Bad Dog, Good Idea: Heidi Visits Unleashed

Hi, it’s me Heidi, not Diane, to tell you about how I was kind of a bad dog — which was bad — but then what happened afterward that made things turn out really good. 

I was at the park playing with my tennis ball which used to be yellow but now it’s greenish-black because of grass and dirt and me drooling and things sticking to it for months or days or maybe centuries.  I like the ball. 

 But then I saw the other dog who is Bailey playing ball. Bailey comes to the park a lot like me, and he had a brand new ball. It was bright orange and plastic and it can fly fast fast fast!  So even though I had my own ball still in my mouth I started running after Bailey’s ball because it was so pretty and new.

Then this thing that’s not my fault happened, which is Bailey let me get there first and grab the ball.  Usually he is faster than I am, but today he was letting me get the ball, over and over. His mom said he was being “submissive.”   I thought that meant I should keep the ball for myself, so I did.  No, I didn’t really think that —but that’s what I did anyway.  I kept it in my mouth and wouldn’t let Bailey’s people or my people pry it out of my big teeth.  Finally Bailey’s people distracted me and got the orange ball back, but it was too late.  I was already a selfish bratty girl and you can’t just make things like that not have already happened.  Time doesn’t work that way.

Plus after that Diane took me all over the park looking but we couldn’t find my ball anymore. I think it got taked into outer space when we weren’t watching, or a maybe a squirrel ate it. Flying saucers and squirrels are not the fault of me, a dog, but I should never have dropped my ball in the first place.  

But then Diane forgave me, and  we even used the thing that happened as an excuse to visit a brand-new store nearby: It is called Unleashed by Petco and I love it very much. 

We like to shop at Rusty’s Discount Pet Center on Ventura and we will still go to there too, but Unleashed in North Hollywood is also a very fine place to be, especially if you are a dog or a cat. They had cats there to adopt but they told Diane not to let me sniff their cages because maybe they would be scared of my long nose, even though I love the soft sweet kitties and their smallness.

But I could go everywhere else!  The store is big and clean and it has everything.  It even has a special place called the Self Wash for dirty dogs.  I am not sure how I would wash myself, but here is a place that I could try it for $10.  Dogs don’t have money, but maybe they would take a check.

We got some new squeaky Kong tennis balls for me to take to the park next time so I don’t have to steal Bailey’s ball ever again.  Then also Diane let me pick out a bag of treats. What she does is she lets me sniff around the store until there is a bag that smells sooo  good I try to open it for my own self! I make the best choices because I smell better than you.  I mean,  I probably don’t but I can smell better than you because I am a dog.  I picked out Zuke’s Jerky Naturals Tender Beef flavor.  Yum and chewy like bubble gum!

So that is my story about how bad things can turn into good things when you go shopping, especially at Unleashed.  You should go to there with your dog and meet my new friends who work there:  One manager Christina Brown from Boston; salespeople Brandon Garrett, and another salespeople named Jason Ritchey, who is from Chicago and told us he is also a standup comedian. Next time I go to Unleashed I would like to get more treats and ask Jason Ritchey if he is also funny when he is sitting down.