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Title: 11. A Gentleman of Honor Summary: Pluto's story For the record, I am not accustomed to public speaking nor am I a media seeking show- off such as that upstart Belun. However, I come from an old Virginia family and was reared by a dame of immense virtue. My sire, Champion Byanose Pinkerton Glory, UDVST, is a great gentleman from a fine Richmond family. One of my ancestors was a West Point cadet and many have served in every branch of the military, earning great honors. My parents taught my litter manners before our eyes were even open. In other words, when a lady desires me to tell my story, I respond like a true gentleman. As I said, my mother was a great lady, out of a good family. Her name is Champion LilyO'theGlade, OTCH, RTD, TDX and she is from the famous Beaumont Kennel over in Kentucky. She started her career in conformation, but earned her chops in tracking before she was two years old. My breeder, Gina, fell in love with Lily at a tracking competition and begged her owner to consider selling her after she won her championship in conformation. Gina is damn persuasive and had her way. She put an obedience title on Mom and then a tracking degree. Our Dame is trained in search and rescue like our Sire. I drank her dedication to humans and to work in with her mother's milk. I always knew that I wanted to follow in my parents' footsteps. Most of my kennel mates grow up to be police tracking dogs. As soon as I was old enough to meet the public, my earliest memories were of dominant humans, both male and female, visiting the kennels. I listened to their voices as they talked to Ginny about what they needed. Mom said that a bloodhound's role in life was to work. Sometimes you don't even stay with one partner for your entire working career. She spoke with pride about my brothers and sister from other litters that were police tracking dogs all over the world. I was eager to go forth and make my mark. Belun, if you are reading, that's NOT mark your territory. When I was still a pot bellied puppy unable to hold my pee for than an hour or two, I heard my mother say that is was a shame that Mars and I would have to part from one another. That was the only cloud on my happy days with my litter. Mars and I were next to each other in the womb. We always chose nipples next to each other. When we slept, we slept with each other's scent in our fine tuned noses. Mother said that it was a dog's fate to be separated from family. Mom said 'Your humans will be your family, your work, and your life'. I wanted to be the dog my mother and father wanted me to be, but I also wanted my brother by my side. I loved the big galoot. Mother and father are fine specimens as they say, but both of them were on the high side in size although not too large according to the breed standard. All the pups from previous litters were perfect specimens of our breed. My two litter mates, Venus and Saturn, were model dogs. For some reason, Mars and I are large for the bloodhound standard although we are handsome gentlemen. I heard Gina speak to her workers as we grew, and grew. She said, "I don't understand it. I'm afraid these pups aren't going to be breeding quality. They are beautiful, but I have no intention of being known as a breeder of oversized dogs. I abhor people who breed king anything. Bigger is not better." I was rather offended by Gina's comment. My brother and I are healthy dogs, with great hips, eyes, and intelligence. We quickly earned our canine good citizenships and responded well to our tracking studies. Gina said herself we had immense potential and said she might keep us. That would be all right except I wonder if we would ever be the same in her heart as our uncle, Holmes, our mother, Lily, and our father, Pinkerton. Our lives at Gina's Byanose Kennel were full and good. We had love from Gina and from everyone who worked for her. We had our studies to stimulate our mind, the best of food and the excellent medical care of Karen, our veterinarian. There was one thing missing; a thing I sensed deep in my doggy heart. Despite what mother told me, I knew I wanted my own human. I wanted one person to call my own or maybe one master to share with Mars. Every leg I sniffed told a story to me. I could smell who they were, where they had been, and I knew they were not the one I yearned to meet. I am dog. I want to be at a human's side all the time, not just when I am working One day as I was returning from my studies, I smelled an elusive goodness. Not food, nothing as crass as that. I smelled a man who matched the scent of my dreams. He had the scent of power about him, but also of kindness and sorrow. I sensed he needed me, but, like most humans, he didn't know what was good for him. I had a conference with Mars and told him that I wanted the big man as our human. Mars sniffed the big man next time he had a chance. My brother said, "He's all right, but I wanted a prettier human. Do you think he's breeding quality?" I have to say, Mars is shallow. He likes his human to look as if they walked out of the show ring. I put my head over Mars' neck until he came around to my way of thinking. Now we only had to persuade Gina and the man. The man's name is Walter and he is going to keep an eye on things while Gina is gone. I love Gina, but I hope she's gone long enough for us to win Walter to my way of thinking. Mars and I already finished our canine good citizenship tests. We knew our stuff and we like to represent our fine old Southern family well. Both of us always sat like gentlemen when Walter opened our kennel. He spent a little more time with us than he did with Venus and Saturn. He seemed sad, a human that needed to be owned by a dog to ease his soul. I was determined to be that dog. Mars sighed. He was a true romantic. I think it was his taste in books. Gina once left a copy of "Gone with the Wind" in his reach when he was in his chewing stage as a puppy. He devoured the book with great gusto and since then has fancied antebellum themes in his life. "I like Walter fine," Mars said, snuffling my ear. "Yet he seems so sad and serious. He'll be a lot of work to train." "We can do it," I declared, resting my nose on my paws. "He'll do." Each day, Walter took us out on training exercises. I set my mind to being his ideal dog, serious and dedicated. Intelligent yet able to take direction. I knew I was getting to him when he brought me into the office with him for hours during the day. The only thing I worried about was whether he would also take my brother. A week passed and I smelled someone who did not belong enter the kennel. I woke to give alarm, but Mars stopped me. He said, "Look, it's just a poor stray human. He looks hungry." Venus sniffed and curled up in a corner. Saturn, who is reserved in temperament, merely sat and looked thoughtful. "He looks as if he's sick," I said. "I don't think we should allow him in here." "He's beautiful," Mars said. "He's stealing," I replied, watching the man go to the staff room and come out with food. After the man ate, he looked about and dragged out a dog pad. To my surprise, he entered our kennel and sat with us. His scent was fascinating, rich, alien to anything I had ever smelled, and almost overwhelming in its variety. Mars licked the man's face and the man hugged him, weeping human tears into my brother's big soft ears that I used to like to suck on when we were being weaned. My sister, Venus, made a disgusted noise and said, "Well, I never, Mars. What are you doing, taking up with that stray?" "I like him," Mars said. Mars kissed the tears away until the man chuckled softly and said, "I'm going to keep him." I have to admit there was something about the human that gave me collywobbles. He could have used a good grooming, but I could see he was a true conformation candidate or would have been had he not lost one of his hands. He had a replacement that smelled temptingly like a toy, but I knew right away that it wasn't okay to play with it. Most importantly, I could sense that he was a good man. Dogs know. The man had a nice voice and he was a gentleman. I could tell that by the way he introduced himself. "My name is Alex and I see by the card on your kennel that one of you is Mars and one of you is Pluto. I know the girl must be Venus and she looks the beauty. That must be Saturn with the scowl on his face." Venus warmed up with flattery and even Saturn managed to loosen up enough to sniff and lick Alex. Mars kissed Alex again when he said Mars' name. I contented myself with giving him a dignified paw. I may be a teenager, but as I said, I am from a good family. After a while, Alex curled up in his blanket, his arm around my brother. I decided to keep Alex's back warm and made my way around him to lay with my back to his. It was nice sleeping with a human. I wonder if I could persuade Walter to allow us to sleep in his bed. We might get Walter to adopt this Alex too. I had heard that humans take mates who are not opposite in gender sometimes. It makes no difference to me. Perhaps my Walter would be interested in Mars' Alex? Alex crept out of our kennel before dawn. Mars whined and tried to follow him, but Alex petted him and said, "Don't worry. I'll be back tonight." Mars did not have his mind on business and ended up back in our kennel. I, of course, represented the family honor and worked hard. Walter doesn't have as many skills as Gina, but who does? I made him look good and I can tell he appreciated me. He even said, "Mars, I'm going to miss you when I have to leave. I wonder..." Walter didn't have to finish his sentence. I knew I had him. I nudged his hand back onto my head and he petted me again. We walked into the office and I helped him concentrate by keeping his feet warm. I wasn't surprised to see Alex creep into the kennel. Mars and I had to do some swift talking to persuade my parents and the other dogs not to talk. Last night, the older dogs were at a tracking demonstration so they were not around. I quickly told Alex to go to Papa to be approved. I don't think he speaks dog, but somehow he had the idea. I think he is good at knowing dominant males. It confirmed my opinion that he would make a good mate for my Walter. He just needs a little grooming. Papa sniffed Alex thoroughly, harrumphed, and declared that he would allow Alex to stay. Mother inspected Alex also and said that he would have to do although I could see she thought Mars and I could have done better. Alex slept with us each night for nearly a week. I admit that I was becoming fond of him even though my Walter was perturbed about all the missing food. I hated to see Walter bothered, but Alex had to eat and I don't think humans care for kibble. I never realized the humans could be food protective. Gina does not care for that behavior and corrected us promptly if we showed any aggression over food. We knew we would be fed well and have our share of treats. We settled our pack order when we were tiny puppies. I, of course, am the top dog. I may not be perfect in conformation, but I am my father's son in spirit. I kept my siblings in line. I ate first. Greeted humans first. That was why I picked Walter originally; he was a match for me. It was very disappointing to find Walter was food aggressive. At least, I assume that was why he attacked our Alex. He hit him and knocked him to the floor. I couldn't help it. I growled at Walter. I was terribly ashamed, but Alex smelled like pack now. It was my job to protect him. Walter looked at me with big brown eyes. I hated to threaten him, but kicking Alex wouldn't do. Walter didn't need a second correction. He wasn't nice to Alex as they left for the human house, but he didn't hit him again. Poor Mars... Mars whined and pressed his nose to the wire bars of our kennel. He even jumped against the bars as if he really believed the humans would be careless enough to leave the gate unlocked. Not hardly. No human faced the wrath of Gina, our parent's human without quailing. Walter wasn't gone long before he came back, looking as if he was confused. He wasn't though. He was entirely a sensible human being, an exception of his kind. He took our leads and put them on. Venus and Saturn whined when we left. It wasn't that they were that fond of Alex. They just hated to be left out. I held my tail high and proudly, walking beside Walter the way I hoped I would in the future. Mars deferred to me when we entered the house. We had only been here a few times, just to work on our house manners. Our sire said that working dogs should not be house pets and we had to get used to being in a kennel. I love and honor Papa, but it's hard to live up to his standards. We could smell Alex in the house and it made us anxious to see him. It was hard not to pull on our leashes, but we controlled ourselves. Well, I admitted I whined a little, anxious to take care of my sick pack member. I am a gentleman and a future law enforcement officer, but damn it all, I remain a puppy... It was wonderful. My Walter was going to allow us to sleep with Alex. The world was a wonderful place. I climbed on the bed first. Alex still smelled ill, but he had a bath. I don't like baths myself and was a master at shaking water all over anyone who bathes me. Alex smelled less like himself, but I suppose he liked the bath. Humans are strange creatures. Mars settled down next to Alex, his paw over his leg. I curled in front of Alex, where I could protect both him and my brother. I was on his left side, the side where he had lost his arm. I woke suddenly, sensing movement. I growled, ready to protect Alex. I was mortified when I realized that it was just Walter. I hoped he didn't think I had a bad temperament! Walter froze for a moment. I wagged my tail in apology and he came near the bed. Walter seemed almost sick for a moment. He pushed my brother, Mars, aside to sit on the bed. Alex woke up and, despite having been roughly treated before, he greeted Walter tenderly, petting his face and speaking to him softly. I could smell the connection between them and it seemed to me that it was possible that Walter and Alex really could be a mated pair. I whined and pushed Alex nearer Walter. They nuzzled each other a while, but then Alex fell back asleep. Walter stood up and Mars climbed back on the bed. I rumbled at my brother. He had taken a tissue out of the waste basket. People are pretty strange animals even if I like them. They throw great toys and even food in those baskets that they don't want any more, but they still get mad if we take them for our own. People! Can't live with them and can't live without them! In the morning, Alex woke whimpering. Mars and I tried to take care of him, grooming his face and sitting close. He groaned and pushed us aside, taking a needle out of a pouch. My ears went up. I don't like needles. Mars and I went over and hid by the dresser until we saw that Alex was giving himself a shot. As I said, humans are really weird. Imagine poking yourself with a sharp thing on purpose! I know Karen, our veterinarian, said it was for our own good and she is a kind human, even if she always smells of frightened animals. I wondered why Alex had not had all his shots. He wasn't a human puppy. He was all grown up. Walter came in when Alex was finished. He used his big growl of a voice again. He seemed concerned about the shot and asked Alex a lot of questions. Then Walter took us out to the exercise yard, which was a good thing since I was almost crossing my paws and really needed to go. Eleanor took us through our training after we had our breakfast and walk. She was slower than she used to be, but she is going to have a baby soon. Humans usually only have one puppy, my mother said. Humans are inefficient in many ways. I suppose they have one baby at a time because they aren't as able as dogs. My mother told me her first litter had twelve puppies and she taught them all manners before Gina had to train them. Humans would go nuts with twelve babies. Mars and I hoped Walter would bring us back into the house to take care of Alex. I may be a puppy, but I know my responsibility. Pack is pack and Alex is part of my pack now. I pawed at the kennel door incase Eleanor had forgotten where Mars and I were supposed to be, but she barked a quick 'off' and went running for the place where humans do their business. She spends a lot of time in there lately. Venus had met a possible partner and was really being a pain about it. She said she was going to have a real officer for a human, not some stray human. Venus has an attitude. I jumped on her and tussled with her until she remembered who was boss. Saturn had also met his partner to be, but was more respectful. He was excited though. He said his new partner was a member of the Mounties, which is a Canadian police force. He looked forward to going to Canada with Mac Stringer, his human. I licked Saturn's face, happy for him. I wasn't sorry for my choice though. I wasn't the kind of dog who was willing to let someone else pick a human for me. I knew what I wanted and I'm from a long line of dogs that never pulled off a scent once they had it. Meanwhile, Mars and I settled down for a nap. It's hard work taking care of a human and we needed our rest. Jimmy took us for a run as soon as he started work. Jimmy is a puppy human, about our age in human years. I like him a lot. He runs fast with us and gives a good, fun exercise session every time. We go on the path by the pond. It's great smelling there. I can smell rabbits, squirrels, and that big raccoon who I would just love to bite. He used to come into the kennel and steal food before Alex started to sleep with us. I guess he hasn't figured out yet that Alex is sleeping at the big house. Jimmy was brushing us when Walter came for us. I put my head against Walter's hip, letting him know that I appreciated him. He rubbed my ears and rested his hand on my neck, making me very happy. I think deep inside he knows I am his dog. He just needs to listen to his heart. Walter brought Mars and me to take care of Alex. We curled up with him, keeping him warm and making him feel loved. He talked to us for a long time. I didn't understand everything he said, but wagged my tail every time he said Walter. I also heard the word, Mulder, a lot. I don't know what a Mulder is, but Alex always smelled a little like a bitch in heat when he spoke about Mulder so I guess this Mulder must be another mate. It worried me that Alex smelled sicker by the hour. He had a strange undertone to his smell, like the cars we ride in to go to Karen's. I whined at Walter, thinking that maybe Alex should go to Karen too. Once when I was sick after I ate most of an old boot someone left where I could get it, Karen gave me some foul tasting medicine and I felt better soon. I'm sure she could make Alex better too. Today, Walter took me out to the woods, leaving Mars to look after Alex. Alex is not better. He smells very sick. Last night, Mars and I smelled death in the room. We stood on the bed and barked until death was scared away. We woke Walter up and he slept with Alex in his arms. I let Mars squeeze onto the bed. I wanted to keep watch in case I had to scare death away again. I'd bite death dead if I could. Maybe it's okay when he comes for the very old dogs and humans, but he shouldn't take the young ones. I hate death for taking the young ones. He took a puppy once that Gina rescued. It was a bloodhound, but from a bad human place. It didn't play like us. It moved slowly and mostly wanted to be held. Gina said Redbone had a bad heart, made worse by getting sick in a pet store. I don't know what a pet store is, but Gina gets mad if people ask her if she sells her puppies to one so I know it's a bad thing. Anyway, death took Redbone away one night. Gina cried and cried, holding him. Redbone was just a puppy. He shouldn't have died. I don't want Alex to die like Redbone. I think Walter is afraid Alex is going to die too. Today when we reached the bench by the pond, Walter puts his arms around me and cried. It was hard to see and hear big strong Walter cry like that. I tried to make him feel better, licking away his tears. We aren't supposed to jump on people, but this was a special occasion and rules sometimes have to be broken, even by good dogs. I put my paws on his shoulder and laid my face against his cheek. I learned to hug from Gina, but she didn't need many hugs from me. Walter needed that hug. He held on to me until he stopped crying. Death came into the room almost every day now. He was hovering near and all my growls could not make him go. Mars stared at him with his hackles raised, standing over Alex to protect him, but we were just puppies, just dogs. Death was stronger than we were. We fell asleep after being awake all night to watch over Alex. He was still breathing, but his chest labored and he no longer petted us, even when Mars shoved his head under Alex's hand to help him. Our warm bodies could not heat Alex's chill one. Walter left for just a few moments. I think that was what Alex was waiting for. He sighed a little, fluttered his lashes, and stopped breathing. Mars and I nudged him as we had been doing, but this time, Alex didn't breathe again. Sorrow rose in my heart until I could not stand it. I raised my nose and howled, Mars joining me. From the kennels, I heard my mother and father join us. They knew and paid their respects to the human their puppies had chosen. I heard Holmes, king of the kennels, howl in that voice that had been raised so often on the trail of frightened criminals and lost children. I hope that the great kennel keeper in the sky would hear him and let our Alex come back to us. Walter howled too, his face turned up like ours. His howl was full of rage and fear as well as sorrow. He yelled at Great Spirit that made us, demanding his beautiful Alex back. No one listened. Then Walter wept for a long time, holding Alex as Mars and I licked his face and Alex's. We didn't have our leashes on and we knew that Gina didn't like us to be out without a leash, but we went out anyway, following Walter, following our beloved Alex. I think we would have stayed with Alex even after Walter put him in the ground, but Melinda put our leashes on us. I was bad. I wouldn't go, planting my feet. Mars did the same thing until Walter said, "Bad dogs, go with Melinda. Would you want Alex to be ashamed of you? Go inside!" Saturn and Venus had gone with their new people sometimes during Alex's sickness. Mars and I lay down with our noses to the ground and whimpered. We didn't listen to Mom and Dad who said we were big dogs and must not cry like puppies. Our hearts were broken and we didn't think they would ever heal. Oh Alex...Alex, our chosen human, how could you leave us? We wouldn't eat that morning. We could only stand and sniff the air. Mars said he was going to go with Alex, wherever death took him. He said I should stay and take care of Walter. What could I say? I understood. A dog's place is with his human and Alex was even more my brother's human than I was. I licked my brother's face and waited for Walter to come back. He couldn't leave me. He needed me and I would try to take care of him as any good dog would do. I heard the truck Walter used return. I threw my weight at the kennel door again and again. It wouldn't budge, but suddenly Jimmy was there. He let Mars and I go. It was Walter! He was with Alex and some man who smelled right to me from the start. Alex was alive and he was walking. Mars and I ran to Alex and covered him with kisses then I washed Walter's face for him. The third man was petting us too. It must be Alex's other mate, Mulder. The sickness smell had left Alex and death was nowhere in sight. I filled my nose with the goodness of Alex and then I couldn't help it. I had to run around the yard, tucking my butt as if an entire pack was chasing me. Mars joined me and we ran and ran in our dance of joy until Alex laughed so much his legs went out on him. The rest of the story is simple to tell. Gina returned and our Walter growled that he was going to keep us, shoving a great deal of money at her. Gina shoved it back. Wow, alpha female and alpha male...Mars and I hid behind Alex and his Mulder in awe. Finally, Gina gave in. I was shocked. I thought even God backed down to Gina. She said she would donate the fees to bloodhound rescue. Walter nodded and said that was fine as long as we were his dogs by the end of the day. We stayed at the big house with Walter and Alex for a few more days. We had a Mulder now too. Mulders are good for long runs. They have long legs and can run fast for an entire hour. I think I like Mulders. They also give you treats off their plate even when Walter tells him to stop. He just sneaks and does it anyway. We have a home! Of course, Mars and I would have slept under a trailer with our humans, but this is a great home. It's bigger than Mistress Gina's big house and it has all kind of land. We don't sleep in a kennel either. We sleep in the house. Sometimes we sleep with all of our masters after they are done playing. Our masters love to play with each other and make interesting smells. The first time they locked us out of the room, Mars and I were afraid they had mad human disease. They were making all kinds of noise and moaning in a strange way. We barked and pawed at the door to try to help our Alex as he sounded as if they were killing him. After that, our humans put us in crates when they want to play the howl and make interesting smells game. Humans are mean sometimes. I think the game is something to do with mating. Mars and I are neutered. I'm not sure what that means, but they make you go to sleep and when you wake up, your bottom parts hurt and you feel sick. The good part is that your humans, especially man humans, give you sympathy for a long time afterwards. Gina told us that she was sorry we hurt, but that the world has so many puppies that not all of them find humans to love. Sometimes the puppies have to go to the Rainbow Bridge without ever having a family. That is a sad thing so being hurt a little is okay if we can save some puppies by having this neuter thing. Besides, I have too much to do without having puppies and mates to worry about. Alex brought home this dog who has air for brains. You know, Belun. I like him in a way, but the dog needs discipline and I'm the dog to give it to him. Then our Mulder brought home a puppy that smelled of dog sickness still. He was sickly and all three of us dogs had to help Spooky stay alive. We had to tell him how sad Mulder would be if he gave in and went to the Bridge without him. Our lives are busy. We work hard, finding children and old people who get lost. Sometimes we track down human bad people too. When we work, Walter is so proud of us that he stands even taller with pride when he talks about us. We still see our sire and dame at times. We are always respectful and I think that Pinkerton and Lily are proud of us too. Even old Holmes said we live a dog's life and that we are dogs who know the special scent of a loving heart. With that, we say adieu and send birthday kisses to two special ladies. Our tail is done.
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