let’s get one and then you’ll see how fun they can be.  I promise the dog won’t bite you or growl, he’ll be a lot of fun you’ll see.”

         Later that day, Mom, Dad, Douglas and the other children went to the pet store.  They passed by fish, frogs, rabbits, and cats because they were there to get a dog.  In the dog section they saw a small cage with three sleeping puppies inside.  Douglas was surprised at how little and cute they were.  Maybe getting a dog wouldn’t be that bad.  Mom asked the store clerk to take one of the puppies out of the cage.  As soon as she did, the puppy began running all through the store, up and down the aisles.  He didn’t want to bark or growl or bite, he wanted to play!  All the children chased him but no one could catch him.  Douglas even tried chasing him, but the pup just wagged his tail and kept on running.  Round and round they chased the pup until they caught him.  “We’ll take him”, said Dad, “this is the puppy we’ll get.”  So they took the puppy home. 

When they got come, Dad called all the children into the backyard with the puppy.  “First we’ll have to name him,” said Dad.  “What name would you like to give our new puppy?”  But no one knew of a good name.  “Comet!” said one of the children, “We name should name the puppy Comet because he’s fast like a comet.”  So Comet became the puppy’s name.

For the first few days, Douglas tried avoiding Comet for the most part.  Sometimes he would look out the window and watch the other children playing with the pup.  He’d wonder, “Can I do that?  Would it really be that bad?”  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, but puppies might be alright.  One day, Mom and the children were out in the backyard playing with Comet.  “Come on out Douglas,” said Mom, “join us! Try petting Comet.  He’s a good dog.”

Slowly, Douglas came outside.  Mom held Comet and the other children were busy petting him.  “Come Douglas”, she said “he won’t bite.  He’s very soft.”  So Douglas went over to Comet and reached out his hand to pet him.  Mom was right he was soft and fun to pet.  “Rub his belly” she said “he really likes that.”  So Douglas stretched out his hand and rubbed Comets belly.  “Pet, pet, pet your head and chest, then rub your belly that is best” he’d sing as he pet the puppy and rubbed his belly.  Comet began wagging his tail.  “Do you see that?” said Mom, “when he wags his tail that means he’s happy.”  Douglas was happy too.  Dogs bark loud and growl and bite, but Comet…Comet was alright, and happy too.

Just then Comet got up and began licking Douglas on his arm.  Douglas jumped back “What’s he doing?!” he said with surprise.  “Oh, don’t worry” said Mom, “he’s just saying he likes you.  Dogs show that by wagging their tails and licking you.”  “He licks your arm and licks your hand, he likes you Douglas, understand?” Douglas didn’t really like being licked, but it was better than being bit.  So he went back in the house and washed his arm.

         One day, Douglas saw the other children playing catch with Comet.  “Come on out Douglas, join us!” they said.  So Douglas went outside and joined the other children.  “Here, throw the ball to Comet” one of the children said.  So Douglas took a ball and threw it to Comet.  Comet leaped up and caught the ball with his mouth.  “Wow!” thought Douglas, “that was pretty neat”.  Comet came running over to Douglas and dropped the ball in front of him.  “He wants you to throw it again” said one of the children.  So Douglas picked up the ball and threw it as far as he could.  Whoosh!  Comet ran like a dash, leaped up and grabbed the ball before it hit the ground.  “This is fun” thought Douglas.  Comet is fun and likes to play having a dog might be ok.  And they played the entire afternoon.

         One day Comet began barking when Douglas was outside.  But he was so small that the barks weren’t loud enough to frighten Douglas.  “What’s he doing now?” asked Douglas.  “Oh, he’s hungry” said Mom, “Dogs bark when they are trying to tell us something.  Here, let’s get Comet something to eat.”  So Douglas followed Mom into the garage and brought out a bag of dog food.  They poured the food into a bowl and Mom poured gravy over the food.  “This will make it extra yummy for Comet” she said.  “Comet!” called Mom, “Comet, come get your food”.  So Comet ran over towards his food dish and began eating.  Douglas went over to pet Comet, but Mom warned him.  “Don’t pet him while he’s eating” said Mom, “Dogs like to eat alone.”  Douglas obeyed and went in the house.

Weeks passed, then months passed, and Douglas found himself growing more comfortable with owning a dog.  Dogs are puppies first, he’d say, and puppies love to play and play.  Play ball, play catch, play chase and race, puppies play at a fast pace.  Douglas liked to play too.  He and the other children ran and chased Comet in the back yard.  He was like a blur, and no one could catch him.

Soon Douglas lost his fear of dogs entirely, because of Comet.  He had so much fun with him.  The other children were right getting a puppy was the best pet to get.  He didn’t bark too loud, or growl or bite, all Comet wanted was to play day and night.  Comet liked playing with all of the children, but especially Douglas.  He’d run up to Douglas and lick him and wag his tail.  The two became best of friends.

The end.