Beau’s Perspective: The Terrible Go Away Boxes

Woof! I don’t like it when my two-legged pack-mom and pack-dad leave me. We are a pack, for crying out loud, and packs stick together, right? Don’t get me wrong, sometimes they take me with them, but other times they leave me at home – all by myself. They always say “We’ll be right back” and give me a treat, but sometimes they don’t come back for a long time. That makes my tummy hurt.
Sometimes I worry they might never come home to me. I wonder if I’ll be all by myself without a pack. Then I try to remember that they have always come back. (Probably because when they do, I give them lots of kisses.)

However, sometimes they go away for a very, very long time. I know when that’s going to happen because they get out the awful Go Away Boxes. The Go Away Boxes are these things that open up so you can put clothes in them. When my pack-mom and pack-dad put their clothes in them, it means they’re going to go away – sometimes for many, many nighttimes. When this happens, they usually leave me at a place with a bunch of other dogs that are constantly yapping all night long. I don’t really like going there and I don’t like the Go Away Boxes. A few night-times ago, I walked into our sleeping room and there they were! The Go Away Boxes were on the bed, and my pack-mom and pack-dad were stuffing them full of clothes. I got very sad and tried to look into their eyes so they could see that I was very sad. They just scratched my head and kept sticking clothes in those terrible Go Away Boxes. They put the Go Away Boxes inside the big ride-inside box outside. Then they climbed into the ride-inside box and went away. My tummy started hurting.

However, this time something absolutely wonderful happened! You see, for lots of night-times, we’ve had two other two-leggers sleeping at our pack den. I love them! The lady two-legger always scratches my head and my back. I love to sit by her. The man two-legger always takes me out for a swim in the lake and throws the ball for me for a long time. My pack-mom and pack-dad were gone for a long, long time. But, the whole time they were gone our new two-legged pack members stayed with me and loved me. And you know what? Even though my pack-dad and pack-mom were gone for lots and lots of night-times, my tummy didn’t hurt.

We have a great pack and I love our new pack members. And I guess I don’t mind the Go Away Boxes as much anymore. Woof! Translator’s Note: My brother-in-law and his wife have been staying with us while they’re having a house built. We love them and so does Beau!