Puppy Love is not just for humans. Dogs rule.

The dog park. The bully park more like it! These mutts have no idea what it means to be a real dog! I am Maxwell Francis III, a purebred black Labrador retriever, and I have won countless dog shows in the name of my mother, father and their parents as well.

A dog's role is to be a faithful companion to his or her human, stay by their side, and uphold their dignity at all time when in public. A good, well-mannered dog would never do something as shameful as pulling at the leash, barking at strange dogs, or even heaven forbid—sticking his or her head out of the car window!

My human loves this strange little park so it is my duty to make sure she is safe at all time no matter what! I love my human and she is the perfect fit for me. She is intelligent, confident, polite and the perfect human for myself. I love spending time with Courtney but there is one thing I cannot stand! The human she picked for a mate!

Her mate or the human who wants to be her mate at least is a horrible, ghastly, impolite excuse for a human. He has horrible unruly black hair in a tacky green Mohawk, piercings litter his pale furless face and a humiliating dog collar is attached to his neck!

Ugh, it is an insult to all dogs what he wear on his neck! A collar and a tag is the symbol of a good housedog, the collar represents that we, dogs, are man's best friend and will be faithful to our human through thick and thin. I just want to rip that dog collar off his neck and snap that neck while I am at it!

However, the one thing I hate more than her mate is his dog! His dog is a rowdy, wild, brutish dog with no manners and makes it a point to annoy me every time we are both present here.

Courtney has just the parked the car and we have existed the car with much more dignity then the rest of these mutts and I walk slowly and deliberately to the entrance. Courtney takes off my leash and I sit waiting for her to open the gates. When she does, I wait for her to go in first, after all its ladies first! Then she closes the gates and we are in the bully park.

I look around, see all the dogs running around with no class, and follow Courtney to a very shady tree which very soft comfortable grass to sit on. She sits down on the grass, takes out a book, and begins to read. I lay down next to her comfortably by her left leg.

Just as I begin to get comfortable, I hear one pair of human paws and one set of dog paws running toward us. I turn my head and look up. Oh no! Here the both of those brutes come! I can smell their cocky smirks that are always plastered to those smug faces!

Within seconds, Courtney notices and smiles slightly but then covers it with a grimace. I sigh and shake my head; I still cannot understand how my beautiful perfect human could fall for that. Then within another couple of second the two of them are there. Courtney's mate plops down next to her and they immediately begin talking.

I look up to see Roxy standing right above me. I scowl and growl which brings Courtney's attention back to me.

"Duncan what did I tell you about the dogs! Why can't we go on a real date like normal people, but no you wanted to come to the dog park to see our dogs fight as usual," Courtney said in a huff. She extracted herself from her mate, set his arm on the grass, and scooted closer to me. Her hand began to pet my head and I stopped growling just for her sake.

"Pft, come on Princess, they are fine! They just need some quality time together and then before you know it, the puppies come! And besides, they don't fight, Roxy always beats your dog up and that's not my fault," I could feel the smirk on his smug face and growl when he places his hand on Courtney's shoulder.

The second I growl at the idiotic Neanderthal, pathetic Roxy growls at me.

"Don't growl at my human, Princey, or I'll beat you up like I did last time," Roxy leans her head down and I turn my head to look at her.

"Then make your human stop irritating mine!" I shot back, the small growl still in the back of my throat. Today I was not in the mood for Roxy and her sarcasm.

"Ha as if. You and I both know she loves it when he bugs her! Just look at her! I could practically smell her snobby happiness the second we entered this hell hole." Roxy looked about as annoyed as I did but I did not care.

I stood up and let Courtney's dainty hand fall softly to her lap. "Look Mutt. I hate you and you hate me. However, our humans are mates and there is nothing that can change that. Therefore, we might as well just play nice for their sake. Then maybe your human can act like a real gentleman and not the cheapskate he is and take her out on a date that does not cost five dollars." I am nose to nose with Roxy by now and I think I may have crossed a line.

"CHEAPSKATE! You think MY human is a cheapskate! He isn't a cheapskate, your rich little snobby human is too high-maintenance! Always complaining, moping and yelling at my Duncan! My ears can't take it and I want to bite that huge ass of hers until she finally leaves my human alone for good!" Roxy's eyes are burning with the fire of anger but so are mine.

I'm growling loudly by this moment, "She is NOT! Maybe if your human had more class—"

"CLASS! If she wants class then why doesn't she just go to her stupid country clubs and get one of those rich boring guys and stop hogging my quality time with Duncan!" Roxy is growling now too. Before this, I would back down but no one insults Courtney in front of me!

"She doesn't want those boys! God knows why but she wants your ogre of a human! I may not like him but he had better treat her right or I swear to you I will tear him to pieces!"

"And I'm telling you by everything fun in this world if that little prissy human of yours hurts my human then she will answer to me! I would just love to beat you and her to pulp and—"

I did not allow her to finish the sentence as I jumped her. I was just too angry and pissed that I wanted to knock some sense into that thick skull of hers! We landed a good ten feet away from the tree and we began to fight. I could feel her sharp teeth trying to sink into my neck as she tried to throw me off her but my jaws was firmly clenched around the inner part of her neck. I had her trapped under my body and I winced every time her paws collided with my chest and stomach but I kept my ground until finally she went limp in my grasp.

I was aware that our human had been watching quietly behind us as we civilly talked about their relationship. Nevertheless, as I jumped Roxy, I could see Courtney and her mate leap from the ground and run to us. Our fight was not that long and just as I had won, Courtney pulled me off Roxy and I saw her mate pull Roxy into his arms and held her close, examining the non-existent marks I left on her neck.

I could feel Courtney's hand petting my head and muttering things like, "Calm down. Good boy. Stay." However, today I was not paying attention. I wrenched free from her grip and walked calmly to Roxy.

"Get up." I said to her and she lifted her head to look me directly in the eyes as she lay in her human's arms. She lifted herself from her human's lap, against his protest and stood up to face me. I think she expected me to finish her off but I had more class than that. I knew I could never beat another dog when he or she is down, that was not how I was raised.

I looked deep into Roxy's blue eyes. Roxy's mother was a Siberian husky and her father a German Shepard. She looks exactly like her mother. I walk over to her and see her human rise in alarm but Courtney, who is at his side, holds him down. She knows I would never hurt Roxy in this state.

Roxy holds her head up high and I am finally nose-to-nose to her again. I open my muzzle, lick her muzzle, and walk away. I am the gate with Courtney running to catch up with me. She opens the gate, gets my leash but does not bother to put it on me. As I get into the back seat in the car, I can see Roxy's shocked face watching me as Courtney drove away.

The next day Roxy and Duncan are over at our house. Roxy runs to the backyard where I am currently training with Courtney. Courtney sets down the toy we were practicing with, takes Duncan's hand, and leads him to the kitchen, leaving Roxy and myself alone.

Roxy's sweet blue eyes hold the obvious question she desperately wishes to know. She wants to know why I kissed her and did not continue beat her up as she would have to me. I smile and pick up the tug of war toy that Courtney set down and offer the other end to the toy to her.

Roxy smiles and nods her head as she takes the toy in her mouth. I do not need to explain what I did. Roxy is smart enough to figure out why. I do not know why I love this wild mutt but she makes me feel alive. She makes me feel like I am more than just another show dog.

I may not have like Duncan or Roxy in the beginning but know I guess I am stuck with both of them. As I look into Roxy's beautiful blue eyes and love fills my heart as I feel her tug the toy free from my mouth and hold it proudly in her mouth and struts around the yard with that same smug look like her human.

I guess know now, as I watch Roxy's tail wag back and forth in happiness and she shakes the toy in her mouth, challenging me for another round, why Courtney loves Duncan. Why she picked him for a mate and vice versa. They may be opposites and they may fight every time they are together but they just complete each other.

I grab the toy in her mouth and give it a good pull and as Roxy and I play, calling each other and the other's human names we laugh and smile and our tails never stop wagging. When Duncan and Roxy go home, I escort her to the door and lick her muzzle before she leaves.

Duncan kisses Courtney on the cheek. When Duncan and Roxy are on the sidewalk, off the property, they turn around to us and all four of us say what we held in for a very long time,

"I love you!"

Ah Puppy Love, or not. lol. I guess it's a bit too serious for puppy love. But I'm trying, slowly I'm trying to become a little less serious and little more comical. But maybe my next story will be better at the genre.

But ignore my rambling! I hope you enjoyed the story!