The Box

An Original Short Story by Paul McClosky
Copyrighted 1998 by Paul McClosky

Jay Vee was a true Renaissance man. Five years ago he had been a successful real estate developer in the city. Years of hard work and careful investments enabled him to sell his lucrative business ventures and retire to the country where he could read, hunt, fish and train his dogs. Jay divested himself of most of the trappings of city life. Jay kept some furniture, his dogs and Mercedes and headed for the country.

The first year follows Jay's transference from 'slicker' to 'good old boy'. The Mercedes became his going to the city car while the 1986 GMC half-ton became his vehicle of choice. The natural rhythm of the country had entered his psyche and he was at peace. The local farmers were pleased with having someone able to help them train their dogs for farmwork and various types of hunting disciplines. This knowledge wasn't easily come by for Jay, over the years he had read untold volumes of books on animal behavior, mostly canine, and had attended dozens of training seminars. Jay was recognized in the local vernacular as 'a good hand with the beasts'. High praise from men who spent their entire lives with animals.

His second year in the country Jay became increasingly restless. He had no desire to return to the city with its' pressures and pace, he just wanted something to keep him occupied. He applied for and was selected to become the Nuisance Wildlife Control Officer in his county. Jay was now thoroughly satisfied with his life. He still had peace and quiet and now employment that was challenging as well as rewarding. With the exception of the occasional animal that must be destroyed Jay thought of his existence as perfect.

Time passed and Jay felt he needed something new in his life. The answer came in an advertisement in yesterday's newspaper. The ad read, "Free to the RIGHT home....Male Kerry Blue Terrier, two years old, healthy, intact, friendly, all shots up to date. Contact Janice Jovers at 688 2478."

Jay had never owned a terrier - he had always kept hunting dogs.

"Well....I do have those gophers in the back field," he rationalized. "Maybe I'll give Ms. Jovers a call."

"Hello, yes this is Janice Jovers speaking. Why yes, I do still have the Kerry Blue, but as I stated in the ad he must go to the RIGHT home."

Jay told her was interested in at least seeing him, as he had never seen a Kerry Blue Terrier. Several minutes of pointed questioning from Ms. Jovers, and the correct responses from Jay led to the scheduling of an appointment the following day. Jay spent the evening reading the Official Standard of the Kerry Blue Terrier and found a page on the Internet dedicated to the breed. Morning found Jay quite excited about his forthcoming encounter. If this dog was even close to the dog described in the books and on the Internet he might just be the perfect addition to his life.

The interview went very well indeed! Jay learned that Ms. Jovers had been breeding Kerry Blue Terriers for many years and her knowledge of the breed was encyclopedic. She was looking to place the Kerry Blue in the RIGHT home because Guinness, as she called him, had grown up slightly larger than the breed standard allowed for. Ms. Jovers explained that Guinness was a lovely Kerry, however she couldn't use him in her breeding program.

Ms. Jovers was impressed with Jay's knowledge of dogs as well as his gentle good humored manner. Jay appeared to be just who she was looking for.

The time had come....Jay was about to meet his first Kerry Blue. Ms. Jovers pulled back the drapes, opened the patio door and let Guinness into the house. Jay bent down on one knee and offered the back of his hand. The Kerry wasn't having any of this back of hand nonsense and did his best impersonation of Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh stories. In short, the Kerry bounded headlong into Jay and bounced him flat onto his back. Before Jay had the chance to recover the Kerry was all over him licking his face, neck, ears....anything that wasn't covered up with clothing.

Ms. Jovers watched the goings-on for a few minutes and then said, "Okay Guinness, that's enough, let Mr. Vee up." Jay was speechless, he had never been greeted so completely by man nor beast.

"He's quite friendly isn't he?" said Jay once he caught his breath.

"Oh yes, Kerries are very fond of people," said Ms. Jovers.

Guinness displayed his desire to continue the forming of the friendship by bringing every toy he owned for Jay to throw for him. Janice put the toys away and told Guinness to leave them. Guinness then decided to continue the fun with a quick game of 'poke-paw'.

Poke-paw , for the uninitiated, is a game whereby the Kerry begins by gently tapping the arm or leg with its' forepaw. The game begins very softly and escalates until the Kerry is standing on its' hind legs while driving both forepaws into the abdomen of the object of their attention.

Jay was impressed with the strength Guinness displayed in the latter stages of the game. If he wasn't ready for the next poke it would take his breath away.

"You will notice, Mr. Vee, that Kerries aren't easily dissuaded," said Janice. "When they want your attention there's no chance you'll miss the signs."

"Please, call me Jay," he said. " He is terrific! How is he with children?"

"Oh, pretty much the same but a little more restrained," said Janice. "Kerries seem to know that jumping up on children is a no-no so they go through their entire routine with four feet on the floor."

"How is Guinness with other dogs?" asked Jay innocently.

"Well.......that's the reason for my stating that he had to go to the RIGHT home. Guinness is prone to be dog aggressive. I believe he could be trained to be less aggressive, but it'll take time and patience on your part," said Janice.

"No problem," said Jay, "I'll have him running free with my other four dogs in no time."

The deal was struck and arrangements were made for Jay to take ownership of Guinness on Saturday. The next three days would give Jay time to add another run onto the kennel and tie up some loose ends. Jay was very anxious to bring Guinness home and have the full weekend to get to know him.

"This is going to be great!" thought Jay. "How hard can it be to teach a smart dog that dog aggression will not be tolerated?"

The answer was three days away. If Jay wanted something to jazz up his life he couldn't have done a better job if he planned it. If he had listened carefully he would have heard the theme from Twilight Zone playing behind Rod Serling's voice welcoming him to unfamiliar ground.

Saturday morning broke with a cloudless sky, warm temperature, soft breezes and the faint smell of hyacinths in the air. Jay awoke and was fully alert in the time it took him to blink once. Today was the day, Guinness was coming! Jay showered, had a quick breakfast, almost scalded himself with the hot coffee and was in the Mercedes in under half an hour. This was going to be a great day.....a new dog and a new training challenge. Life was good!

If he only knew........

Shortly after lunch Jay arrived at home with his new buddy Guinness. Ms. Jovers had bathed and groomed Guinness prior to Jay's arrival and looking at him made Jay's heart skip a beat. Guinness posed in the bright sunlight and sniffed the air. His tail was erect and wagging, his ears up, the long curve of his neck was a thing of beauty. Jay didn't recognize the look of cold steel in the small dark eyes of his Kerry. If he had his heart would have done more than just skip a beat, it would have turned to ice. Guinness had heard and smelled the scent of other dogs nearby.

Jay understood that being uprooted could be traumatic to Guinness and decided to take him directly into the house and leave the introductions to his other dogs for a couple of days.

Jay took the leash off and Guinness tore through the entire house. He tasted, smelled, felt, rolled on or rubbed against everything he could reach. If Guinness was traumatized he certainly didn't show it. Jay showed him where his water bowl was and much to Guinness' delight was another bowl right next to it filled with food.

"Alright!!!" thought Guinness, "My second favorite thing....FOOD!"

As Jay watched Guinness dive headlong into the food dish he felt that Guinness was going to be no problem at all. Jay had long held the opinion that a dog that will eat when put into completely new surroundings is not stressing-out and perfectly happy with his circumstances.

The rest of the weekend passed fairly uneventfully. Guinness was loving, almost perfectly obedient and always close at hand. Jay was smitten.

Monday morning Jay decided it would be a good time to introduce Guinness to the rest of the pack. Remembering Janice's warning about dog-aggression Jay decided to leave the other dogs in their individual runs and take Guinness out on- lead to meet them.

The pack saw Jay coming around the corner of the kennel building and immediately began barking. Jay mistakenly thought the four dogs were trying to get his attention for themselves. All Jay heard was an excited barking - he didn't speak 'dog', but of course Guinness did.

The first run housed Bingo, a neutered beagle Jay used for hunting rabbits. Bingo took one look at Guinness and lowered his eyes. He said softly, " Hi, my name is Bingo, welcome." Guinness didn't give Bingo a second look.

The second run housed a beautiful Blue Tick Hound bitch from Georgia that Jay had acquired to hunt raccoons. She went by the name of Jasmine and she was the best 'coon hunter in the county. Jasmine turned slightly sideways, lowered her eyes and said, "Hi, welcome. I'm Jasmine and I bet we'll be good friends."

Guinness pranced up the fence, gave Jasmine a couple of quick sniffs and said, "I'm Guinness. You better believe we're gonna be good friends." "Wow," thought Guinness, "She's beautiful! This place just gets better and better."

The third run was occupied by an old neutered Bloodhound named Montgomery. 'Monty' had proven his worth many times over when called upon to locate lost children, escaped convicts from the farm and coyotes that had become a nuisance to the sheep farmers. Monty, not bothering to stand, said, "Well hi y'all, I'm Monty, and I just know we're gonna be good buddies."

Guinness stared at Monty for a moment and said, " It's nice to meet you and I think we'll get along just fine."

The fourth and final run was occupied by Beau, an intact Springer Spaniel who enjoyed the position of pack leader. Jay took Beau with him when he went bird hunting. Beau could flush birds better and work longer than any dog in the county. Beau was the envy of all the upland hunters in the area. Beau stood there staring into Guinness' eyes, hackles up, tail erect, upper lip pulled back in a combination sneer and sign of intimidation. Beau said, " I'm Beau. I'm the top dog here and the sooner you learn that the easier your life will be. You mess with me wussie-boy and you'll wish we never met."

Guinness stared back, standing on his toes, not moving a muscle with the exception of his tail. Jay noticed that his tail was no longer wagging in its' usual fashion. The tail had become as straight as a ruler and just seemed to be twitching about 1/4 of an inch from side to side.

Guinness said, " Wrong fluffy, you USED to be top dog."

In less than a heartbeat Guinness and Beau launched themselves at the chain link and the fence fight was on.

Having recovered from his initial shock Jay pulled Guinness away from the fence. The two dogs were still barking at each other as Jay frog-marched Guinness back around the kennel building and into the house. It was a good thing that Jay didn't speak 'dog', the translation would have shocked him and Jay had spent 3 years in the Navy.

"Well boy, it looks as though you and I have some serious attitude adjusting to do. Janice wasn't kidding when she told me about you" said Jay.

The next morning Jay had to destroy a coyote that had been terrorizing sheep. When he returned home Guinness watched him intently from the kitchen window. Jay pulled his truck up to a small building in back of the house. Guinness couldn't see what was in the building because Jay's truck was in the way. After an hour or so Jay emerged from the small building, closed the door and came into the house. Guinness ran to greet him but cut the antics short as he smelled something different about Jay. Guinness couldn't quite identify the scent, but he knew it was unpleasant.

Jay reached down and gave Guinness a scratch then headed for the shower. When he emerged from the bathroom he smelled like Jay again and Guinness was all over him as though he hadn't seen him for years.

Adjusting Guinness' attitude began right after lunch. Jay ran him through basic obedience and added a few 'dominance control' exercises. Guinness responded perfectly and was rewarded with a nice piece of hotdog.

The training continued for the rest of the week and Guinness displayed all the correct signs of submission to Jay's position as pack leader. Jay felt that it was again time to introduce Guinness to the pack. In light of the fact that there hadn't been any signs of trouble with Guinness, Bingo, Jasmine and Monty he decided to turn them all loose in the big gang run on the side of the house.

The four dogs sniffed each other and Monty strolled over to corner of the run under the tree and quickly fell asleep.

Guinness said to Bingo, "Hey little buddy, why don't you see if there are any gopher holes in the field here?"

Bingo replied, "My pleasure Big Dog," and dropped his nose to the ground and was off.

Guinness turned to Jasmine and said, " Finally.....we're alone. So what's shaking beautiful, care to join me over there in the dog house?"

Jasmine turned her head slightly and said, " Well I never! You sir do not know me well enough to take such liberties."

Guinness apologized and had another thought. "Hey, what's with that little building out behind the house?"

Jasmine stood still, and began to shake. She said," We call it The Box. No-one except the Boss is allowed near The Box. Take my advice and stay away from there, The Box is evil."

"Hah!!" said Guinness, "I'm a Kerry Blue Terrier - evil doesn't scare me."

Jay repeated Guinness' daily training and turned the four dogs out together for the next week without incident. The four dogs became fast friends, well the three of them and Monty. Whenever Monty was awake there were four friends, and Guinness was their unchallenged leader.

At the end of the week Jay took Guinness, on lead, over to the runs to introduce him to Beau again. Jay didn't understand the conversation between the two, all he heard was some barking.

"Well lookee here. If it ain't that city sissy comin' back for more. Son, you ain't the brightest bulb on the tree are ya?" said Beau.

Guinness stood his ground and growled back at Beau, "We'll see bubba, we'll see."

Jay decided that although this encounter was much better than the last there was still work to be done. Guinness had growled at Beau after all, and that couldn't be tolerated.

"Perhaps I should spend some time working with Beau too," thought Jay.

Another week passed before Jay brought the two dogs together again. This time both dogs did as they were told. After a quick staring session both Guinness and Beau turned away from each other. Jay was very pleased, the training was working. He should be able to turn all five dogs out together in another few days if this behavior continued.

Thursday morning Jay brought all of his pack together in the gang run. At first he let Guinness, Bingo, Jasmine and Monty out. A couple of minutes later Jay brought Beau over to the fence. Not only didn't Guinness and Beau bark at each other, they never even looked at each other. Jay figured that now was as good a time as any, and let Beau into the run.

The instant Beau was free both he and Guinness charged each other.

Guinness snarled at Beau," Hey fluffy I've been waiting for you."

Beau screamed, "Now you're are gonna see just who the Top Dog is around here. You're gonna regret the day you first laid eyes on me."

Guinness howled back, "Are you going to talk me to death? Let's get it on!!"

Before Jay could reach the two combatants Guinness had Beau by the throat. Guinness raised Beau off the ground and body slammed him onto his back.

"Say uncle or say your prayers," said Guinness through clenched teeth.

Beau relented just as Jay pulled Guinness from his throat. Beau wasn't hurt badly but he decided to play possum until Jay had Guinness under control and outside the fence. As Guinness was disappearing into the main house Beau called after him, " This ain't over pantywaist!! I tripped on a gopher hole. Next time you'll get yours!!"

"We'll see," said Guinness through the closing door, "We'll see."

The episode left Jay shocked and baffled. How could this be? Beau had never behaved like this before Guinness came to live here. Guinness had been doing so well with his training....what was going on here?

Jay telephoned Janice Jovers and told her the whole story. He admitted to being at a complete loss on how to correct the unwanted behavior. Janice refrained from saying, "I told you so," and furnished Jay with the name of a professional behavior modification specialist.

"His name is Alan Genera. If he can't straighten Guinness out, nobody can. He can accomplish miracles with Kerries in just a few minutes."

"I'll get in touch with him right away. I really want to fix this. Guinness is the most phenomenal dog I have ever known, it's just this damned Alpha attitude of his. I just can't understand it, how can one dog be so completely devoted, funny and loyal and turn into Mr. Hyde like that?"

"I don't know either Jay, it's just raw nature."

Jay promised to keep Janice informed of his progress with Alan.

"Morning Glory Kennels, Alan speaking, can I help you?" said the voice on the phone.

"I sure hope so, I'm at my wits' end. My name is Jay Vee and I am having problems with my Kerry Blue Terrier, Guinness. He's dog aggressive and he and my Springer Spaniel Beau have tried to kill each other. I really need your help," confessed Jay.

"A Kerry Blue eh? Heh heh, yup they can be a handful. Not to worry though Jay, they're smart as a whip and can be re-programmed in no time at all. Why don't you bring him around tomorrow, say about nine? Do you need directions to our place?" asked Alan.

"That's fine, no...that's great. I've driven past your place many times. Thank you so much. We'll be there!"

As nine o'clock rolled over on the truck's dashboard clock Jay's front wheels rolled off the main road and onto Morning Glory Kennels driveway. Before Jay had parked the truck a man emerged from the kennel building and waved.

"Hi, I'm Alan and you must be Jay. I assume this spiffy fellow is 'Guinness the Terrible'. Not to worry, by tomorrow evening Guinness here will be one changed dog, " said Alan.

"I honestly hope so Alan, I'm fast running out of options," stated Jay.

Alan explained to Jay that he didn't use any special equipment, just a leash and a collar. He told Jay that he believed you had to motivate the dog to 'want to' rather than force him and make him 'have to'. This dispelled the last of Jay's reservations about Alan Genera. Jay had heard many horror stories about dog trainers and the methods they employed and had been worried about Alan's methods. How could he achieve in two days what Jay couldn't in weeks? Jay was no novice in the world of dog psychology. Admittedly, he wasn't a professional, he'd never professed to be, but he'd taken all those seminars, read all those books, watched all those videos........Oh well, if there were any questions about Alan's ethics Janice wouldn't have recommended him.

Alan thanked Jay and told him to go home until five o'clock the following day. "If I can't take the fight out of him in two days it can't be done," assured Alan.

The attitude modification began immediately. Alan didn't use any magic, he just knew dogs. He had spent most of his adult life training and observing. A perfectly timed and properly applied correction could make a world of difference in a very short time. Alan had seen it time and again....timing and knowledge were the keys to success.

It normally took until noon for Alan to prepare his student with the basics needed for the more advanced training that took place after lunch.

Although Alan had no knowledge of its' existence, lunch time was also the time for the "Sly Effect". This isn't to say that Alan couldn't achieve the same level of success on his own, but the "Sly Effect" just helped things move along a little faster.

'Sly' is a seven year old, intact, 135 pound Rottweiler. Sly had survived 37 fights in the Louisiana dog fight arenas. Scarred up on the outside, the Rottie was a frightening sight. Sly had his own way of doing things, lots of things, anything in fact that would help Alan. Alan had rescued Sly from the fight promoter and nursed and pampered him back to full physical and mental health. In short....Sly adored Alan.

The 'Sly Effect' works like this. When Alan would break for lunch he always placed the newcomer into the last run along the south wall of the kennel. The dog would be somewhat isolated, which Alan believed made them more anxious to please. That may well be, but Sly played a part, a big part in the lunch break. Sly would hide himself around the back of the kennels until Alan put the newcomer into the run. Once Alan was back in the office and out of earshot Sly would creep quietly around the side of the building until he was only about two feet from the newcomer, but unseen by Alan.

"It's no use fighting The Man sonny. He always wins. I know." whispered Sly.

"That's where you and I differ 'Jumbo", he's not my boss and he'll never beat me. I am a Kerry Blue Terrier and my whole breed lives by the motto, ' Never give in!' Once, when I was just a pup, a Husky jumped at me. I was too little to do anything but pee on the floor and scream. My grandpa came form nowhere and put that Husky out of the house. Then my grandpa told me that if he ever heard me scream again he would disown me.

"Guinny," he said,"You are a Kerry Blue Terrier, never forget that. It's better to leave this world in heroic battle than to live in it in cowardice. Remember that Guinny, Never Give In."

"Very touching I'm sure," said Sly, "But only a fool tosses his life away so lightly."

"What are you talking about, tossing my life away?" asked Guinness.

"Where do you think you are sonny, weekend camp? You've just run out of options. You either do what The Man wants and refuse to fight or it's the blue juice," said Sly.

"The blue juice? What are you talking about oldtimer? Have you lost your mind?? What the heck is' The Blue Juice'?" asked Guinness.

"The blue juice is something they stick in you and you go down for the long count. You fall asleep and never wake up. Does that sound like something you're willing to gamble on? Take my advice sonny, just do what The Man wants and tomorrow night you'll be back in your own bed. " advised Sly.

"You don't scare me old man, I'll show you if The Man gives me half a chance," yelled Guinness.

"Suit yourself. Tomorrow before your Boss returns The Man is going to put you and I nose to nose. If you want to fight me you'll have your chance. Just remember that I tried to help you out," said Sly over his shoulder as he walked away.

Before Alan returned Guinness had decided that he was going to the exact opposite of whatever Alan asked of him. All afternoon he played the contrary. When Alan told him to sit he stood. When Alan told him to come Guinness pulled on the leash in the opposite direction. Alan had seen it before, he'd be okay in the morning after he had a chance to settle down and let today's lessons sink in.

Guinness spent the night thinking about what Sly had told him. Maybe, just maybe he was telling the truth. After all, The Boss had looked at him peculiarly when he drove away this morning.

"It can't hurt to do things his way tomorrow" he decided and fell fast asleep.

The morning proclaimed the beginning of a new day with one very compliant Guinness. Outwardly he looked exactly the same, but inwardly he was a dog with a mission. He knew he had to get through today perfectly to be able to go home with The Boss. If he couldn't go home with The Boss he wouldn't see Jasmine again, or Bingo or even Montgomery. If he didn't go home with The Boss he'd never get the chance to settle the score with Beau once and for all.

When Alan opened the gate to the run he found one Kerry Blue Terrier willing to do just as he was told.

He had seen it happen before.

Guinness was something akin to a mind reader. He couldn't have moved faster, sat straighter, heel more closely .... Alan was very pleased. Although optimistic, Alan knew he still had the final test to get Guinness through. If Guinness couldn't pass this last test Alan would just have to tell Jay that he had done all he could... and failed.

Alan put Guinness in the nearest run and called Sly. Sly appeared from the side of the building right on cue. Alan put a steel muzzle on Sly and told him to stay. Next, Alan went into the run with Guinness and put a steel muzzle on him as well. If these two were going to go at it, neither of them was going to get hurt if Alan could help it.

Alan opened the gate to the run and turned Guinness loose. Guinness ran playfully over to Sly, executed a perfect play bow and the two of them ran around the yard together. Alan was relieved, but not surprised. He had seen it happen many times before.

Alan let Guinness and Sly play for several minutes before he called Sly to him and removed the muzzle. Sly and Guinness went right back to playing the way they had been. A few more minutes passed and Alan called Guinness to him. Alan removed the muzzle from Guinness and watched happily as the two boys continued their game of tag.

"Another job well done," said Alan as he sat down on the warm grass to wait for Jay.

Jay arrived right on the stroke of five. As the truck crept up the driveway he couldn't believe his eyes. There was Guinness, his 'Guinness the Terrible', frolicking around the yard with the biggest Rottie he had ever laid eyes on.

"This is great, fantastic, fabulous....this Alan is a genius," thought Jay, and then repeated it out aloud for Alan to hear. Alan merely smiled and shook Jay's hand.

"What do I owe you for this miraculous transformation?" asked Jay.

"Well, two days training, room and board......let's say $150.00, does that sound fair?" asked Alan.

"I hope to tell you its' fair, it's a bargain at twice the price," chuckled Jay.

"Well, good luck to you both, and Guinness it was real nice having the chance to work with you" said Alan as Jay and Guinness pulled away.

Back home Jay couldn't wait to test Guinness and Beau together. As soon as he had parked the truck both he and Guinness headed straight for Beau's run. The two dogs never gave each other a second look. Jay decided to go all the way and let Beau out of his run to go face to face with Guinness. Beau exited the run and sat in front of Jay while Guinness circled behind to take up the heel position.

"It's a miracle," shouted Jay, "An honest to God miracle."

As Jay returned Beau to his run, Beau whispered so softly that only Guinness could hear any sound at all, "It still ain't over slick".

"We'll see," said Guinness, "We'll see."

That evening Jay decided to put all five of his dogs out in the gang run.

As soon as Bingo saw Guinness in the big run he went ballistic. The little beagle was beside himself with joy. Bingo ran zig-zags, circles, octahedrons and every other geometrical pattern know to dogkind. When he was winded he trotted over to Guinness to welcome him home.

Monty noticed that Guinness was back too. As he headed for his favorite nap site he said, "Good to see ya, were you away?"

Jasmine spotted Guinness as soon as she rounded the corner of the house. She began to bay loudly. She ran to Guinness to tell him how much she had missed him and how glad she was that he was home again. Jasmine knew this wasn't proper ladylike behavior but what the heck... you can't be a southern belle all the time. Sometimes you just gotta let go with a great blood curdling howl.

Beau said nothing, refused to look in Guinness' direction and wandered over to sit by Monty.

Jay felt all the stress leaving his body. He lay down on the hammock he'd strung between the two elms just outside the gate of the gang run and let the comfort of a nap creep over him.

No sooner had Jay fallen asleep than Beau yelled over to Guinness, "Hey sissy, how long you plannin' to hide behind The Boss? Let's me and you settle this thing right here, right now."

Guinness had more than half-closed the gap between them before Beau had uttered his last syllable. The two dogs were again going to war with each other in spite of Jay being just outside the fence. Guinness feinted left, dodged right and caught Beau off guard. Guinness again had Beau by the throat and once more body slammed him into the grass.

Guinness snarled at Beau, " Boy, you're thicker than two short posts. You've been bred to flush and retrieve birds while I am a Kerry Blue Terrier and I was bred to hunt, kill, herd, guard and any other little thing you can think of that requires brains and guts. We've already proven that you don't have any brains and in just a minute I'm gonna look inside and see if you have any guuuuuuuuts..."

His threat was cut short as Jay had arrived and lifted Guinness by the collar.

Jay half carried and half dragged Guinness to the closest place he could find that had a door to put between him and Beau.

THE BOX!!

Jay opened the door to The Box and pushed Guinness inside. Guinness found himself locked inside a strange, foul smelling and evil place.

"Jasmine was right, this place is evil, but I am a K-K-K-Kerry B-B-Blue T-T-Trembler and I'm not afraid of a-a-a-a-anything," stuttered Guinness.

Jay went back to check on Beau's injuries and again found were mostly superficial. He was relieved to see that Beau didn't seem all that worse for the wear.

Guinness' eyes adjusted to the dim light of 'The Box'.

There was no way Guinness could know that 'The Box" was nothing more than a walk in cooler Jay used to store the carcasses of the nuisance wildlife he'd had to destroy. The remains of the coyote Jay brought home the other day was still hanging on the hook. The carcass itself would be sent to the local college of veterinary medicine. The hide would be sold to a local tannery. The internal organs would be sent to a research lab associated with the Department of the Environment for further study.

Guinness had no knowledge of any of these facts. All he knew was that it was cold and smelled bad. When he looked up and saw the carcass he almost had a coronary.

"What kind of a chamber of horrors did The Boss have here? Was he a killer? Didn't Jeffrey Dahmer admit to once killing a canid?"

Guinness was losing his grip on reality. He just knew he was the next one scheduled to be hung on that hook.

"Was that someone he knew hanging there?" he wondered.

"If I ever get out of here alive I'll never again do anything that displeases The Boss. No matter what he wants, I'm his boy."

It took all of about five minutes for Jay to put Beau back into his own run. He returned to the cooler and opened the door. Guinness was trembling in a half sitting and half lying position in the back corner of the cooler.

"Guinness, come!" ordered Jay.

Guinness was out of that cooler in a shot. As he approached Jay he began to drop down onto his elbows. As he got closer to Jay he lay down, rolled over onto his back and did a small submissive pee. This dog was not fooling around. He was half mad with terror and he was going to show Jay that he was The Boss. He was determined that he wasn't going to be next on the hook.

Jay led Guinness to the kennel building and put him in the run farthest from Beau. He needn't have bothered, the last thing on Guinness' mind was fighting with Beau. His only fight now would be to hang on to what was left of his sanity.

For three days Guinness didn't even poke his head out of his house. Bingo and Jasmine were terribly worried about what had happened to their friend. Monty wasn't aware that anything was wrong as he had slept through the entire episode. Beau was trying to keep a low profile, he couldn't use the old ' tripped in a gopher hole' again and besides his throat was still sore.

The second Guinness' head emerged from his house, Bingo was asking, " How are you big dog? Are you okay? Jasmine has been worried sick, but I knew you were okay. Right? You're okay, right?"

Guinness' answer was barely a whisper, and both Bingo and Jasmine noticed that his beautiful dark coat was now a light blue-ish color.

" I-I-I-I'm okay Bingo. How about not calling me b-b-big d-d-dog any more? Just call me Guinny alright?"

Jasmine gently asked Guinness, " What happened to you in 'The Box'? You seem so different."

"I'll be fine, thanks. Nothing happened. I'm just a little tired that's all," replied Guinness.

"By the way, do either of you know what that guy in 'The Box' did to piss-off The Boss?"

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