A Puppy Called Hugo. Fiona Harrison
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Turning around, I saw my adorable friend Bugsy, bounding towards me while Heather and Jake brought up the rear. It was turning out to be a perfect day.
As Bugsy got nearer, I tried to avoid the onslaught of his enthusiasm and dodge out of his way. Only, despite my best efforts, I was too late and he greeted me with all the excitement of a dog that hasn’t seen his owner after a week away and knocked me to the floor.
‘Percy,’ he yapped, licking me ferociously. ‘It’s so good to see you, so good.’
‘Thanks, but I only saw you the other day,’ I barked breathlessly in between licks.
Bugsy paused and let me get to my paws. ‘But it feels like forever.’
‘Don’t mind him; he’s been in a funny mood all week,’ Heather yapped from behind us.
‘It’s true. Don’t know what’s up with the chap,’ added Jake, slightly out of breath.
Bugsy looked at our friends balefully. ‘You know what’s wrong. Bella wants me to go to dog obedience school, but that just means she wants to send me to the tails of the forgotten doesn’t it, Percy?’
I shook myself down, freshly mown grass flying everywhere, and fixed Bugsy with my sternest glare.
‘Just because your owner wants you to go to training classes, doesn’t mean she wants to send you to the tails of the forgotten. It just means she wants you to behave a bit better that’s all,’ I yapped, thinking back to my own pup destroying Gail’s home earlier.
‘But I’m not bad, Percy; you of all dogs should know that,’ Bugsy barked mournfully.
‘Nobody thinks you’re a bad dog, Bugsy,’ Jake barked knowledgeably, looking to Heather for support.
She nodded her head in agreement with Jake. ‘Exactly, lovey, it just means she needs you to stop being quite so barky.’
Bugsy looked indignant. ‘I’m not barky.’
Jake, Heather and I exchanged knowing looks. Bugsy had always barked a lot, but lately he had become over-exuberant to say the least. The youngest in our little group aside from our pups, Bugsy still had a lot of growing up to do in my opinion, which was probably why Bella wanted to send him to doggy training school.
‘It won’t be as bad as you think,’ Heather put in.
‘That’s right,’ agreed Jake. ‘It can be rather fun, lots of jumping through things, crawling through tunnels, rolling around in mud and playing with balls.’
Bugsy’s eyes lit up at the thought of rolling around in mud, one of his favourite ways to spend an afternoon. ‘That doesn’t sound so bad, though not the tunnels. I hate tunnels.’
‘What doesn’t sound so bad?’ Peg asked, joining us with our four pups in tow.
‘Doggy training school,’ Heather explained.
Peg nodded knowingly. ‘After Hugo ran off by himself on a rescue mission yesterday it sounds like something he could use.’
‘I was just thinking the same thing myself,’ I barked thoughtfully.
Lily, Hugo, Roscoe and Ralph eyed us in confusion.
‘But not us though?’ Lily yapped, almost daringly.
‘Yeah,’ Roscoe put in, glancing from me to her mother. ‘Not us? We’re good boys and girls.’
As if to demonstrate, Roscoe stood to attention, eyes forward, paws tucked in neatly together, closely followed by Lily and Ralph. Hugo, sadly, didn’t get the hint and thought it was a game, preparing to leapfrog over his siblings.
Peg opened her mouth and bit Hugo by the scruff of his neck in warning. ‘That is quite enough of that. You could hurt one of them. You just remember who’s in charge here.’
‘That’s right,’ I added. ‘And, Hugo, you could do worse than follow your siblings’ example. Look how well behaved they are now. That’s how you find a forever home.’
Hugo let out a large sigh as Peg released him from her grip.
‘It’s true, love,’ Heather barked helpfully. ‘Humans don’t like wilful dogs.’
‘Sad but true,’ Jake agreed.
We turned back to Hugo, who was looking at us with wide-eyed sorrow. Eyes big and mournful, he wagged his little tail on the floor.
‘Sorry, Mum,’ Hugo barked quietly.
Turning to Peg, I saw her shake her head. She was as powerless as me when Hugo was apologetic. She was especially susceptible to his wide-eyed look, as was I, which I suspect was why he had turned it on. Now, he was even rolling on his back, paws in the air to show us his tummy. My heart went out to him. Despite his naughtiness he was so little and sweet, something he wouldn’t be forever. I had to stop comparing him to our other kids and finding fault. Just because it made me feel like a failure as a parent, it didn’t mean that Hugo was a failure himself.
‘Go on, you four, go play before Sal has to take you all back to your owners,’ I barked warmly. ‘Why don’t you go and jump up and down in the fountain?’
Hugo looked at me in astonishment. ‘Can we really, Dad?’
‘Yes, really?’ Ralph asked.
‘You really can,’ I yapped.
Rubbing my nose against each of theirs to bid them all farewell, I watched them scamper away.
Moments later, the sound of a woman shrieking up ahead made us all turn around. To my horror, I saw a young woman being chased around the fountain by a very excitable pup, namely Hugo.
‘Not again,’ Peg groaned. ‘That’s the fourth time this week.’
‘What’s he doing?’ Jake asked in wonder.
‘Every time he sees a woman out running in the park, he thinks it’s a cue for him to join her,’ I explained.
‘Sounds quite a nice thing he’s trying to do,’ Bugsy barked.
‘It does in theory,’ Peg barked wearily. ‘The only trouble is Hugo’s idea of fun is to run and jump up at the poor runners.’
‘Terrifying them out of their wits,’ I finished.
‘Poor runners,’ Heather barked sympathetically. ‘They have enough of a hard time dressed up in those ridiculous outfits, without some puppies going after them, thinking they’re playing chase.’
‘Leave it to me, I’ll sort it out,’ I barked, gearing myself up to it.
Running wasn’t my strong suit, and I would have to work up to it if I had any chance of catching up with my pug, who was now terrorising the poor woman with his antics, while his brothers and sister looked on in astonishment.
‘I’ll go,’ Heather said. ‘Bark some sense into him.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Bugsy barked with enthusiasm, wagging his tail as if to demonstrate his delight.
‘I’ll stay here and watch.’ Jake sighed.
For once I didn’t argue, and as Jake slumped down a few metres away under the shady beech tree, I watched Heather and Bugsy galvanise into action. The two of them rounded on my son in seconds and barked gentle apologies at the poor runner. As my friends led Hugo and the rest of our pups across the park towards Peg and I, their faces full of joy, I sighed.
‘We should appreciate Hugo more while he’s so young,’ I barked wisely. ‘One day, he might not always be so close.’
Peg looked at me in surprise. ‘Where’s that come from?’
I said nothing. Despite his antics this morning, Hugo had shown he had a responsible, caring streak yesterday and although I wanted nothing more than for him to behave and find his forever