Dog Handling

Dogs at the Dump -

Well what a great time the dogs have had at the dump so far, they have been chased by Whirly birds, they have had a great feast and made lots of new friends and were last seen napping in the sun in nooks and hollows of dump rubbish.

Its a dogs life. But the sun was starting to set and it was getting cooler when they all awoke. Chan was startled awake by a funny moaning and grumbling noise coming from underneath him. He had scratched a hole to nestle into for his nap and now the hole was making funny noises.

'Something is under here' he said, to no one in particular, but by now Tyson's ears had pricked up and so had Boney's and Fae was growling and Ginger Tom the cat had his back arched.

They all went and stared at the hole with their heads sideways listening and sure enough there was a grroooannn and a moooaan and a snuffle like a bark and a whine. It was a most unusual sound.

'What will we do Tyson?' asked Fae, Tyson listened again and decided there was definitely something under the ground 'Maybe it's a Monster' he said. 'What's a Monster' asked Fae. 'Dunno but it is a really scary thing' answered Tyson.

'Rubbish' said Boney 'There's no such thing as monsters, this is something alive under the ground'.

'I think it is quite a long way underground' said Chan ' I am not a very good digger, so I think we need a person with a long digging thing'.

Boney sighed 'It's called a shovel Chan'. 'How would I know' Chan snarled back 'I am a City Boy'.

'I think Chan is right', someone said from the gathering crowd. 'Lets go and get the people and the shovels'.

So a whole bunch of the animals headed off to find the people with the shovels. After they explained to the people what had been happening in the hole, the people picked up their tools and walked back with the animals to the hole.

Chan didn't go with the mob, he sat in the hole and listened to the occasional moaning and groaning.

When the people got there they were just as amazed as the animals at the noises coming from under the ground.

Chan was very proud that it was his nesting hole and he had found the noise and now everyone was making a fuss it was such an exciting time.

So the dogs and the people dug and dug and dug and dug slowly and quietly and all the time the noise from the hole was getting louder and louder. Fae was getting more and more scared, but Tyson kept taking time out from digging to reassure her and make her feel safe.

Suddenly there was a 'CLANK' when the shovel of Big Man hit something in the hole and there was an 'Ouuccchh' sound from below.

Everyone stopped and looked at each other and the people got down into the hole and lifted out what looked like a big heap of tin.

Very slowly the heap of tin straightened itself out and it looked just like a dog made of tin. He had one ear missing and the other was a bit bent, and he couldn't stand up but he looked just like a dog alright.

'Well well well' said Big Man 'a Robot Dog, fancy that'.

'What's a Robot' asked Fae, but everyone was too busy walking around and prodding and poking the tin dog to answer her.

'Help me please' cried the tin Robot dog. 'How can we help you' asked Boney.

'I am dying' moaned the Robot dog. 'That's terrible' said Fae 'What's dying'.

'This Robot dog is in bad shape' said Chan 'How can we fix you up buddy'.

'Open up the door on my front' said the Robot dog and then he fell down and lay very still.

The people and the animals started searching around to find where the Robot's front was and finally found a panel on what was probably the chest of the Robot. The panel had a push button on the side of it, so they pushed it and the door sprung open. Inside the door was a coil of electrical flex with a three point plug on the end of it, just like the cord on an electric jug or any other appliance.

'Ah huh' said Big Man 'He is dying because he has run out of battery charge and needs to be plugged in'.

'We have lots of plugs at our place' said Fae. 'That's handy' said Chan sarcastically, 'here we are parked in the middle of the largest dump in the world and you think we can run the cord home'.

Fae looked tearful and turned to Tyson and put her head on his shoulder. This whole adventure thing was getting very tiring and difficult and she really wanted to just go home.

'Well' said Big Man 'This is most interesting. I wonder why he was thrown out in the first place. Where are we going to find a plug?'

The Robot Dog, rattled a bit and rolled his eyes with the last little bit of power left in him, he begged 'Perleease fiiinnnnd aaaaaaa pppplllluuuuugggg aaaannnddd cchhaaarrggge mmmeeee uuuupppp. IIII aaaammm aaaa haard wwwwooorrrrrkkkiiinnngg dddoooooogggggggg.............' and his voice just kind of tailed off to nothing.

Then Boney remembered something. 'There is a big shed with bulldozers and tractors in it down by the road, the workers have their lunch room there, there must be plugs in there'.

'That's right' said Big Man 'I was there once and there are lights and things there so there must be plugs'.

Everyone agreed that the thing to do was to carry the Robot Dog to the shed and plug him in and see if he would come back to life. So they all got around the Robot Dog and lifted and heaved and half carried half dragged him along towards the shed. It took a long time, maybe a couple of hours to get to the shed and it was dark by now. There was an outside light at the shed and the group took turns at going around and around to try to find a way in to the shed, but all the big doors were down and the doors and windows were all closed tight.

'Oh well' said Big Man to the other people with him 'that's it, we will just have to leave it here and come back in the morning and see if we can talk the men here into plugging it in. I'm off to bed'.

'Yeah yeah' came the agreement from the people and they all wandered off.

'This is not good' said Chan 'We need to plug this dog in tonight, he won't make it till tomorrow'.

'I agree' said Boney, 'let's have a really close look at this place'.

So the dogs put their heads down and sniffed along the ground until they came to the place where the drainpipes came out from the shed. There was a little hole there. They tried to make it bigger by scratching at it and biting the wood and they did manage to make it a bit bigger.

'Oh it's no use' said Tyson 'none of us can fit through this hole'

'I think I can' said Fae. Everyone looked at her. The little fat pup with funny little wings sprouting on her back thought she could get through this tiny hole.

'I am magic' she said 'I can do everything'. 'Oh boy' sighed Chan 'Here we go again'.

Fae put her head in the hole, it was a bit of a struggle, then she put one leg through the gap and kind of scraped the other leg in, and then with a big push she was up to her tummy. If only she had'nt eaten so much at the feast. Fae breathed out really hard and pushed with her back legs and POP she was through the hole and into the shed. There was a night light inside the shed so she could see a little bit and went off sniffing and looking for a plug and there it was, right there on the wall.

Fae was sooo happy and turned around to run back to the hole to tell the others to pass through the cord from the Robot Dog, when there right behind her was the biggest rat she had ever seen.

Fae was a ratter. Rats didn't scare her at all. 'Out of my way Rat' she said in her yappiest fiercest voice. 'Nah' said the Rat 'you make me'. 'All right I will' said Fae and she dived onto the Rat and grabbed it in her mouth. She was so mad she threw it in the air and it came down dead. 'There you go smarty pants' said Fae 'And all you other Rats here better get going'. There was a flurry as the Rats left the building by all the holes they could find. Of course some of them went out the gap that Fae had come in and the dogs waiting outside had a lovely time chasing and killing the Rats. Chan just watched, 'Oh dear oh dear' he said 'these dogs have no class at all'.

Anyway Fae went back to the gap after all the excitement and the dogs passed through the plug on the end of Robot dog's cord. Fae carried it in her mouth and took a while to figure out how to put the plug into the wall socket, but she did manage and there was a whoop from outside the shed.

Fae ran over to the hole by the drain under the sink in the shed and stuck her head out. All the dogs were smiling and Robot Dog's chest was lit up by a bright green blinking light, so it was power on.

Fae wriggled and jiggled to get back out through the hole and fell into the paws of Tyson.

'Oh Fae', he said 'you are such a strong girl'. Fae giggled and snuggled up beside him. Chan and Boney and the other animals that had come with them all found a spot to sleep off the rest of the night close to their new friend Robot Dog who was plugged into the wall socket and now blinking happily away with a smile on his face.