A New Life

The Wolf-Lupo

Believe it or not, Lupo was not fully trained. Oh, he had the basic commands and the list of things not to do in his mind, but he was not trained in detailed ways like Salty, or his mate. Even Grigio(who was two years younger) was trained more than him. This was because I could not see much point in doing so, if I could never take Lupo into the city anyway. However, there were some rules that I stressed more on Lupo than I did on the other dogs.

It took a couple weeks for us to finally get Lupo registered for the police dog volunteers. I was to accompany Lupo and Arnold around the city, for Arnold was too afraid to even hold Lupo's collar. Because of this, Lupo would have to get to know Arnold.

For starters, the three of us took Lupo for walks. We would lead him around the countryside(or more like he would lead us;he knew the land better!). Lupo was still trained to shy away from other humans that were there, so he would do just that. Arnold was against this.

"I think you've got to show people what power you have. Make them stop being bad, show how much power and control you have."

I always looked at him at this. "Power? Control? Violence? Force? I didn't take the occupation of being a farmer so that I could control others, Arnold. There's more important things than this out there in the world. I became a farmer to help the country and keep up the family business. Not breed terrifying sheepdogs and train them to bend under my will. That's not the life of a farmer."

"Let me ask you this. I've just been wondering for some time. Why do you dislike policemen? My policemen at the warehouse in particular."

"I don't. Policemen are great men, risking their lives to help save others. But, that's not my life. That's not the life of my dogs. Not the life of Lupo." I gazed over the countryside. "How long do you think it'll take Lupo to get inside the city?"

"Well," Arnold said with a sigh, "First we have to explain to the officers what we mean to do. Then we'll have to get a police dog's suit fit to his size. That way they'll know he's one of them. Then we need to find a reason to be wandering about the city. Are you sure you can hold Lupo down as we go through the city?"

"Just have to try."

To get Lupo used to the city, I'd take him for a walk at night, so that no one could see his color and physical appearance. He looked so like a wolf in the moonlight that I could just imagine him howling at the moon. I took this idea to be ridiculous, but I was soon to learn my mistake.

Lupo always slept in the field. Or at least, I thought he slept in the field. One night I heard a far-off cry in the distance. I went to the window and looked up where the noise came from. There stood a huge wolf, singing to the moon.

Lupo.

I was about to go back to bed, when I heard answering cries. One...three...six different calls answered. Those calls were rather strange, I thought. Suspicions grew in my mind as I heard Lupo growling at Arnold's trailer door. The dog's eyes were wild and green, and he seemed no longer my pet, but a vicious beast. The dog scratched at Arnold's screen, he bit at the handle and swung at the windows. Lupo must not have realized that Arnold was not in his trailer, but in the city. It was for this reason that I was not afraid, and fell back to sleep.

I decided to say nothing of this to Arnold. Perhaps it was just a dream, or maybe I had imagined all that. In the morning Arnold drove over to give Lupo his walk in the countryside. This was a normal thing, so I was surprised when I saw Lupo bristling and growling at Arnold's car door, refusing to let Arnold out of his car. I attempted to drag Lupo away, but he snapped at me too. I scolded him.

"Lupo! What's gotten into you?" But Lupo only held back his ears and showed two lines of sharp teeth, a little kinder than last time, though. I told Arnold he'd better go, but he disagreed with me.

"This just shows me you have no control over your dog. He'd rip me to pieces if I was out there, and you could not stop him."

It was then I told Arnold what I had seen last night, and Arnold, still in his car, went over with me to see the trailer.

The windows were smashed through. Shreds of the screen and door alike were laying all over the field. And the couch and table itself were ripped to pieces. At this sight, Arnold decided to go home.

I was surprised at this turn of events. Why would Lupo destroy Arnold's trailer? In all of Lupo's history he had not been mean or held a grudge against Arnold. With Salty that would be a different story. But why Lupo? It is true that Lupo was like a wolf, and a dangerous one at that, but I never thought that Lupo would go so far as to even oppose me. I had made it clear with all of my dogs long ago that they were never to disobey or disregard me, and yet here was the most dangerous one of all refusing to obey those rules, snapping at me and my friend. And why?