As the wisest of the group, I knew I’d have to stick close to this new human.

Maya, my human, had tears running down her cheeks as she wrapped me in her arms.

“Allie, I’ll miss you so much!” she whispered.

I felt her sadness and snuggled in closer.

Our Human Leaves Us

The night before she left us I knew something was wrong. Riva, my best friend and housemate, and I were joined in Maya’s bed by Noodles — that stuck-up, arrogant twit of a fuzzball. Something was horribly wrong if Maya let her in.

Then, before the sun fell behind the mountains the next day, Maya was gone.

Hello. I’m Allie. My story will unfold in several parts. I hope you’ll stay around, like a good human, and pay attention to the whole story. Now sit and relax as I continue.

I remember my throat getting a little tight when Maya told me about how sick her mum was. She didn’t know that her mum wouldn’t live much longer, so she only planned to be gone for a couple of weeks. My poor Maya had to travel all the way across the pond, to her former home, England.

I’m sure she would have taken me if I didn’t have to stay here and make sure all the others were okay. But that’s my job. I watch after the other seven dogs, 4, 5, or however-many cats (wicked things), and the seven chickens.

Maya didn’t know when she’d return. But she promised to come home to us and she’s always been good about that. When she climbed into our car, she told me to be a good girl and to watch after everyone. Especially the pet-sitters. I would have to train them.

Meet Mandy

Mandy was the first to come to stay with us. She arrived just before my human had to leave. Mandy’s a firefighter. A real spit-ball. Fiesty and fun. She was kind to us. Took us on hikes a lot. She was a little too lax though. Her lack of discipline with the others made my job of taking care of them really hard sometimes.

You see, Mandy would let us all out into the yard at the same time while she had one of those brown bottles she kept in the fridge. The ones that made her say “Ahh…I needed that.”

Within moments, before we could cut them off, half of my pack would be outside of the neighbors’ fence, acting like big-shots. They were so childish! Barking out stupid insults to those big ol’ sweet Sheep Herders. Those boys were just doing what they were bred for — protecting their sheep.

Well, Mandy would finally put her bottle down, whistle, and then yell “it’s all good”. What the heck did that mean?

I never figured that out, but somehow it worked. Sissie, Dottie, Jama, Rhonda, Wombles, and Whitey barked out a few more insults before returning to me. They were put back into their homes — outdoor kennels that have luxurious individual homes furnished with blankets, big dishes for our yummy food, and two green pails filled with water every day.

Mandy went back to the fridge for another brown bottle. Riva and I stayed on the back porch, keeping a look over the wide-open fields behind our country home. Orange arrows and bright blue filled the sky as coolness touched our coats.

Mandy called me over. She told me how good I was. I wagged a little to let her know she was doing okay. I liked that human. I could feel how she loved us.

Riva and I are special. We sleep on our special beds in the kitchen. I worked hard to earn that spot.

After the moon changed a couple of times, “weeks” you humans call it, right? Well, after a couple of those things, Mandy opened the back porch door one day before dinner. Riva and I were chilling on our outdoor couch, looking for squirrels.

Mandy called me over. Something was different about her. She wasn’t smiling and her arms seemed a little longer. I sniffed her good to see if she was sick. No. Nothing unusual. I got worried. What could be wrong with this poor girl?

“Allie, honey, I have to leave you tomorrow. I am so sorry. But there’s a fire and I have to go help them. You understand, right?”

I did. Mandy was a protector.

She told me a new person would come later today. She said his name is Steven and he seemed nice, though she really didn’t know him at all. I was mad and sad at the same time. Mandy had her faults, but I really liked her. I didn’t want her to leave and I didn’t want some man to mess things up for me. We girls had done very well together!

Uh oh! I’m being called. Gotta go for now! Come back later when I dig into how I cared for our latest human. That mischievous critter!