Puppy Called Dez. John Tovey
stopped in our tracks and turned around.
It was Mum.
‘If Dez is still hungry and you’re not, then let him have it. And stop being so mean!’
Violet looked up at her with puppy-dog eyes and smiled sweetly.
‘Yes, Mum. Sorry, Mum.’ She smiled sweetly, before sticking her tongue out at me.
‘NOM, NOM, NOM…’
I scoffed up the rest of her food before Violet could stop me. Breakfast done, I got down to the most important jobs of the day, playing and watching CBeebies on the telly.
‘Turn to the right and wave your hands in the air like you just don’t care…’ one of the presenters sang. Dressed in a brightly coloured suit, he had mad carrot-and-green coloured hair. He looked a bit odd, like me, but I thought he was fantastic! I laughed and waggled my bum as I followed his every word.
‘Touch your toes, and then your knees. Stretch up to the stars, look and see, put your arms out and pretend you’re a tree…’ he sang.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ Violet hissed, bumping hard against me.
‘I’m being a tree.’
‘Ha! You’re as thick as a tree trunk! VALLLLDEZZZZ…’ she crowed, stretching out my name, shouting it loud so everyone could hear.
I stopped being a tree and planted my paws back down on the ground. But Violet didn’t move, instead she stood there, looking me up and down.
‘Er, we’re playing hide and seek, do you want to join in?’ she asked suddenly.
I was flabbergasted. ‘What? You want me to join in your game?’ I repeated, thinking I’d misheard her.
‘Yeah, sure, why not?’
‘Okay!’ I replied, grateful to be asked.
I looked over her shoulder and spotted a sheet of newspaper lying on the floor in a corner of the puppy pen. Violet turned her back and began to count, so I ran over and wrapped myself up in it, like a Labrador sausage roll.
‘18…19…’ she continued, both paws covering her eyes. ‘20… Coming, ready or not!’
I put a paw over my mouth to stifle my giggles as she approached. Vicky was hiding under a cream blanket but you could see the square shape of her Labrador head a mile away. Vinnie refused to play because he said he felt sick and took to his bed, but Vesper squeezed in around the back of it. He’d asked Mum and Vinnie to camouflage him, covering his head and body with teddies.
‘Now, let me see, where would they hide…?’ Violet asked, strolling over towards me.
Dying to laugh, I clasped a paw against my mouth. I held my breath because I didn’t want the paper to crinkle around my belly and give my secret hiding place away.
‘Hmmm, I think I need to sit down and have a think about this one,’ she said, parking her big bum on top of the paper and me. But she was heavier than I’d thought, and soon her weight was crushing my ribs. I wanted to shout out and tell her to get off, but I couldn’t. Instead, I held my breath but soon my face had turned bright purple, trying to hold it in. Seconds later, it came rushing out, leaving me flat, like a deflated Labrador balloon!
‘Okay, you’ve found me,’ I said, waiting for her to stand up and get off, only she didn’t. Instead, she pressed down even harder, flattening me like a squished hot dog.
‘Violet, I’m underneath you. You’re hurting me!’ I cried, but she wasn’t listening.
In the end, Mum came over, picked her up by the scruff of the neck and pulled her off me. I’m certain Violet knew I was there; she was just being horrible.
The following day, I tried to avoid her, but she followed me around like a shadow. In a bid to get away, I stuck my head out in between the bars at the front of the puppy pen. I was still looking up, watching CBeebies on the TV, when a voice called out.
‘Hi, I’m Star, what’s your name?’ it said.
My head was between the bars but I twisted it slightly and that’s when I saw her – a beautiful golden Labrador pup, staring straight back at me with honey-brown coloured eyes.
‘Wow, you’re beautiful!’ I blurted out, without even thinking.
It was true; Star was the prettiest pup I’d ever seen.
‘And so are you,’ she replied kindly.
I shook my head but my big ears got in the way and slapped me hard around the face. ‘No, I’m not. All my brothers and sisters are beautiful, fluffy and golden like you, but I’m ugly, with stupid, big ears,’ I said, shaking them to show her.
‘No, you’re not, you’re amazing! You look really cool. I’m just a boring sandy colour, I’d love to look like you. It’s weird because even though I’m golden, all my sisters and brothers are black Labradors, like you. I’d love to be like you because then I’d fit in, so you see, I’m just like you because I’m the odd one out too!’
I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Maybe we should swap places?’
‘Yeah, maybe,’ Star chuckled.
‘I’m Dez, by the way,’ I said, sticking my paw out for her to shake, only it wouldn’t stretch far enough so I put it back down on the ground again. ‘Well,’ I explained, ‘my real name is Valdez, but I don’t like it very much, so I prefer to be called Dez.’
‘So, you’re one of the “V” pups who live next-door?’
‘Yep.’ I nodded. ‘There’s me, Vinnie, Vesper, Vicky and Violet,’ I said, counting them off one by one against each claw.
Star’s face clouded over.
‘Not Violent! Erm, I mean Violet.’
She gasped, her eyes wide with horror.
‘Yeah, she’s my little sister. Why, have you heard of her?’
‘Who hasn’t? Everyone knows who she is, because she’s the biggest bully in here!’
That made me laugh. ‘Yeah, you’re right there. She’s horrible to everyone but she particularly hates me. She calls me fat and says my ears stick out, just like a bat!’
Star shook her head. ‘That’s horrible! Listen, there’s nothing wrong with you or your, erm, ears,’ she said, noticing them for the first time. ‘It’s your sister who’s ugly. She’s ugly on the inside and the outside – all bullies are.’
I nodded. ‘You’re right there, the only person Violet loves is herself.’
‘So, are you excited about becoming a guide dog?’ she asked, changing the subject.
I nodded my head. ‘Yes, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. It’s what we were born to do, isn’t it? If I couldn’t become one of them, then I don’t know what I’d do. But I worry about it all the time.’
‘Why?’
‘Because, what if I don’t make the grade? What if I fail my exams, what then? No one would want me then.’ My stomach tightened with anxiety as I spoke.
‘Don’t be daft.’ Star laughed. ‘Of course someone would want you. You’re funny, you’re cute, you’ve got silly ears which flap around…’
I smiled – she wasn’t being unkind, she was just trying to make me laugh.
‘But what if I don’t pass, Star? What will become of me?’
‘But you will pass, because you’re clever. Anyone can see that.’
Just then, one of the puppy handlers wandered over