Pack Dynamics

Papa gasped awake, wheezing like a punctured chew toy leaking air.

Cooper’s tail wagged, thumping against the bed. Papa never slept in this late; he was always off to WURK by now. He also tended to feed Cooper before then, but Coop wasn’t one to complain about getting to spend more time with Papa. Papa forgetting to remove Coop’s leash before collapsing also didn’t bother him. Life was wonderful when you stopped worrying about stuff. Oh, if only Papa could see how wonderful the world was through Coop’s eyes. A wonderful Papa, a strange world full of smells and new friends. But Papa seemed to only focus on WURK, TACKSES, and WETHUR. But today might be one of those special days where they spend all day together: a DAYOF. Coop jumped to his feet. ‘Good morning, Papa!’ he woofed.

Papa sat upright, wooden and stiff. His eyes trawled over the room, not once focusing on Cooper. His mouth gaped open, a trickle of syrupy drool oozing down his chin. He groaned like he did when he’d had too much BE-YER the night before.

Coop grinned. Papa always wiped up his slobber. But now Papa was slobbering himself! Papa had taught him so much – sit, lie down, roll over, shake, NOPOOPININSIDE. So, it was nice to know that he’d taught Papa something. He tugged on the leash, still wrapped around Papa’s hand. ‘Come on, Papa! It’s time to eat!’

Papa staggered to his feet, almost falling over several times. He snarled at the bedside table when he banged into it and knocked his phone to the floor. The phone stayed there. He did not bend down to pick it up.

Coop’s eyebrows rose. Papa’s phone was the most essential thing in his life. Second, of course, to Cooper himself. He was a GOOD BOY, and he knew this. But if he were an even better boy, he’d be able to impart his wisdom to his human. Make his life less black-and-white and more beautiful shades of grey. Tail wagging, grinning up at Papa, Coop tugged his way into the kitchen. He scampered for the cupboard next to his bowl; the one Papa had locked because Coop had figured out handles.

Papa stood there, by the kitchen sink, swaying. The room smelled like morning, but nothing moved. His head turned, then back again.

Coop’s eyebrows remained raised. FOODFOODFOOD. It was the all-encompassing thing that occupied his mind, besides happiness. Why wasn’t Papa feeding him? Did he want a trick? Coop lay down. Then rolled over. Then he played dead. He looked up at Papa.

Papa continued to wobble on his legs, as if he’d only discovered them that morning.

Coop frowned. None of his usual cute tricks were working this morning. Under normal circumstances, at least one of those tricks would have earned him a treat. What on earth was going on? Coop walked to the lounge to see if he’d missed any treats from the previous day.

Like a good Papa, Papa followed. The leash pulled tight behind Cooper.

Wait a second. Papa always led him. But things were feeling different today. Was it—

Was it his turn to lead?

Papa drooled, awaiting instructions.

Coop’s tail thump-thump-thumped. The thought of food faded into the background. Something more important was happening. Yes, oh yes! He’d waited for this day for so long! He could show Papa the world through DOG’s perspective. Coop could get to be the best of boys and bring the happiness he felt in his heart into Papa’s life!

And he knew how, too.

The happiest place on earth.

Coop ran for the front door, yanking Papa behind with a growl.

The chain was off the door; Papa had forgotten it last night.

Everything was working out exactly as it should. Did Coop need any more evidence that the world was a wonderful place to be? He jumped up and pawed the handle, leaning back, letting his weight do the work.

The door swung inward, revealing the apartment corridor.

Coop landed on his feet, looked up at his Papa, then cried: ‘Let’s go! It’s time for an adventure!’

On the second floor, FRIEND LADY WITH TREATS was swaying, standing by a door that didn’t belong to her. She slapped the door again and again, moaning. When Coop and Papa ran past, she looked at them with little interest and then resumed banging on the door. Papa tried to slow down and join in on her game.

But Coop wouldn’t let him; they had a mission: FUNFUN. He dragged Papa down the stairs, at which Papa had gotten much worse.

The main door to the street was hanging off its hinges, with a spiderweb crack in the glass.

Uh oh. Someone must have used it as a chew toy. NAUGHTY BOY, Papa would have said. Oh well, that wasn’t Coop’s problem. Today was a day much like every other day in Coop’s world: a day without problems. Today was a DOG day. Leading Papa, like he’d always wanted to, Coop ran out, headed in the direction of the location burned into his brain.

The streets were messier than usual. Cars sat wrong, blocking the good walking lines. The BIG THING that many humans climbed into lay on its side ahead, smelling hot and oily. Near the shops, glass lay everywhere, glittering and tempting. A grey vehicle – weren’t they all? – had tried to play with a lamppost and almost won.

Cooper smiled. It looked like the humans were finally learning. They’d had play time! It was about time they decided to not be so orderly for once and let loose, doggystyle. He gave a happy little ‘Boof!’

People staggered, here and there. Some in little groups.

None of them seemed to be in a rush, as they usually were. This calmness was a marked improvement in Coop’s mind. All the humans seemed to have chilled out a bit and were now enjoying standing or strolling for the sake of it. They were taking the time to breathe in the air and let the sunlight warm their coats.

A panicked man ran past, screaming, disturbing the silence. All the other humans turned to watch him go, snarling. A few even followed him, hands raised.

Coop snarled, too. Look at this NAUGHTY BOY, disturbing the peace! But it was great that the others had learned the lesson and admonished him. In the same way, Coop had admonished Frankie, the small puppy at the park a few days prior, when he kept chewing on Coop’s ear. Oh well, what could you do? Not everyone could be a GOOD BOY; otherwise, the compliment would mean nothing when Papa gave it.

The grey field rose into view at the bottom of the street.

A chorus of heavenly puppies howled in Coop’s mind. This place was it: paradise.

DOGPARK.

He looked up at Papa.

Papa still had a vacant expression, like Doris the bulldog when her human asked her to do a trick.

‘Almost there, Papa! Coop knows the way. I show you how to be happy!’

Near the dog park’s fence, there came a hard metallic clang, then a growl. Tank, the Labrador, tugged at his lead, which had wrapped itself around a lamppost. His human on the other end lurched forward at the tug, smacking her face into the metal. She snarled.

Tank was a certified GOOD BOY. He was always excited to get to the park. ‘Hey Tank!’ called Coop. ‘Heading with your human to the dog park?’

Tank pulled on his leash again, grinning. His human whacked her face against the lamppost again. ‘Sure am!’ said Tank. ‘It’s taking a bit longer than usual, but I’ll get there!’

‘You sure will, Tank! Positive thinking!’

‘Is there any other kind?’ Tank said, slobbering and lurching forward on his knotted leash. ‘Have a good one, pal! See you there! I’ll be there any second now,’ he said as his human bounced off the lamppost again, snarling louder.

They walked down the road and passed a cluster of humans around a car.

They were shoving it back and forth, metal bumping, a sharp, excited smell in the air.

It must be some group game. Humans seldom played games – not like DOG. But it seemed today was a special day. Humming the tune of his joyful soul, Coop trotted on.

On the path, to the side, Doris the bulldog had stopped. She planted her weight and did not move.

Coop grinned. Doris always decided when walkies were over. On regular days, her human grumbled and yanked her onward or sighed and picked her up like the princess she was.

Today, her human stood next to Doris, swaying. She had a glazed expression; Doris’s lead held in her limp hand. Doris curled up on the pavement, which was warming in the morning sun.

‘Hey, Doris!’ called Cooper. ‘It’s a long walk from across the road, huh?’

Doris mumbled, half asleep. ‘Mornin’, Coop. Lovely day. Gettin’ to snooze.’

‘Every day is a lovely day!’

The two humans didn’t seem to register each other.

On most days, Coop’s and Doris’s humans chatted, although they never humped. It always seemed odd to Coop. But not today, today was DOG day, and everything was falling into place. Coop bounced onward, heart filled with joy as the gate came into view. He nuzzled it open with his snout and guided Papa inside with him.

Sammy, the great Dane, ran past, his human trailing behind him in the grass, screeching. She had his leash tied around her wrist, so when Sammy ran, she got yanked along behind him. It seemed she’d decided PLAYTIME would be more fun down on the ground. The grass had stained both her growling face and her shredded clothes grey. Sammy’s tongue flapped and flopped as he ran, grinning. ‘OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY.’

‘Hey, Sammy! Wonderful day, huh?’

‘OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!’

Coop closed his eyes and inhaled, tasting all the flavours of the day. The grass, the trees, the other dogs, the new perfume of the humans. What a joy it was to be alive, to be DOG, and to be here with his Papa. What a joy it was not be at WURK doing TACKSES and talking WETHUR. He was such a GOOD BOY for showing his Papa this way of living. He looked up at Papa, tongue lolling out of his mouth, as it did when he was happy – such as when he was getting scritches. ‘I love you, Papa.’

‘Something seems off,’ came a voice from behind him.

Coop turned around, and Papa staggered with him.

Greta, the German shepherd, stood rigid, ears high, body tight.

Greta was brilliant, but Greta was way too serious. She was almost human in that regard. Oh, poor Greta. Coop shook his head. ‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it?’

Greta nodded, thinking. ‘I thought so too, at first. But now I’m getting worried. No cars are driving. Nobody’s running. Heck, nobody’s talking. And now they’re just letting us do what we want?’

Coop nodded, grinning. ‘Exactly!’

Greta looked to the horizon, frowning. ‘No, something’s going on, here. Normally Greg,’ she nodded to the man on a leash behind her, eyes cloudy, ‘measures out my food each morning. Today, he let me tear open the entire bag and devour it in one go. And then I threw up. And then I ate that too. And he let me.’

‘Sounds like a good start to the day to me!’

‘And the smell. He smells different. Everyone does. At first I liked it more – less SOAP – but then I detected a wrongness underneath it all, I—’

Coop laid a paw on Greta’s shoulder. ‘Greta, you worry too much. Look around you, isn’t this everything we’ve ever wanted? All our friends here, all our humans here, DOG finally in charge.’

‘I guess, but—’

‘No buts, unless you’re sniffing them! Now, forget about all these thoughts. It’s not DOG. Go join Sammy in his zoomies. Or play hide and seek with Olive over there.’

Olive, the beagle, was crawling out of the bushes, her human snarling behind her. Her human had scratches all over her skin, with twigs and leaves stuck to her fur and clothes. ‘ONE, NINE, THREE! READY OR NOT, HERE I COME, MAMA!’

Coop nodded. That was the way of DOG. ‘You are smart, Greta. You are GOOD GURL. But you worry too much. Relax. Enjoy this. It’ll all be over tomorrow, and the humans will all be back at WURK. This is a special day, just for us. To show us how much they love us. Let’s repay that love by having the best heckin’ time of our lives!’

Greta perked up a little, but a trace of doubt lingered in her eyes. ‘If you say so, Coop.’

Coop looked across the DOGPARK, taking in all his friends and their humans together at once.

From up the hill came a clang and a snarl. Tank bellowed: ‘I’m almost there, Coop! Wait for me!’

His heart, already filled with love, started to overflow. Life was better when you stopped worrying and started enjoying. Heck, life was better when DOG was in charge, not humans. He closed his eyes and panted as the sunshine fell on him.

Paradise.