Daily writing prompt

If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?

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This is Rascal. I had him for fourteen wonderful years before I needed to put him down. He was the best dog and companion. However, he wasn’t perfect. If I could make him understand one thing, it would be to stay in the yard and not go wandering through the neighborhood, get picked up by the Humane Society so that I needed to bail him out. Otherwise, he was playful, smart, didn’t mess up the house, though he loved stuffed animals. He tore them apart. To make him understand he wasn’t to tear up my stuffed animals, a friend I worked with gave me a garbage can size plastic bag filled with stuffed animals. Before I went to work, I opened the bag and poured them on the floor. I came home to an expected mess. He never tore apart another stuffed animal.

Rascal also liked to bark when I first got him. I kennel trained him. One night I went nose to nose with him in his kennel. I asked him if he liked his vocal cords. I told him if he didn’t stop barking when I tried to sleep, he wouldn’t have them. He never barked again when I slept, not even when I took a nap.

Rascal was also a jealous dog. If I went to a friend’s home with a pet, he would pee on my clothes lying on the floor of my bedroom. I needed to have another talk with him about his jealousy. I told him he was my pet and I wouldn’t bring another dog into the house. He never peed again on anything.

Rascal was a border collie. They are protective animals. If anyone came between me and him, he nipped. I needed to take Rascal to the vet three times for rabies inspection. I was told if he nipped a third time, he would be put down. Though he nipped only three times, he was never put down because of his nipping. I tried to make him understand he couldn’t nip people. I think after the third visit to the vet, he understood that.

I’ve had three dogs in my life. They were all special in their own way. Rascal was the dog I had the longest. I have his ashes on a knickknack shelf. They were joined with my next dog, also another wonderful dog.

Thanks for reading.