When I was a puppy I used to entertain you with my jokes and made you laugh. You called me “your child” and I was your best friend despite chewed shoes and cushions, which I killed. Each time when I was naughty you raised your finger and said: “How could you? But very quickly your anger was gone and you scrolled me to the side to crawl my tummy. Throughout your studies at the university I spent more time inside the house but I was patient. I remember those nights when I lay close to you in your bed and heard you talking while you were asleep. I thought life could not be more perfect. We took long walks to the park where we played a lot or we drove somewhere bought ice-cream (I only got the rest of the wafer because too much ice-cream is not good for dogs) I also loved my naps in the sun that shone through the balcony door in the living room until you came home from work.

 

Gradually you started to spend more and more time at work to make a career. You also spent plenty of time to find a human partner. I always waited for you and comforted you when you had a broken heart and I was happy for you when you had success with a woman. The woman is your wife now and even when she is not a dog lover I welcomed her in our home I respect her and show her that I like her. I was happy because I saw you were happy.

 

Then the babies were born. I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by the smooth skin and the nice scent of the babies, so that I wanted to mother them. But you and your wife only thought that I could harm them. That's why I was banned to a different room most of the time. Oh, how much I wanted to love them. But I was a prisoner of love. As they grew older I became their friend. They pulled my coat, grabbed me on their wiggly feet, they put their fingers in my eyes or in my ears and kissed my snout.

 

I loved everything about them, especially when we cuddled, because you nearly stopped cuddling with me. I war ready to creep into their beds to listen to their stories about their dreams and sorrows. I liked waiting together with them for your motorbike sound in the drive.

 

Long time ago when someone asked you whether you had a pet you pulled your purse and proudly showed them a picture of me. In the recent years you just replied with a simple “Yes” and quickly changed the subject. At the beginning I was your dog. Now I am just a dog.

 

Them you had a new career opportunity in a different city so that you and your family moved to a flat where pets were not allowed. You had to make the right decision for you and your family, although there was a time where I was your family. Gosh, the ride in the car was really fun until I noticed where we arrived. It smelled like dogs and cats and like fear and hopelessness. You filled some papers and claiming to know that they would find the right home for me. The two ladies behind the counter shrugged their shoulders and looked at you with pain in their faces. They knew how faint the chances of a middle-aged dog even with pedigree were to find a new home. You had to loosen your son's fingers from my collar as he cried: “No, daddy, please don't take away my dog!” I was wondering how you could teach him lessons about friendship and loyalty, about love and friendship a short while ago. As a goodbye you patted me on my head avoiding looking into my eyes and refused to take my collar and my lead with you. You had an appointment and I had one too. Shortly after you left the ladies told me that you must have known about the moving for months and that you must have had the opportunity to find the right new home for me. They shook their heads and asked “how could you?”

 

Those two ladies took good care of us and spent as much time with us as they could. They fed us sufficiently every day but I lost my appetite days ago. At the beginning I used to go to the front and hoped that you changed your mind and that everything was nothing but a nightmare that would be over now. At least I hoped to see someone who would like me and save me.

 

But the truth was that I couldn't take up with the sweet clumsy puppies. Forgotten to the world I retreated to a cosy corner and waited.

 

One day, in the afternoon I heard steps. I was picked up and went through o long hallway into a room. It was a quiet and peaceful room. The lady placed me on a table, crawled my ears and told me not to worry. My heart was beating in excitement and expectation. At the same time I felt relief. The days of the prisoner of love were over. According to my nature I was worried more about the lady than about myself. I noticed that she wore a very heavy burden. She placed a venesection to my foreleg as a tear went down on her cheek. I licked her hand as I used to do to comfort you years ago. She competently put the acus into my vein. After feeling the cooling liquid in my body I laid back and looked into her friendly eyes and babbled “how could you”. Perhaps she understood my dog's language because she said “I'm so sorry”. She embraced me and said that it was her job to find me a better place where I would not be ignored, neglected or left behind. A place where I would not have to hide, a place of love and light, so different than the earth.

 

With my last energy I wagged with my tail and tried to tell her that my “how could you” was not against her. I thought about you, my beloved master. I will always think about you and wait for you. I wish that everybody you meet in your life shows you this loyalty.

 

Source: Jim Willis

Author's comment:

 

Did the story “How could you” brought some tears into your eyes? The same happened to me as I wrote this story. I allow everybody to pass this story on, as long as the subjective is not commercial. Tell the people that the decision to adopt a pet is an important decision for life and those animals deserve our love and respect.