Written with my own paws - Mercy

My Daddy was very upset on Sunday. He had come home from church. From what Goodness and I had heard, he and Mommy had a good time in church. Mommy had gone shopping with Grandma. And so Daddy came back with Uncle Aaron. They had a long meeting in the study, working on their laptops. We were locked out of the study because these men did not want to be disturbed.

Goodness was busy chewing her cowhide 'bone' while I was just lying around... really bored. My sister has the most amazing jaws. She can chew a bone for hours without feeling tired. So, there I was staring at her auto-jaws moving and moving. Daddy has spoiled her rotten because now Goodness had four half chewed bones.

For your information, those half-chewed bones were not anywhere in sight because yours truly had buried them somewhere. The urge to hide bones is inside me. I don't really know why. It must be a type of God-given instinct that is built into my system. When I see a bone, I must bury it.

Please note that our house has no garden or any open-earth area. So, I have to be very creative. There are places that I can hide half-eaten bones. One of my favorite places is the last shelf of the bookshelves. Since Mommy has many bags stacked there, a bone would easily disappear into this pile . Other places that are less successful are those found under rugs and doormats. Goodness finds those hiding places easily.

So, on that day, while Goodness was chewing, I did a sudden snatch-and-run move and the bone was firmly in my mouth. Ah, the power of Dog-Fu. Goodness was still in a shock with her mouth open. When she recovered from the sudden disappearance of her bone, she sprung up with great agility. I must say that she is a little slimmer than I am and she is great on speed. I, on the other hand, am great on weight.

Like a missile, she threw her slim body at me. Woof, woof! Big mistake. Just as her hurling body was about to hit me, I turned! Boom! Oh my goodness! She crashed onto the back of the sofa! The woman had no sense of stopping. She picked herself up and did another charge. My movement was hindered by the bone in my mouth, and so this time I was not able to escape. She got me squarely and so both of us rolled and tumbled like out-of-control typhoon. Daddy must have heard the commotion because he opened his door and called out.

"Mercy! Goodness! Enough!"

With the bone in my mouth, I rushed up the stairs but Daddy had closed the door. He and Uncle Aaron had so much to talk. Goodness was right behind me and nipping at my hind legs. I had to make a quick get-a-way. I leaped over her and ran to the kitchen. In hot pursuit, she stayed close to my legs. Then, suddenly she stopped.

I stopped too and turned to find out why. There was Goodness jumping and chasing after a stray fly that had flown into the kitchen. Insects are always more important than her bone. She must have killed hundreds of them. Grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, roaches, flying ants and flies are all victims of her curiosity... and brutality. Some mornings, Daddy has to sweep away the sizable carnage that Goodness left on the front porch the previous night.

Back to the kitchen where I left you - Goodness was still jumping and snapping at the fly while I quietly sneaked back to the living room. I had to hide the bone... I had to hide the bone. Try to understand, this crazy thought just ran through my mind. While Goodness was still busy with the fly, I had to find a new hiding place. Then suddenly, the unique hiding place appeared before my very eyes - the back of the sofa.

The zipper was not completely zipped and so it was easy for me to scratch out the foam inside. Scratch, scratch and scratch! A lot of foam came out and walla, a neat hole appeared. Plonk and in went the bone. Woof woof! What a brilliant dog! What an awesome hiding place.

Before Goodness could miss her bone, Daddy came down with Uncle Aaron. They saw the mess that I had made. Daddy was still smiling and that was good. He and Uncle Aaron discussed about the source of the scattered foams. Then with the instinct of detectives, they discovered the hole at the back of the sofa. Daddy immediately looked at me with very stern stare. The type of stare that shined a spotlight into one's soul. Woof! That was scary.

I crouched in submission. When Daddy stared silently, the best response was to behave cute but meek. That always caused his anger to go away. However, this time, it did not work. He suddenly shouted:

"Bad dog! Naughty dog!"

Goodness was a chicken. Daddy was not scolding her but she cowered in a corner immediately. I had to think fast. Accelerate the cute mode to the maximum - just did a couple of cute rolls and exposed my tummy to be rubbed. Not working either!

"House! Go to your house!"

Once again, the cowardly Goodness retreated first to our little dwelling place under the table. Daddy and Mommy had fenced up the wooden table to create a cage for us. So, that is our house in the house. Outside, on the porch, we have another cage. If we were on the front porch then the command, "house" means that we have to go into that cage. No confusion at all because the command, "house" means that we just need to enter the nearest cage.

The length of time confined to the 'house' will depend upon the levels of Daddy's anger. In that instance, Goodness and I stayed in the house for an hour. That was a long time. So, to leverage on our time of confinement, we went to sleep. We have learned that sleeping always makes the time go faster.While we were sleeping, we smelled cooked food.

Daddy had cooked beef and rice for us. That typically meant that the confinement was to end soon. And sure it did.

The warm food was simply delicious. Daddy loves us!