The next morning, Buford woke Max up. "Did you hear them coyotes last night?" Buford asked, wagging his tail.
"Yeah I heard them. They do it every night."
"They sound like they're having fun."
"Not so sure about that. It is all show. They fight all the time."
"Yeah that's for me. I've been training for fighting anyways." Buford snapped up a rope toy and shook it back and forth.
Max picked up his chew toy and gave it a few nibbles, but he found it boring. Eating brought him more joy. When was the human going to come with the food?
Buford started digging in the corner of the pen.
"What are you doing?"
"I gotta get out of here." Buford said.
"Why?"
"Join the coyotes and live free."
"I don't think it is as free as you think."
"Look the humans are conspiring against us," Buford said. "You ever hear of the Human Agenda?"
"What is that?"
"They are going to put all the dogs in pens and labor camps. We got to be ever vigilant to prevent the humans from doing this. We have our rights."
Max looked around his dog pen and figured that the Human Agenda had already come true.
"We also have the fundamental right to bare teeth like our forefathers." Buford clawed harder at the ground. Torn grass formed a small pile behind him. "A few more hours of this and I will be able to wriggle under the pen."
"You better hurry before the human comes out." Max said.
Max watched as Buford dug furiously, his paws possessed. After some time, Buford had excavated a hole under the fence and he tried to squeeze through, but there was still not enough room to break free. As dinnertime approached, Max helped Buford cover the hole with a broken dog toys and grass clumps.
In the evening, the human returned with the bowls of food and Max could barely contain himself. He wagged his butt off, spun in perfect circles, and gave out some of his strongest appreciation barks. He was ecstatic.
Buford chowed his food, which to Max looked like clumps of mud from the horse pasture on a rainy day. "Best Alpo I ever had." Buford said. "I see you eat that food made with plants and stuff. How can you eat that?"
"I've tried your food before and it gives me bad gas." Max said.
"You ever have real meat?"
Max thought about it for a second. "No, I do not believe I have."
"It is addicting, once you have tasted it, it is all you can think of."
"Yeah? Sounds good."
"I had it once a few years ago. My previous owner threw me some meat from the table and it was a piece of dog heaven. I mean you will never taste anything like it again. Your mind goes blank and there is the feeling that you can do anything. You are invincible." He looked outside the pen. "I bet those coyotes have all the meat they can eat. Fresh meat or tasty rotten meat, aged to perfection."
"I'm not so sure about them. They look pretty skinny sometimes."
"Well you know, they stay fit," Buford picked up stuffed toy and throttled it, "working out like me." He dropped the toy on the ground, pounced on it, and tore the stuffing out.
