GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES
Brigit
BARK-BARK-BARK-BARK-BARK!
Brigit might not be on official police duty now, but at home she was never off watchdog duty. Her superior ears had heard the rumble of the delivery truck coming up the street and the soft squeal of the brakes as it stopped in front of their house. Megan was in the kitchen putting dishes away and Frankie was in her bathroom taking a shower. It was up to Brigit to let the unsuspecting humans know that a uniformed man in a truck had invaded their turf and was heading across the yard with a box to deliver and possibly other, as yet unidentified, nefarious intentions.
She ran to the front door, where she could smell the man on the other side of it and hear the sound as he dropped the package on the welcome mat. Plop. She scratched at the inside of the door and spoke again, this time as a warning to the man that if he tried any funny business she’d put a stop to it right away. BARK-BARK-BARK!
Megan walked out of the kitchen. “Cool it, loudmouth.”
Brigit didn’t know exactly what the words meant, but surely they had to be an expression of gratitude for her faithful service. She wagged her tail.
“Stay,” Megan said, ruffling her ears as she opened the door to get the package.
Brigit hoped it might be a pair of new shoes she could gnaw on. For some reason, Megan had been storing her shoes on the top shelf of her closet where Brigit couldn’t reach them. Grr. She wasn’t sure why Megan was being so stingy with them. After all, she had several pairs.
But what was in the box was even better than new shoes. It was a new bone! Just for Brigit! And three cans of her favorite treats!
Yippee!
She spun in a circle, yapping and wagging her tail to express her doggie delight. She also changed her mind about the delivery guy. He wasn’t a threat. He was welcome to invade their turf with treats and toys anytime.
Megan fed her a couple of the treats—yum!—and gave her the new bone to chew on. As Brigit lay on the rug testing her teeth on the bone, Megan tried a new fabric harness on her. She lifted Brigit’s right front paw, then her left, as she slid the device onto Brigit, lifting her center to snap the clasp closed and running a finger around the edges to test its fit.
“Looking good, pretty girl,” Megan said, giving her neck a two-handed scratch.
Brigit wasn’t sure what “pretty” meant, but she knew “girl” was another name for her. Megan had all sorts of nicknames for Brigit. Brig. Briggie Boo. She sometimes even called Brigit Baby. But today she seemed to be trying on a new name for size. Britney.
Britney was close enough to her usual name that the dog had responded when Megan first said it this morning. Given that Megan had rewarded her with a “good girl” and a belly rub, she’d continued to respond to the name all day, earning more “good girls” and more belly rubs.
Seth and Blast came over and they all ate dinner together, then Megan and Seth did that thing where they put their mouths and bodies against each other and wrapped their arms around the other, an activity Brigit had come to realize meant affection among humans. Blast gave Brigit a canine sign of affection and subordination by licking at her mouth as they left. Blast wasn’t the toughest dog around, a total beta, but Brigit liked him anyway. She was alpha enough for both of them.
As Brigit and Megan settled into their bed Sunday night, the dog could sense that her partner was both excited and nervous. She liked the excited part. When Megan was excited it often meant that they were in for some fun, maybe a search or a track or a chase. Brigit loved to search buildings, loved to track. And chases? Those were the most fun of all. But the nervous? She didn’t like that. When Megan was nervous it often meant that there’d be a loud sound that would hurt Brigit’s ears or a mean person who might try to hit them. Brigit didn’t like being hit. Her first owner had hit her a lot, most often with an open hand, but he’d kicked her on occasion, too. He’d been an asshole. Megan had never hit her. Megan only petted and stroked and scratched her. And for that, Brigit would do her best to keep Megan safe.
At the moment, there were no suspicious smells or sounds coming from outside their house. Nothing for her to worry about. She stretched her legs, draped her head over Megan’s thigh, and closed her eyes.