Hi,

I came across your item, liked what I read and would like to share my thoughts about it.


Plot: A "trapped" and later set free dog reciprocates to his master with unconventional tokens of "affection" - leaving them in an odd situation how to explain it all to the people affected by it. However, he's overtaken by a brute fate.



Style/Voice: 3rd person limited



Setting: A cottage by the lake. No explicit description but I was there in Cottage Land myself, so...



Characters: The dog, of course.

Joey definitely is kept in - for him - suboptimal conditions, no matter the affection he might get. He withers and he hates it as shows when he follows his instinct to chase the prey and that's it. His expression of gratitude when you finally "free" him by taking him to the countryside and cottage and let him roam shows that his primal ancestor is still very much alive in him.

Your situation was not so easy, for sure, especially at the end. Also, things could've gone rather foul if people had found out that it was "you" who "did it".



Grammar: Beware! Below I've pointed out, corrected things and made suggestions based on how I would've put things. However, I'm ESL, so you might not agree with everything.


We had no choice but to keep (...)

(...) us and our dog Joey(period) *Bigsmile*



Personal Opinion: Aw, cute story.

Dogs are so smart and clever, and Joey's escapades no exception. Although I would've rather expected that behavior from cats. My friend Marina has four cats and they do that frequently (much to the chagrin of her few carpets.).

Your dog displayed a nice sense of humor, too, and it brought tears to my eyes how the story ended for Joey. I think worse is only if you have to make the active decision to keep more pain from your loyal companion at the end.

It also reminded me of the dogs my family and I had over the years.

When I was seven, we adopted Benni, a Giant Schnauzer, after a burglary in our house while we were vacationing (and on police recommendation). He had a habit of strolling past the breakfast table at family gatherings / brunches and steal his part from the serving cart. (Not the whole bacon, but just a slice.) My Mom once caught him and stomped out of the house like a fury and started scolding him, and my Grosspapa came to his rescue, putting an arm around him and chiding my Mom, "Lolo, leave the dog alone! He's only human, too." And Benni would lick his lips and give her a mock-innocent look.

(Our fourth dog, Mara, did that once, too. In 2005, Mom and I were watching the papal election on TV by chance, and while we waited for the announcement, in the corner of my eye I saw Mara strolling past my Mom, and - in walking! - biting off b}one piece from her cheese sandwich hovering between plate and her mouth. She only realized it when she wanted to continue eating. You saw individual teeth marks in the sandwich.)

Anyway, back to Benni. He was also very close to a plush dog of mine with plush babies in her stomach, which he would steal when I played with the dog, "bath" in the swimming pool (in the summer) and otherwise "nurse" (and snarl, if someone would try to take "his" babies). It was just so cute but also weird as hell.

Our last dog, Djena, came closest to Joey. We got her as a pup, and she would steal and eat everything that wasn't nailed down. Once she even brought a bird she'd caught. Thank God she eventually grew out of it.

I think your story shows very nicely how "wild" our seemingly tamed furry companions still are, especially those quite obviously derived from wolves, like Joey.

Also the reaction of the cottage people was so Canadian. In Germany, you might've easily gotten a piece of their mind. We can be so humorless, envious and sometimes even nasty when it comes to completeness and intactness of our (hard-earned!) possessions.

Thanks for sharing this.


Don't forget that I'm just someone voicing her opinion. You know best what's best for your story / piece.

My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .