He was man’s best friend ... briefly

I had a dog once.

It lasted for three days. Or about that long.

I can’t really remember. I was too busy crying.

To ruin the suspense ... no, I didn’t kill my dog. And no, it didn’t run away.

It was much worse than that.

As a kid, all I wanted was to have a dog of my own.

An only child needs a trusty companion, someone to tackle the world with. All that kinda cute stuff that makes you go awwwwww.

So I was grinning from ear to ear when Mum and Dad said they would let me get my own pup.

We jumped in the car and drove all the way up to Bendigo.

We’d chosen to get a Grif- fon, a cute pug-type dog.

Before we got to the breeders, we went to the shop and bought everything a tiny little dog would need.

We got the comfiest bed, a nice dog bowl and a lead so I could take him for walks.

“He’s called Harley,” the breeder said when we got in the door. And there he was with all his little mates. My heart felt full. I loved him. We took him home and set him up in the laundry to start his puppy life in the Reynolds family. I took him for a walk and he was that smart he slipped his head through the collar and just stood there. He didn’t run away, he just looked up happy at his achievement. Then the night came. He cried all night from missing his brothers and sisters. It was hard to listen to him so sad. Mum was up the next morning cooking him chicken breast and rice. The breeder said he couldn’t eat dog food and it had to be specially cooked. His food was prepared fresher than ours.

Two days later, and Mum had had enough.

She couldn’t handle the sadness of his crying.

“We’re taking him back,” Mum said to me after I came home from school one day.

I sat with Harley in the laundry and cried my little eyes out.

Mum has a heart of gold and didn’t want Harley to be sad. So she shattered me instead!

So we drove him back to Bendigo for another family to have.

Harley would still be around today. He’d be a ripe old age by now.

Sometimes I always wonder about what happened to my puppy pal. It was only three days, but I still miss him.