Bell
They used to laugh when I put it on. At first he was the only one who didn’t, said, This is an experiment. We don’t know what the result will be. And I wasn’t any better. Kept trying to get it off. No doubt. In the beginning it was worse than a lead. It was a heavy weight on my head. Made me feel as though I was being continually punished. Though for what I didn’t know. Now it is different. But it took a long time.
Now I can’t wait, and with a little manipulation I put it on myself. Now it makes me feel that I am the king of the mountain. But that took a while. First it was like I was hearing noises all around me. I would whirl around, looking for the intruder, bark my head off like it was the end of the world. Then I came to the realization that I only heard the noises when he was wearing one too. Gosh, I thought. It can’t be so bad then. It was like when he would pull a cookie out of the frig, split it in two, and give me half. Then we would both chew it up simultaneously. What’s the word: Empathy. I’ve always had that. Most of my species has it as well. It is the basis of our relationship with people. Just didn’t know the word.
So like I said, it came slow. First it was like a hum, like the beep of horns on a crowded street. Then some form of expletive which didn’t make sense. I don’t think it made sense to him either, and he became depressed. But then he reinforced it. Would say, Sit! Or Stand! Or Stay! And think it at the same time. Finally something in my brain made the connection. And one day I was able to think back at him, Just give me one of those delicious bones and I’ll sit down. Boy, did he look startled. It was like when I barked at those intruders. Then he handed me a bone, and we were on our way.