The New Puppy

            Rebecca Burkey turned nine in March. She told her mother that all she wanted for her birthday was a dog. Her mother wasn’t sure if Becky was old enough to take on the responsibility of a dog but Becky assured her mother she could. Their agreement was that if Becky didn’t take care of the dog as she promised she would have to give the dog to her older cousin. Then the dog would belong to Kyle, her older cousin by three years. Kyle was not only older, but he was bossy and pushy and he teased Becky and she didn’t like it one bit. She would never let Kyle take her most favorite birthday gift in the whole world away. She would rather eat bugs first. She didn’t know if she could actually do that, but she would try it before she gave up her dog to Kyle.

            Becky and her mom went over the rules of caring for a new dog. Her mom said that she would pay for the vet bills, shots, and food, but Becky had to feed the dog, give it fresh water, clean up after it, and let it out  for walks. In other words, Becky had to do all of the everyday things for the dog. She had to wash the dog and clean his ears and teeth and clip his nails. Her mother said that if she started doing those things when the dog was little that the dog would be used to it and not give her a hard time when it got bigger. At least that was the plan.

            The little dog was adorable and cute. He was curious and sweet. He was a little brown, black, and white beagle.  He had a black saddle on his back, a brown head, white feet, and the tip of his tail was white. His ears hung down next to his face and flopped when he ran. Becky thought about naming the dog, Floppy or Tippy, but those names sounded too much like a rabbit. She ended up calling him Pup until he grew into his real name. Becky’s mother said his name would reveal itself to her. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but her mother said there would be a name that would be perfect for only him, and she would know what that name was when she heard it.

 He was mostly a good dog. When he had to go to the bathroom, he would sit in front of the door and whine. Then he went outside to do his business. That’s what her mother called it when he went to the bathroom. Since they had a small yard, Becky had to pick up his business in a plastic bag and put it in the trash. It was too bad they didn’t live on a farm like her grandparents, and then they could leave all of the dog’s business anywhere it landed. Her grandfather had a few cows, and they did some really big businesses. It wasn’t so bad when the dog’s business was solid because then it was easy to pick up. But when the business wasn’t so solid, she had to water it so it would go into the ground. Her mom didn’t want her to bring it into the house on her shoes. “That would be bad business,” her mom said.

Her mom also told her that maybe it would help the grass grow greener. Her grandfather would save the cows’ businesses for some of his neighbors so they could put it on their gardens. Becky wasn’t sure why cow business helped the gardens grow, but it did. The cow’s business looked different than a dog’s. Her grandfather called them cow pies because they looked like round flat brown pies on the ground. When the cow pies got older, they dried up and you could pick them up and put them in a wagon to give to the neighbors. Grandpa told her that in the olden days, some people burned dried cow pies for heat. She asked how that would make the house smell. Grandpa told her they didn’t smell bad. When the neighbors got the dried up cow pies home, they crumbled them up and spread them all over their garden area. It must have worked too because their neighbors had some pretty showy flowers and big red tomatoes to prove it.

“How exactly do dried up cow pies help the gardens grow?” Becky asked Grandpa, curiously.

“The dried out cow pies release nutrients into the soil. Since they are already digested by the cow, they are absorbed by the plants faster,” Grandpa answered.

Every day after disposing of the dog’s business, she would put food and fresh water in a clean bowl. She also had to walk the dog after school, rain or shine. It was good exercise for the dog, and it was fun showing off her dog to everyone in the neighborhood. 

            Things went well for a few months until the puppy grew out of the little dog stage and into a larger dog. He was still cute and nice, but he had two bad habits that really bothered her mom. Every time the dog went outside in the backyard, he dug holes, lots and lots of holes.  His other bad habit was barking. He barked incessantly. Becky learned that word from her mother. It meant constantly or all of the time, without stopping. They couldn’t get him to quit barking, so she and her mother sat down at the kitchen table one evening and decided that the dog would have to go live at her grandparents’ house on the farm. The hole digging and the barking wouldn’t be as noticeable in the wide open spaces of a big farm. In the neighborhood where they lived now, the houses were closer together, and the dog’s barking was annoying for everyone. Summer vacation was coming soon, so she would be staying at her grandparents’ house during the day anyway. She would still be with her dog during the day, and he wouldn’t drive them crazy in their small house and yard. So that was the plan.

 Becky’s mother said, “Why don’t you give the dog his real name now so your grandfather will know what to call him?”

            Becky thought about it and said, “He likes to dig holes, so we could call him Digger. He also likes to bark all the time, so we could call him Barker. What do you think?”

            Becky’s mom said, “I’m partial to Barker because his name would be Barker Burkey, the Beagle. That has a good ring to it.” She also told Becky that the word “barker” was used to describe a person at a carnival who pitched a story to entice the crowd to see what was inside the tent.

            Becky wasn’t sure what a “good ring” meant, but she thought it meant it sounded nice. She liked it too so she decided to call her dog Barker. Her grandfather called the dog Mr. Barker or the Bark Man. But eventually, Becky shortened Barker to Barky. Her grandmother called them Beck and Bark.  Becky also liked to call her grandmother, Gran. It was a shortened version just like Becky was a shorter version of Rebecca.