Chapter 3 - Zeus

When Reese got me from the breeder, I’d hoped I would be living with her and her family. She was friendly, and I liked her husband and her babies for the brief period I spent around them before being put into a box. Even after Clay opened the box and I popped out, I didn’t believe I would be leaving.

I thought it was just a way to surprise everyone else with me. The other little ones at her house were thrilled to meet me. I liked them, and they were good at chasing me. They played with me for hours. But then the big lummox picked me up and took me away. 

I cried the whole drive to his apartment. I had resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be my home, and I’d have to deal with Clay for the rest of my life. He didn’t seem bad. Clay took me to a pet store and got me a bed, toys, and other things I’d need. At least he was going to take care of me. 

So what’s my problem? He picked up the giggly blonde woman working at the pet store. You’d think I’d like her since she must like animals to work at that store. She doesn’t. It was a LIE!

She acted all sweet, but when he wasn’t looking, she was glaring at me, and when we got to the apartment, she tried to lock me in the bathroom! Can you believe that? The audacity!

This is my home and my first night here, and she thought I’d spend it in a bathroom so she could… I don’t know what they were doing when I barged in, barking trying to save my new human from this evil female. I arrived just in time too. Because it looked like she was going to bite his penis. As a male, I know how vital that appendage is. And I wasn’t going to let my new human lose his penis. So I did the only thing I could to protect him, I bit her. 

How did Clay reward my bravery? He got angry with ME and apologized to HER! I was told to stay in my bed and locked out of the bedroom. I was not deterred as I whimpered and scratched at the door till the woman threw a fit and left, telling him to call her when he got rid of me. How rude! I was trying to protect him from her evil ways. 

He did at least realize she was not a nice person if she wanted him to get rid of me to have her stay. After he got over his disappointment that the bitch left, he apologized and gave me a treat. I thought that would be the end of it. It wasn’t. He has the worst taste in women, and I had to keep protecting him from them. Even from that witch lady who I later learned was the owner of our home. So maybe it was the wrong move to attack her, but she had it coming.

And he should thank me. Now we live in a mansion with a terrace. Okay, so it’s not our home. His cousin is letting us stay here. I liked her. She gave me yummy treats and told me I was a good boy for protecting Clay from those evil ladies. But I do feel bad for Clay. He has such terrible taste in females that I’ve had to chase them away, leaving him lonely. 

I resigned myself this morning to the task of finding him a mate. He needs someone that will make him happy, like Don makes Reese happy. He also needs someone whom he can breed with. His sister already has babies, so he needs some too. Starting today, I am going to find him the perfect female. No more of these women that won’t make him happy long term or that try to bite his penis. Penis biters need not apply. 

After getting Clay to wake up and bring me to the park, I was on the prowl. Every time we go for a walk, we call attention. I’m cute. I can’t help it. Oh, and I suppose some females flock over because of Clay. But none of the females that came up to us fit what I was looking for. They were acting friendly to me, and maybe some genuinely like dogs, but they don’t own a dog, so it’s hard for me to say. 

That’s it! I need to find a female with a dog! Win-Win, as long as the other dog is a female too. If I have to share a future home with another dog, I’d rather it be a female. Then there’s no issue with being territorial. With my mind made up, I started tugging Clay away from the two joggers he was exchanging numbers with.

“Sorry… he must be ready to handle his business.” Clay shrugged as I again tried to get him to move.

I wish I were bigger. The proportion difference between us is too much. I’ll never be able to pull Clay anywhere. It would be like me trying to pull a car. I simply can’t.

“I’ll be sure to call you, Missy and Sheila.” Clay winked, putting his phone away. Finally! 

We started walking again, my nose to the ground as I tried to find a female dog. We passed a few people walking their dogs. But they were either male, too old, the human was too young, or too prissy - never try to introduce yourself to a poodle as they seem to think they are above having their ass sniffed. I’m looking for a win-win scenario. I need to find suitable females for Clay and me.

Then I picked up a scent I liked and started in that direction. Thankfully Clay didn’t protest and followed along as I tried to hurry to catch up to the source of the scent. I finally caught sight of the female. She was more than double my size, the dog, not the human, but she was pretty with a fluffy red coat and a pink flower on her harness. I don’t know her breed, but that doesn’t matter. I liked her look. 

I looked at the human walking her wanting to be sure it wasn’t a male. Oh, thank goodness her human is a female too. She was an interesting-looking one with bi-colored hair. The human appeared to be taking good care of the female, stopping one of the bad small humans from getting to her. I barked as I saw the female cowering behind her owner.

‘Bad small human! Don’t scare her!’ I barked.

“Come on, Zeus, let’s go this way.” Clay suggested tugging my leash.

Wait, what? No, this isn’t the right way! Clay was leading me AWAY from the females I wanted to bring him to. This was going all wrong, and he wasn’t listening to me. I tried barking at him to tell him we needed to turn back, but he was busy on his phone, probably with those human females we met earlier. And as I looked back, I couldn’t see them anymore. Damn it. I lost them because of him. 

I needed to find them again. I spent the rest of our walk sniffing them out. And when I finally smelled them again, Clay was occupied with his phone. This was my chance. It took some wiggling and finesse, but I got out of my harness and took off in a run, barking to ensure Clay would realize I was gone and follow. Finding the females and not having my human there would be pointless. 

“ZEUS!” Clay shouted, running after me. 

He may have longer legs, but I am the zoomiest corgi around. I will not be deterred or caught by him until I reach the females to ensure he meets her, and I know they are the right ones. I hadn’t completely lost him as I spotted the females resting by a tree.

‘Hi! I’m Zeus!’ I barked at the pretty fluffy female.

‘Ah! Wha…what do you want!?’ She barked back but seemed afraid. I’ve never had anyone be frightened of me. I wouldn’t mind if some female humans feared me, but I don’t want this dog to be afraid of me. 

‘I want your human to meet mine. He’s not far away.’ I barked as I tried to explain my position and ran around under her. Yes, I’m THAT much smaller than her. I take the height difference as a challenge.

‘What? Why? What’s wrong with him? Does he have anxiety too? Because she’s my therapy human. I won’t share.’ She barked, getting antsy about me being under her legs.

‘What? No. He needs a good female to breed with. Yours looked nicer than the ones he picked. I want to see if they like each other.’ I explained. ‘Hurry… follow me.’ I encouraged her, hoping to get her to chase me as I dodged her human’s hand.

‘Oh! Okay! I’m Tinkerbell, by the way. Sorry I didn’t say that sooner. I get spooked easily.’ She agreed, dragging her human as she chased after me.

‘Tinkerbell? I like it. Nice to meet you, and don’t worry.’ I assured her as I saw Clay running toward us. 

‘There he is. That’s my human. We need to get them to meet.’ I instructed as I ran at Clay with Tinkerbell on my heels.

‘He looked big! Bigger than the males I’ve seen talk to my human. Okay, let’s do this.’ Tinkerbell agreed as she chased me around our humans. We didn’t mean for them to fall into the water. It just happened. But it was funny. 

Her human shrieked, and mine grunted. At least he was smart enough to land on his back, so Tinkerbell’s human didn’t get hurt. Now to sit back and see if the sparks fly. Panting from all the running, I sat at the water's edge, happily awaiting the outcome. Happier still when Tinkerbell sat down next to me to wait.