'I'm a stuffed pupp~y, so stuffed pupp~y, a pupp~y who has been stu~ffed!' the little Husky pup sang, howling as she did so.

'Ya ate up about half the forest. I'd be stuffed too,' Toga remarked, grunting a bit.

The puppy stopped singing at this and simply barked in disapproval of Toga's remark. Of course, to Toga, she was simply making loud squeaks. After all, she was fairly small for a puppy, but she was fun to play with and was kind enough to share a rabbit and trout with him. He also shared some turkey meat with her. The collie actually enjoyed the Husky pup's company. Most dogs don't think like Toga does, but he was quite hopeful to stay with the pup for a little longer. At least maybe the boss would consider finding pup's owner. They could be hunting buddies together.

A fish leapt into the air for a short time. Pup barked some then ran to the stream to bark at the fish some more. She howled in a sing-song manner and wagged her bushy black and white tail. Toga watched the tail go as she sang and almost wanted to pull it, but then he'd be letting her pull his and he didn't really fathom people or children tugging on his tail. Why on Earth would he allow a puppy to pull it? Hearty laughter gained Toga's attention as he turned to the boss and wagged his own fluffy tail. He was watching the pup just as Toga was.

"Well, I didn't know pup liked singing," the boss said, chuckling. "You'd make a good hiking buddy."

'You'd make a super fisher too,' Toga complimented, barking. He then returned to chewing some leftover fish the puppy wound up catching for him.

'Thank you,' the puppy barked, walking over to the boss.

Toga watched as the Husky pup shyly sniffed the boss's hand and licked the fingers. She instantly tasted a yummy flavor on his fingers and continued licking. The boss laughed at this and rubbed the pup's soft head with his large calloused hand. He reminded the pup of the bears she made good friends with and wagged her tail in memory of her playtime with the cub. She then felt the boss scratch her chest and sighed at the lovely feeling. Her eyes were beginning to close until she heard a faint howling several miles away.

Turning her head to the distant sound, she barked to Toga and said, 'I think it's best if you leave now. The wolves are coming back from their hunt.'

'Why don't you come with us?' Toga asked, rising to his feet.

'...I can't leave my master just yet,' pup whined.

'Where do you and your master live? Maybe we can play again some time,' Toga said, making a hopeful barking noise.

'Can't say exactly. If you ever go out hunting again, we'll meet each other real soon. I go hunting every day. Sometimes I come here for rabbits, other times I go to the mountains for fish,' the puppy barked and mewled as she pounced about playfully.

'But I really like you,' Toga whined. 'I don't hunt every day.'

'Well, some humans understand us quite well if you give them obvious signs. Try telling your master that you want to hunt more. Otherwise, I can try to remember your scent and visit you. I visit the bears when I go hunting for fish, so maybe I'll visit you whenever I hunt for rabbits.'

'Uuugghh,' Toga complained, making an awkward noise. 'Does that mean I have to sniff your butt?'

'What's wrong with my butt? I'm clean,' pup barked.

'I hate sniffing butt,' Toga barked, huffing. 'Can't we just cuddle or something?'

'Well, how else am I gonna recognize your scent?'

'...I can always pee on a couple trees.'

'Ew, that's disgusting!' pup whined, hiding her face under her paws. 'I'd rather the butt than pee.'

'Oh fine!' Toga barked, lumbering towards the Husky. 'Keep still for a second.'

Toga went around the pup and sniffed her butt then shot his head back instantly. She didn't have an eery personality, but there was something about her scent that wasn't pleasant. She smelled of death and roses like she had been around a cemetary. Toga only visited the cemetary once because the mortician found the boss's cow eating in the pasteurs. Since then, he promised to never enter the land of the dead until now. The feeling of fear ran its snaky fingers down Toga's back and presented an icy chill that made him shiver. The pup, on the other hand, liked Toga's scent very much and wagged her tail and tried playing with him some more. This caught Toga's interest for a moment and made him pounce playfully.

'You smell nice!' the pup barked, sniffing Toga again. 'Like flowers...and wheat bread! Wait a minute...' the pup said, making a confused noise and tilting her head. 'Doggies can't poop flowers, can they?'

'Of course not, why would you think that?' Toga howled.

"Well, pup, you'd better head on home. Me and Toga have some rabbit chasin' ta do. We'll come out tomorrow and find yer owner. Ya'll could be huntin' friends, ya know. Would you like that, boy?" the boss asked, patting Toga's head.

'We can go hunting tomorrow?' Toga asked, wagging his tail and barking happily. 'Yes! Hey, pup, didja hear that?'

'Yep,' pup barked. 'Well, I'd better go. The wolves are coming. They don't like trespessers...trespeddlers...tress...trees...um, that thing you do when you're not welcome on territory.'

'Trespassing?' Toga suggested.

'Yeah, that thing,' the puppy yelped for a moment before biting a spot on her hindquarter. She turned to Toga once he came closer to inspect her actions then barked once to say, 'Hey, not to be rude, but do you have anything that stops itches? I've been near the wolves once before they threw me out and got itches from them. Evil beasts! If I could maybe borrow some stuff from you or your boss, that'd be very neighborly.'

'Your boss doesn't have soap?'

'Soap? What's that?'

'It gets rid of the itches.'

'Do you have any?'

'The boss has some at home but not on the horse.'

'You two best hurry,' the horse whinnied. 'If you're trying to make it home before the wolves kick you out again, little pup, you'd best get your soap another time. The boss wouldn't stand a chance against wolves like yourself my dear. They only scared you off because you're too young to fight them. Toga would have a difficult time by being older. Let's mosey along.'

'Oh, right! Sorry!' the puppy said, barking twice before rushing to gather her things. She ran back to Toga after gathering everything her things and kissed him quite happily. 'Thank you for not attacking me, Mr. Toga. You get one too, horsey!'

'Oh my...' the horse said, chuckling as he dipped his long face down and received the puppy's kisses. Toga remained silent and only watched the puppy as she barked at the boss to kiss his hand. The horse watched as Toga simply stood still and whined a little as the puppy ran to her basket. She took her things and without another sound she was gone. The horse teased, huffing a bit, 'Cute little one, isn't she?'

'Beautiful,' Toga said sadly.

"Alright, boys, we've got another hour before we head home. I think it's time the wife knows my decision for the ranch life. We'll be here first thing in the morning to find that pup's owner," the boss informed, mounting himself on the chestnut steed. "I might not be able to afford a sheepdog right now, but you can at least have a girl friend, eh, Toga?"

'Y...you...you're allowing us to be friends?' Toga yipped, tail wagging with some hope.

"Yessir, young man," the boss said, nodding and snapping his fingers so Toga would stand to be petted. "She's a might' lively gal. Purdy as a fox, too. Any dog that can tame a bear and learn from 'em is a powerful herder. We'll see if'n she c'n work the ranch. Let's ride, boy!"

Young Lotte, the boss's only daughter, was reading about sheepdog trials while the cattle chewed on their oatmeal and wheat. Flies zipped by with their annoying buzzing, but Lotte hardly paid them any mind as she read through the papers in her hands. She tossed a lock of her brown, curly hair behind her head and continued scanning the aging notebook in her small hands. There was an article about a female border collie becoming champion in an agility championship and a female rough collie coming in second place in the sheepdog trials, but Lotte wasn't particularly interested in champion dogs even though she would love to compete one day. She wanted to find the perfect girl dog for her father's ranch. She listed all the things that she wanted from a female sheepdog: a healthy breeder, great mother, gentle playmate, strong leader, a good guard dog, and relatively easy to train. It was a simple list for a little eight-year-old girl. All she really wanted was a new ranch hand for her father, a guard dog for her mother, and a wife for Toga. Everyone loves puppies, and, with Toga being a very handsome collie and gentle playmate, a beautiful, loving sheepdog would make a lovely batch of pups with Toga as her husband. However, sheepdogs aren't normally guard dogs; they were herding dogs much like Toga was.

"Lotte, darlin', whatcha doin' round these cows?" Clara, Lotte's mother, asked. "You'll smell up the house."

"Sorry, mama. I was readin' 'bout sheepdogs fer daddy," Lotte answered, turning to her mother.

"Whatchu want wit' a sheepdog?" Clara asked, wiping her hands on her apron. It was almost time to start nursing the ranch life. Giving medicine to the sheep was a tough job.

"To help daddy wit' da sheep. And so we can have puppies!" Lotte said, clapping her hands eagerly.

"Gal, we can't afford a litter o' no sheepdogs. They'll run us outta house 'n home!"

"Darn...well, at least Toga'll have some help. He's good with cattle drivin' but not sheep tamin'."

"You ain't got to worry 'bout sheep tamin' from Toga," a deep voice chuckled.

Lotte and Clara turned to see Ookii entering the barn with Toga barking at his side. He trodded over to Lotte, who hugged and kissed him, and was happy to see Clara petting him with a warm smile. Feeling sneaky, he turned over on his back and smiled as the girls rubbed his belly. A happy noise came from him when Lotte found his favorite spot and made his leg bounce a mile a minute.

"We found a pup today who took a likin' to Toga. Looked like a Husky. Pretty as a fox," Ookii said, placing his hat on a rack near the door.

"Just some stray pup? Where was its mother?" Clara asked, like her husband she too was an animal lover. Being a mother of two herself, she couldn't bare to see a baby away from its mother.

"We didn't see her mother, but we saw her with a mother bear," Ookii said, hanging his rifle on another rack. "The pup was might' brave, I tell ya. She was playin' wit' a bear cub and learned how to fish like a bear. Caught some trout fer us. All the game we caught's in the meat shack."

"You found a girl pup near a bear and it didn't take yer head off?" Clara questioned.

"Nah, the pup and bears were friendly-like. You know like Toga and Kaien. We followed the pup to the stream and ate lunch with her. She must've been huntin' fer hours. She had so much stuff. We's goin' huntin' tomorra to fin' 'er owner."

"How old was the pup?"

"Younger than Toga. I'd give her about 5 to 7 months old maybe," the boss guessed, removing his thin gloves with his teeth. Once both gloves were off, he continued on, saying, "When we found her, I thought about Toga and you too, Lotte."

"Me, pa?" Lotte said, turning to Ookii.

"If we find pup's owner tomorra, I'll ask him if we can have her as a sheepdog. We can't buy her or nothin', but she can at least be a nice friend. She was sure cute, too. I think you'd've liked her much."

"Are Huskies good guard dogs?" Lotte asked.

"Yeah, 'bout as good as a German shepherd. Why?"

"Yer baby's been lookin' fer a wife for Toga," Lotte answered, nodding to the collie.

'A wife?' Toga barked. 'Ain't I a little young for that?'

"Yes, she did," Clara said, not understanding dog language but responding to the barking hound regardless. "She said you's a misfit, ole sheepdog. Since you don't tame no sheep, we'll find a lady friend who can. That way you can herd the cattle, hunt for the boss, and make pleasant with the neighbors while she tends to the sheep."

"Or puppies!" Lotte suggests, giggling as she leans on Toga.

'Wait a minute, what?' Toga mewled, tilting his head. 'I'm not even one yet! I can't care for a baby. The puppy didn't even look old enough to bear my litter. When did we get this far in the conversation?'

"I don't know 'bout no puppies, Lotte, but she sure was a sweetie. I think Toga might have a crush on her, though," the boss teased, smirking at the dog when he barked at him. "I bet ya do."

'I do not have a crush on her! She's just really cute...for a puppy!'