His Too-Perfect Pet - Complete

She got to their house at 3 pm and parked just out of sight. She still had a key from dog-sitting Betty for a long weekend and quietly let herself in. She could hear Giles in the living room saying he would fix them drinks, so Akira must be here. It was all she could do to stop herself from giggling in anticipation as she silently opened the door to the sitting room.

Emiko gawped in confusion at the sight of a huge and very weird-looking white dog sitting on its haunches with its back to her. Giles returned from the kitchen, holding a beer bottle and a bowl. Emiko was even more stunned when her usually cool as cucumber brother-in-law said, "Fuck!" and dropped the bowl of pink liquid.

The white dog slowly turned around, and she heard her sister say, "Ruh Roh!" just like Scooby-Doo. She was more alarmed when her sister then growled at her. Emiko had had run-ins with her sister, but nothing had ever confused her like seeing her uptight, control freak, OCD, bitch of a sister dressed in a dog outfit, growling.

"Akira, why are you dressed as a dog? And why are you growling at me? I don't understand."

The white dog growled again, and Giles answered, "Emiko, this is Snow. She's my new puppy. Just like all puppies, Snow can't talk. You need to accept Akira isn't here now, so you can't talk to her. If you return in an hour, Snow will be gone, and Akira will be here. But you must agree that you will never mention Snow to Akira. Your sister knows nothing about the puppy."

"I don't get it. Akira is here right now. She's right in front of me dressed as a puppy."

Giles' face tightened, "Emiko, if you can't accept that Akira isn't here and that this is Snow who can't talk, you need to leave; never mention this to anyone and come to the party tomorrow afternoon like everyone else. Your sister will be here then."

There was no way Emiko was leaving; this was a mystery she had to get to the bottom of.

"OK, OK, OK, I get it. This is Snow, who's a puppy and only does puppy things. Akira and Snow can never be here simultaneously, and they know nothing about each other. OK?"

Giles nodded.

Trying to lighten the mood, he said, "You know the best way to make friends with a dog is to pet them and give them treats, right? So why don't you sit down and get to know Snow while I clean up this mess and get more drinks."

Emiko sat on the sofa, still feeling bewildered, "Here, girl! Come here so I can pet you."

Snow padded over to her, not looking very happy, and climbed onto the sofa. The puppy laid her head on Emiko's lap and made puppy eyes at her. Emiko instinctively started to scritch the puppy behind the ears, then stopped.

"Giles, her fur is amazing! I'm going to want to spend the rest of the day just petting her."

Snow made a "Tee, hee, hee." sound like Muttley from the Dastardly and Muttley cartoon they'd watched as kids; Emiko giggled.

All the tension Emiko was feeling broke, and she started laughing hard. This was a side of her sister she would never have dreamt existed in a thousand years; she needed to see a lot more of this side.

"Oh, Snow, you are gorgeous. Where have you been all my life? I wish you had been there during my childhood."

Snow whined again and made big puppy eyes at her again. Emiko, realizing she had stopped petting her sister, started running her hand over the back of Snow's head. No, not her sister, she thought. If she thought she was petting her sister, it would drive her crazy. That must be why they wanted to keep the PetPlay so clearly demarcated.

Giles returned with a tray holding a beer for himself, a glass of Rosé for Emiko, and a bowl of Rosé for Snow. Emiko was even more amused when Snow sat up and used her paws to lift the bowl of wine to drink before sighing contentedly. Every minute she was here with Snow, things were getting better and better.

"Snow, can I see your paws?"

Snow put the bowl down and held a paw out. Her paws were like mitts with no fingers or thumb. They were stiffened and padded over the palms, so she had no opposable thumbs. Curiously there was a hook pointing upwards on the inner corner of each paw.

"I can see why you need to drink from a bowl. Do you eat from a bowl as well?"

"Aarf."

Snows pointed a paw at a raised metal stand with two bowls and a cover.

"The cover is to stop Betty from drooling on Snow's food and water," Giles explained.

Emiko got a wicked grin, "So, Giles, do you take her for a walk in the garden when she needs to pee? Inquiring minds want to know."

That earned her another growl from Snow.

Giles just laughed. "You noticed the hook at the inner corner of each paw, didn't you? The crotch zipper has a tag with a larger-than-normal hole at the end, so Snow can catch it with the hook and open and close it. But, trust me, you don't want to ask what happens when she needs to poop."

Snow got off the sofa and lay on the ground, belly up, with all four limbs curled in the air. Emiko looked at Giles and cocked an eyebrow.

"She's a dog; what does any dog want when they lay down like that?"

"You're kidding, right?"

Giles shook his head, so Emiko got down on the ground to pet her belly. The feeling of Snow's fur under her hand was just fantastic. It was so lifelike. Another mischievous thought popped into her mind. She ran her hands higher and higher up her sister's chest to see where Snow would growl to stop her. Nothing?

She ran her hands right over her boobs; she could feel the nipples through the fur and tagged them with her fingertips. Still no reaction. OK, she thought, time to be evil. Emiko started deliberately playing with her sister's nipples, circling and rubbing them. Snow let out a loud sigh causing Giles to notice what Emiko was doing.

"Snow loves that; she'll let you do it all day if you're willing."

This was fun: she wanted to push her sister harder to get a reaction out of her. So she slid her hand down to Snow's thigh and started petting the top of her leg. When that got no response, she started sliding her hand higher and higher and moving from the top of Snow's thigh to the inner thigh.

Giles realized what she was doing and froze. His sister-in-law was feeling up his wife's groin right in front of him. He had no idea what his wife would do or whether he should stop it. He decided to let it play out further.

When she still got no reaction, she used both hands to pet down each side of her sister's crotch zipper. This was now explicitly sexual, and Emiko had never touched her sister sexually. When she still got nothing more than contented sighs from Snow, she looked at Brian and put her first two fingers in a 'V.'

Giles thought he ought to stop her, this was getting way more than he was comfortable with, but Snow seemed contented. He nodded to Emiko. Emiko put her fingers in a 'V' around the top of Snow's crotch zipper and played with them in little circles for a few seconds. Then, when there was still no pushback from Snow, she looked at Giles and put her hands up in the 'I don't know gesture.'

Giles laughed again, "She's trying to beat you at your own game. She's playing you - seeing how far she can get to you to go before you chicken out."

Snow made a "Tee, Hee, Hee" sound from Dastardly and Muttley. She loved it.

Emiko stared at him, "Who is this person? I'm flummoxed."

"I told you, this is Snow. Snow's personality is the exact opposite of my wife which is why this crazy game works so well. I can be dominant with Snow, and Snow follows my lead, happily enjoying what we do together. I love it."

"She accepts everything?" Emiko asked very sceptically.

Giles laughed, "No, we regularly have a real battle of wills while establishing boundaries, just like you do with any new dog. For example, the time I tried to make her eat one of Betty's lamb dog treats didn't go down too well. Also, throwing a ball to play fetch more than some number of times gets you a loud growl."

"Why don't you two go outside. I'll get you Snow's leash so you can walk her around the garden while I fix another round of drinks."

Giles knew he was the one being evil now. If Snow wanted to play the 'who will chicken out first' game, he would join in seeing how far they could push her. He grinned; she would hate the idea of her little sister having her on a leash. He stood silently, waiting for the explosion. Snow was struggling, then growled and bared her teeth at him.

"Snow! Bad girl! You need to be obedient. Do you want to go in Betty's crate again to help you learn to obey your owner?"

Giles waited; he had no idea what she would do next. He loved these battles of will.

Snow whined loudly. She sat on her haunches and lifted her neck for Emiko to attach the leash. Her sister on a leash was too much for Emiko, who couldn't stop herself from laughing till she cried.

Looking up, she saw Snow staring at her unhappily.

"Oh, sorry, Snow. Sorry." picking up the end of her leash, she continued, "Come, girl. Time for walkies. I'm sure you love taking nice long walks with your owner."

She couldn't stop herself from giggling again. Calling Giles her sister's 'owner' was hysterical. Snow followed her on all fours to the patio door.

"Emiko, Snow is still learning obedience. She needs to walk to heel. Don't let her dawdle like that."

Emiko felt her evil side rising deliciously. "Snow, heel!" she barked the imperative to the puppy. Snow padded up to her left and looked up as she had been taught. "Let's go."

Emiko led her into the garden and set out around the boundary fence at a pace Snow could manage to stay level with her legs. Time to push her sister. She unclipped the leash, "Snow, stay!" Emiko walked twenty paces further up the garden, "Snow, here, girl."

Giles watched through the open window loving every second of what Emiko was doing to his wife. It was so frustrating for him that he could never find out what was happening in her head at times like this. Snow couldn't talk, and Akira wouldn't.

"Giles," she called, "does Snow have any dog toys for playing fetch?"

Giles's evil grin returned, "Yeah, let me get her Nylabone for you."

After one day of talking, he had conceded she could have her own Nylabone, which Betty would never get to slobber on. Giles tossed the bone from the patio door, carefully aiming to ensure it fell on a flowerbed. Then, remembering his new iPhone had a zoom lens, he started videoing them in the yard.

"Snow, fetch your bone so we can play."

Snow sat on her haunches and just stared at her. Emiko knew her sister knew exactly what she and Giles were doing; this was another battle of wills.

She waggled her finger at Snow, "Snow. You heard what your owner said. If you are not obedient, I will put you in your crate, and you won't get another bowl of wine."

Blackmail was the one thing that had worked for Emiko growing up with a dominant older sister, and a bowl of wine was a good bribe.

"Snow, fetch, now!"

After another growl and a staring contest, Snow shook her head sadly and padded off to try and retrieve the bone from the soil with her teeth. She got it out, but the soil was sticking to it.

Emiko was puzzled as to why soil would stick to a nylon bone. After Snow dropped it at her feet, she picked it up. She found Brian had wet it under the tap before throwing it. This was perfect; her gorgeous brother-in-law was just as evil as she was.

Trying to be friendly, she brushed the dirt off Snow's face. Then, she threw the bone further to see how far she could push Snow. Each time it picked up a bit more soil or some grass clippings. Snow's drool was keeping the bone wet and sticky. After the eighth throw, she realized that Snow was determined to win this game and fetch it as often as Betty would despite getting soil and grass clippings in her mouth.

By now, the drinks were on the patio table; she reattached the leash to walk Snow back. Giles grinned as she lifted her chair leg, slipped the loop at the end of the leash around the chair leg on the far side, and then positioned the leash between the two legs on Snow's side. Snow was now tightly leashed to the ground next to Emiko's chair; she only had a foot of play to move and get comfortable.

Emiko picked up the bowl of wine and sat it on the patio floor where she knew it would be just out of reach; Snow couldn't see, but Emiko winked at Giles.

They watched as Snow tried to get to her wine and couldn't. She whined. Her humans ignored her and talked about the puppy as if she wasn't there or couldn't understand. This was humiliating. She tried tugging her leash to pull the chair nearer, but Emiko's weight was more than her neck could take. She whined again, then whined more loudly.

Giles had had his fun, so he used his foot to push the bowl within range of where she was leashed and went back to talking to Emiko.

"Emiko, now you know about Snow, I need to ask a favour."

Emiko looked at him quizzically, "OK?"

I'm going on a training session in three weeks and will be away Friday night to Sunday late afternoon. So I'm hoping you're available to dog sit the two dogs for me."

Snow froze. Giles glanced down long enough to see his wife staring daggers at him.

"Snow, you'll love having Emiko dog sit for a weekend, won't you? You two play so nicely together." He smirked at her.

"Oh, Snow, I love being with you, and spending a whole weekend will make us such good friends. We'll have lots of fun, you'll see."

She ruffled Snow's head and then lifted the chair leg, so Snow could extricate herself.

Snow had been trying to win the dominance games by out-lasting Emiko, so would she do the same now? Giles was watching to see if Snow would break character and speak. If she didn't speak now, would Akira break the rules and object after Emiko left? Right now, Snow was giving them the silent treatment.

***

Giles thought about how Snow had played the dominance game with Emiko instead of being passive and submissive as her counsellor wanted. She would never learn if he let her win. He didn't want to hurt her but couldn't think of any other way to help her.

Giles took Snow's leash and returned to the house to prepare supper. At the patio door, he stopped and told Snow to sit. He knelt next to the expectant pup, who cocked her head to ask what was happening.

"Snow, you know we are doing this so you can learn to let go and not be in control, right?"

That got him a sad "Aarf."

"Well, the way you played dominance games with Emiko tells me that you are still fighting to be in control every step of the way."

Snow whined and looked down. She couldn't disagree.

"Snow, I am going to do something you will not like. Emiko, please fetch Snow's dog bed and bring it here."

Emiko returned with the dog bed. Giles pointed to a spot at the side of the patio door in front of a drain pipe.

"Put the bed there, then hold her collar a minute."

Giles unclipped her leash, pushed the looped handle around the back of the drainpipe, and then fed the clip through the loop. With the leash reattached to Snow's collar, she was tied outside.

"Snow, it is a beautiful sunny day, and dogs should be outside to enjoy it. So I'll let Betty out, and you can both be in the yard while your humans go inside to talk."

Snow pulled at the leash and whined when it wouldn't come free. She glared at Giles, then growled.

"Sorry, Snow, you need to learn to be passive. Emiko and I are heading in."

Snow growled loudly and bared her teeth while pulling harder on the leash. She was clearly angry. They had not explicitly said that baring teeth was a safeword, but it meant, 'Stop, I am not OK with this.'

"Ignore her, Emiko; let's go."

Snow watched the double-glazed patio doors close; she knew she would not be able to overhear the conversation. She struggled to see how much freedom she had: it was just enough to be able to see into the sitting room. She was too upset to look in.

She had no way to tell time and couldn't tell how long she'd been tied up outside. She was frustrated and wanted to signal to the humans that she wanted to be inside. Looking through the window, she could see Emiko and Giles had opened another bottle of wine which was already half-drunk. They were laughing and drinking and having a great time.

She resisted the temptation to tap the glass and waited a while longer. Finally, she couldn't wait any longer, so she used her paw to tap loudly twice. The two humans ignored her, got up, and walked to the kitchen, where they were out of sight. She knew they had done it deliberately and fumed.

She was stuck; she had no sense of time, control, freedom, or way to communicate. Part of her simply wanted to cry. But then, she remembered her counsellor had told her to use times like this to meditate. She'd done yoga when she was young but had stopped when she went to college. Trying to remember what she'd done, she pulled her fur-clad body into a yoga pose, put her hands together, and closed her eyes. Peace was elusive, but she felt better than she had. Anger had been replaced by resignation.

Giles had been watching Snow anxiously through the security camera on the patio. He felt awful doing this; it sucked, but she had said she needed it. As soon as she started her yoga pose, he knew she was making real progress.

Giles asked Emiko to close the spare room door and lightly wipe the handle with olive oil. Then, he set a timer for ten minutes before retrieving the upset puppy. When the timer pinged, he unclipped the leash and picked up her dog bed to bring it back inside.

He set the dog bed on the floor. He ruffled the fur on her head while she rubbed her head against his leg. Then, he returned to the kitchen to continue cooking his birthday dinner. Giles realized he hadn't thought through having Snow on his birthday since Akira wasn't here to cook dinner for him. Snow padded slowly back to her dog bed and lay down with her back to Emiko.

"Hey, Snow, would you like to play?" Emiko asked. Snow gave her the silent treatment. She went over to pet Snow, but Snow pulled her body away into a tighter ball. She was still clearly mad at them.

***

They had bought three filet mignons because Giles typically ate two. They hadn't expected an extra mouth to feed, but having three worked out well. The sides were French fries and sautéed button mushrooms, as this was a dinner easily chopped into a bowl for Snow.

Giles brought the girls a glass and a bowl of wine and then went back to cooking. The wine was enough to get Snow off her dog bed and interact again.

After finishing her bowl of wine, Snow headed to the spare room so that Akira could sit at the table with her sister for dinner. She was puzzled to find the door closed. She stood on two legs and tried to use her paws to turn the circular doorknob, but it was too slippery. She growled in frustration.

Dropping to all fours, she headed back to find Emiko. She whined to get her attention and then tried to pull Emiko to show her what she needed.

"Are you trying to get into the spare room?"

"Aarf."

"Oh, Snow, you promised Giles that he could have Snow all day as a birthday gift. You promised to stay, so No, I can't open the door for you."

Snow whined, growled, growled louder, and bared her teeth. Giles heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen. He cuffed her playfully around her ear.

"Snow, we have had this discussion before, and you need to be obedient like Betty is. Dogs eat their dinner from bowls. So you don't need to be embarrassed that Emiko will see you eat from a dog bowl as she has seen Betty eat from a bowl many times."

From the look on Snow's face, Giles knew he had hit the nail on the head. She would feel humiliated knowing her little sister watched her eat from a dog bowl on the floor. The counsellor said she needed to get used to periods of true powerlessness and helplessness.