• You took me home in your loving arms
    When I was only three weeks old.
    You fed me, and played with me,
    And even gave me a little doggy bed.
    In the winter, I would curl up by the fireplace,
    On the cozy rug you laid down for me,
    And I would wait for you to get home from school.
    I'd listen for the sound of you walking up the drive,
    And I would bolt to meet you.
    You would laugh, and give me hugs and kisses,
    And scratch me behind the ears;
    With the occasional belly rub.
    And I would jump up on you,
    And lick your face to my heart`s content.
    Of course,
    That was when you loved me.

    In the summer,
    We would go fishing down by the river.
    I would watch as your dad taught you how to cast.
    And when you caught a fish,
    I would bark, and splash around in the water
    As you reel it in.
    Or, when we would go down to the feild,
    We'd go blackberry pickin`.
    We'd each carry a bucket,
    And you a set of plyers.
    You would pick and pick, and every now and then,
    You would toss me a berry or two.
    I gladly ate them.
    But,
    That was when you loved me.

    All too soon,
    You grew up.
    You went off to college,
    And I was stuck with old Ma and Pop.
    Sure, they were alright.
    But they couldn't play with me.
    Not with Ma's bad hip and Pop's wheelchair.
    So I waited.
    And waited.
    And waited some more.
    I waited for four years.
    Four years for your return.
    Those four years were torture.
    But I waited.
    I kept expecting you to walk right through the door
    At any moment.
    Then, one day, you did.
    That day was the second-best day of my life.
    The first best being the day I met you.
    But something was different about you.
    You were older, taller, and grouchier,
    But none of those were it.
    It was the girl.
    That was when you still loved me.

    You weren't alone when you came home after those long four years.
    You brought someone with you.
    Only this someone was different.
    This someone was young, and pretty.
    This someone, was a woman.
    Amy.
    Then, you didn't pay much attention to me.
    Not with the girl around.
    It was always Amy this and Amy that.
    But you still loved me.
    I know you did.
    Just because you spent just about every living moment
    With that Amy girl, doesn't mean you didn't love me.
    Right?
    You loved me?

    Soon, you left,
    And the Amy girl came.
    So did I.
    We left to another place.
    Another home.
    You packed all your things in boxes.
    My stuff too.
    I was afraid.
    The last time I was in a box,
    It was terrible.
    But you told me everything would be okay.
    I belived you.
    And it was.
    For a while.
    The while that you loved me.

    After a while something big happened.
    The Slobber Ball came.
    You called it a baby,
    But to me, it was known a Slobber Ball.
    Slobber Ball was a major thing for you.
    You and Amy started panicking.
    I don't know why.
    After all, it is just a Slobber Ball.
    I didn't like the Slobber Ball.
    It spat and cryed, and pulled my tail.
    It would always yank out handfuls of my fur,
    And you would tell it 'no, no'
    And walk away.
    All you did was concentrate on Slobber Ball.
    You loved it.
    But you still loved me.
    Maybe.

    Then one day,
    You, Amy, and Slobber Ball went to go somewhere.
    I got all excited and ran to get my leash.
    But when I gave it to you
    You just hung it back up and walked out the door.
    I stayed home.
    You broke my heart that day.
    And many days that followed went the same way.
    It was like that for years.
    You never played with me.
    You never talked to me,
    Except for when you would scold me for things you used to laugh at.
    You may have loved me,
    But you sure had a bad way of showing it.
    But you loved me.
    You may not have shown it.
    But you did.
    Did.

    Then, the letter came.
    You got some letter in the mail.
    Everyone got all excited about it.
    You were happy and thankful.
    It was the happiest I had seen you in a long time.
    You started packing again.
    I wasn't scared this time.
    I knew everything would be fine.
    How wrong I was.
    As the house slowly emptied,
    The excitment wore off,
    And sorrow took its place.
    But then, suddenly,
    You came to me.
    You took my leash off its hook and dusted it off.
    You took me out the door,
    Just you and me.
    You led me to the park where we played fetch.
    It had been years since I had played fetch.
    That was one of the happiest moments of my life.
    But all the while, even when you smiled,
    There was sadness in your eyes.
    Ancient sadness, like the kind of sorrow that never leaves a person.
    That day I knew you loved me.
    I sensed something was wrong, but I guessed it must have just been shock.
    You loved me, and that was all that mattered.

    The next day was the move.
    You had three tickets tucked in your shirt pocket
    That you kept on checking over and over again.
    Three, just three.
    I wondered what was going on.
    You had me sit up front in your nice new car.
    I stuck my head out the open window.
    The breeze felt great.
    I stuck out my toung in luxery.
    This is great, I thought to myself.
    But you weren't enjoying it nearly as much as I did.
    A single tear rolled down your cheek.
    I whimpered, and nudged you as you drove off downtown.
    You smiled feebly and looked back toward the road.
    I didn't know what was wrong,
    But you loved me, and that's what counted.

    We pulled up into the parking lot of a big scary building.
    It looked like some sort of prison.
    You took me in.
    Amy and the Slobber Ball now known as Jr. stayed in the car.
    This time I was in a carrier.
    I didn't like that.
    It was too cramped in there, and I couldn't see as well.
    You took me up to lady that looked as though she had never smiled in her life.
    I was scared.
    She smelt bad too. Like an overusage of some really nasty perfume.
    You signed a few papers, exchanged a few words and handed me over.
    I was astonished!
    What were you doing?
    What was going on?
    I didn't know, but I knew I didn't like it.
    And as you walked away, that single tear glistened on your sad face.
    If that was sad, then I wondered how I must have looked.
    All I knew was that you loved me.
    But if you did, then why did you leave me?
    You promised me you would come back for me.
    That brightened me up.
    You promised, and a promise was a promise, right?
    Besides, you loved me,
    So I knew you would come back.
    You had to.
    Just had to.

    The strange lady took me down a long, hallway that seemed to never end.
    I managed a peek at the walls.
    But there were none.
    On both sides of the hallway were cells.
    And in each cell,
    Was an . . . animal.
    Realization flooded through me as I discovered where I was.
    This was the pound!
    How could you do this to me?
    The lady threw me into a cell at the very end of the hall.
    All around me were cries of terror.
    I was horrified.
    This had to be the worst time of my life.
    But you loved me.
    Didn't you?
    But you said you'd return?
    Yes, that's right.
    You'll come back for me.
    Because you love me.
    Right?
    You do love me, don't you?

    I kept with that thought for months.
    Just the possibility that you would come back calmed me
    At even the roughest of times.
    I kept my head above water.
    Barely.
    Even though the pound made my life a living hell,
    It wasn't so bad.
    I was fed, and given water.
    I even made a friend.
    Chester, the old hound across the hall from me, was an alright fellow.
    His boy had died of phemonia.
    That's why he was sent here.
    I felt sorry for him.
    I told him that my master would come back for me,
    I said he promised.
    Chester just shook his head and didn't say any more.
    I didn't know what he meant, but I knew that you would come back for me.
    You had to,
    Because you loved me.
    Or so I thought.

    After a few more months,
    Chester wasn't himself.
    He grew tired, and weary.
    He didn't talk as much, and when he did he wasn't his normal wise self.
    He was bored, and hurt, and old.
    One day, he was especially tired.
    I asked him what was wrong, and he just said he needed to sleep.
    So I let him.
    Chester never woke up.
    After that, all my hope was gone.
    I had been in the pound for nearly a year and you hadn't returned.
    That last little promise I knew was a lie.
    And it hurt.
    I knew you still loved me,
    But then why are you doing this?
    I just didn't understand it.
    I loved you.
    So you must love me.
    You love me.

    I started pacing,
    But there wasn't much room.
    So I spun in circles.
    There, at least I could do that.
    I nibbled on my tail in anxiety.
    When were you coming?
    Even though I was being fed as usual, I couuldn't eat.
    I couldn't sleep either.
    All I could do was wait.
    And wait I did.
    I waited two years.
    The longest two years of my confusing life.
    But you didn't return.
    I began to think that you wouldn't ever return.
    But you promised, and I belived you.
    So I kept on waiting.
    Because you loved me.

    Soon, two people came to my cell.
    Instead of giving me a bowl of food and water like usual,
    The let me out.
    I was thrilled!
    I bolt for the door at the end of the hallway,
    But they grabbed me and held me back.
    They led me along the hallway.
    I told everyone I passed that I was free.
    They just stared at me with fear-filled eyes.
    They're just jealous, I thought.
    But when they opened the door, it wasn't you who waited for me,
    But a tall man in a white coat with a big needle in his hand.
    All the happiness drained from my soul as they set me down on a paper-covered bed.
    They held me down and rubbed some cold stuff on my side.
    I was terrified,
    But gave into their grasp on my body.
    Then, I watched in horror as they stuck the needle slowly into my side
    And injected some funny looking fluid.
    They let me go, but I was too tired to run.
    I just lay there as sleepiness ever so slowly took over.
    And as I drifted off to sleep, I began to dream.

    I dreamed about you, coming to get me.
    And I hoped with all my little doggy heart that when I woke up you would be there,
    Arms open wide, to take me home.
    Because in my dream, you loved me.
    But I knew, even though I hated to admit it, I knew,
    You didn't love me.
    I never did find out if you came back for me.
    I never woke up to find out.
    I just knew,
    That I loved you.
    But even so,
    You don't love me.