Because Sumo is a good dog and deserves his time in the spotlight.
Life was good.
Curled up in his favourite spot, in the warm sun filtering through the window, watching the two orange fish swimming around their tank. He liked fish, there were fish in the pond at the park, he use to play with them when he was younger but it upset his human. He didn't like that, he wanted Hank to enjoy their walks so he stopped, he always figured Hank didn't like fish, either that or he didn't like the water. But now, now they had inside fish, he had never seen inside fish before and now he had some. They were a lot littler than the park fish, too small to play with, he didn't want to accidentally kill them. He liked to watch them though.
Hank didn't seem very interested with them though, perhaps he didn't like fish after all. Then again his human had always been a little difficult, but hey no one ever said owning a human was easy. His human was sad, a lot and it had taken him some time to figure out how best to go about cheering him up. He was pretty young when he was left at his new house here with Hank. He had lived on a chain in a forgotten corner of a yard before that. The humans who tied him there threw him scraps from time to time but otherwise never paid him any attention. Then one cold winter night a man jumped the fence and broke him free, the man took him down the street where he was given a warm meal and spent the night in a tiny apartment.
The next day he was brought to what was to be his new home, here with Hank, at first the human had wanted nothing to do with him. Hank hadn't paid him much attention and he hadn't liked that, so he chewed up the man's shoes, he decided if the man wanted to be difficult he could be too. Besides he liked chewing stuff and digging, he loved digging, Hank on the other hand didn't like either.
Hank was always very sad back then and he figured it had something to do with the second smell that lingered in the house. It was filled to the brim with Hank's sent but there was a second human scent as well, somewhat similar with a mix of dirt, energy and excitement. The scent was there but he never saw the person it belonged to, then he saw the picture in the rectangle his human cried over every night and he understood. He was only young and easily sidetracked at the time but it wasn't hard to piece together the clues. The lingering smell of a human not there and the picture of the human pup that made him so sad. His human had lost his pup and Sumo knew he could never replace the pup his human fathered but he had sworn that day he would do everything in his power to make his human happy once more.
It wasn't easy but he soon learnt letting Hank beleive he was boss helped. Resting his chin on the man's leg when he was down worked at times and encoraging his human to go out on walks in the fresh air. Fresh air and exercise were important in living a healthy happy life, chasing your tail helped too, but Hank didn't have one of those. Some bad habbits Sumo just couldn't seem to get his human to shake however, no matter how he tried correcting him. He didn't like when Hank drank that foul smelling drink from his bottles, it seemed to make him sadder and most time more agitated as well. He didn't like when Hank was snappy, but he couldn't seem to get him to stop.
He had managed to steal away a few of the bottles while his human was out, burrying them behind his doghouse in the yard, but Hank always managed to find new ones. He also hated the metal thing his human often played with when he was drinking the foul stuff, the sharp metalic, acrid and sour sent was enough to tell him whatever it was was bad and the empty clicking sound it made, sent a shiver down his spine each time. It scared him more than anything else. Those night were extremely stressful, but over all, his life was pretty good. He loved his human, went on plenty of walks, Hank loved lazy mornings as much as he did and he never went hungry.
Life was great. He thought he had everything he ever needed. Then one night the souless human with the blinky light came crashing through the window and he knew that assumption had been wrong. He had seen them before the souless humans, they looked just like humans apart from the lights on the side of their heads but their sent was all wrong. They didn't smell like humans, in fact they didn't smell like any other living creature he had ever smelt. They smelt a bit like when Hank brought home a new divice from the store, all plastic and metalic with that smell Hanks tv gives when its been on all day. He'd seen them before but had never met or interacted with one, the one who crashed through the window, Connor, taught him that they were not souless afterall.
They still didn't smell like living creatures but they were indeed alive. He had bound over to the not human as it crashed through the window, both curiosity and the need to protect his home from the intruder battling inside him. In the end curiosity had won out. It knew his name, so far the only people he had met that knew his name were people who his human knew. The non human must have known Hank and he didn't seem threatening so he had decided to let him be. He was still ready to pounce should the not human prove a threat though, nobody messed with his home or his human.
Turned out Connor was great, he manged to wake Hank up and get him up off the floor, Sumo had tried several times to wake the man after he fell off his chair but hadn't had any luck. He couldn't lift the human like the not human could and the not human seemed equally upset about Hank drinking so much of the foul stuff and questioned him about that horrible metal device. The way the not human helped Hank and the look in its eyes as a hand ran gently trough his fur over his back, was enough for him to know they did indeed have souls. He decided then and there that Connor was his and had done everything in his power to make sure he stayed.
Life was even better once Connor joined their family. Connor loved fish just as much as he did, they sat at the park and watched the fish together. Connor was the reson they now had inside fish at home too, they would sit and watch them as well at times. He loved the not human, he didn't need sleep as much as Hank so he could give pats when the man was sleeping, he never complained when Sumo lay ontop of him when he did go to sleep on the lounge. Loved walks just as much as he did and the rain didn't bother him like it did Hank at times. Connor was much easier to train than Hank, he never tugged on the lead, always opened the door when ordered and he had almost taught him all his favourite scratch spots.
Best yet was knowing he had some one who shared his concerns for Hank. There was something comforting about having another who shared your concerns and fears, someone to lean on on the nights when Hank drunk himself blind. Someone who could voice their concerns with words, like Sumo could never do. Some one to help hide the bottles when they needed to. Sumo could sense that the metal device scared his not human just as much as it scared him. Connor spoke up about that too though it often fell on deaf ears, Hank never listened when he drank.
Then one night about a week ago Connor actually tried to take it from Hank, something he had never had the courage to do. It was a brave move but it made Hank very angry, the human shouted snatching for the stolen device and then there was a bang so loud it made his ears ring. The metal thing fell to the floor and Connor grabed his shoulder his strange oderless blood painting his fingers and Sumo saw red, lunging forwards, tackling the human to the floor with a viscous snarl. He may let the man think he is boss at times to make him happy, but he wasn't and Sumo didn't let that kind of behavour fly.
It was his pack, his family and he did not tolorate anyone harming his family, not even another member. He had stood over Hank to remind him of his place. The situation had called for a stern warning, then Connor called his name and wraped an arm around him trying to pull him away and he followed. He had made his point and Connor was hurt and frightened and he knew his not human needed him most at the time, so he let Hank pickhimself up and slink back to his room.
Thankfully, he hadn't seen the thing again since but they both feared it would come out again eventaly. Hank always kept that horrid metal thing hidden away in his room where he couldn't find it. But Sumo swore if he ever go his paws on that thing he would dig a whole so deep no one would ever find it again.
He and Connor were the perfect team though and Sumo was sure with their combined efforts, they'd manage to train Hank eventually. He was already getting up a little earlier in the morning and their sunday walks were nearly twice as long.
The familar sound of Hank's car engine pulled into the driveway and moments later the latch on the front door clicked open. Sumo got to his feet and trotted over, giving a bark in greeting as the door opened and Hank and Connor stepped in, both greating him just as he'd trained them to. Hank continued past with the bag of groceries in his arms as Connor knelt down in front of him, he was hiding something behind his back.
"I got you a present, Sumo." His not human announced, excitment lacing his voice. The sound setting Sumo's tail to wag overtime as the hidden hand moved to reveal a big yellow burger shape that smelt strong of rubber. Connor squecked the toy twice and he let out a bark. A new squeaker, he loved squeakers, his last one stopped squeaking two days ago.
"You spoil him, Connor." He heard Hank call from the kitchen as the not human passed the toy to him. Giving him a scratch behind the ear as Sumo gave the toy a squeak. Connor then started for the kitchen to help Hank unpack the groceries, while Sumo bound down the hall towards the living room squeaking all the way. He needed to show off his new toy to the fish.
Yep. Things didn't always go his way and sometimes things got stressful or scary, but life was good.
