Weredogs In Pineland: short story collection

Many of this guy's stories are about weredogs and/or werewolves.

E-book: Green Berets and Weredogs in Pineland

8 stories in this collection, 4 are about werefolk or have werefolk characters. 4 are about Special Forces or have SF characters in them. One takes a very different look at the story of Noah's Ark and another offers creative ways to deal with poachers and save endangered species. It is less than 150 pages and costs $2.99.

This is for Kindle. If you do not have a Kindle you can get a FREE Kindle reader for any device of operating system, here:
FREE Kindle Reading Apps

Not sure of this guy is a weredog. He might just know some weredogs.

Klaus and Agatha

Klaus is having a harder time with Agatha. She is the old widow with whom he lives and who he is trying to shield from her own loneliness and dementia. He has not been to a pack meeting in several months and has not been out on patrol in weeks. Such is his growing load of caring for Agatha.

Part of his challenge and risk now is that he has to shift back and forth, between dog and man, to fit Agatha's needs. He gave up trying not to let her see. She was upset and scared when at first she saw him shift, and tried to tell her niece, who of course paid her no mind, figured it was another of her ramblings. Agatha has since grown used to Klaus's changing of forms.

Agatha's few family do not visit often. But when they do they come by unannounced. Which makes for some dicey situations. They know that Agatha has a dog, but explaining a middled aged man would be problematic.

Our pack has created a schedule so that each of us helps out Klaus. But some are starting to snarl about it being time for her to go into a home. Klaus says he cannot bear that, that she will die if she goes into a home, and he will no be able to visit her there, most likely, given that he is not family.

Handshake's Demise

The handshake has always seemed to me a strange custom. Sniffing someone, their face or ass, is such a better way of saying "Hello."

The demise of the handshake, however, will not be a good thing for humans. I think it is odd that I have never seen that commented on.

The genesis of the handshake goes back 1,000s of years, to a time before cities, even before villages, when a man raising an open hand toward another was tantamount to saying, "I am unarmed. Don't mean trouble." Eventually that changed to clasping hands, an even more solid assurance that the other guy has nothing in his hand, weapon or otherwise.

The handshake change a little over the centuries and eons. Variations have made their way into various cultures, such as the "High Five" and all sorts of handshake choreogrphies that involved elaborate twists and slaps and slides.

Now we have the fist bump. Simple. Effective. No choreography. There are variations: high or low, hard or light.

The fist bump is partially cool and partially fear. Of germs. As fears spread of passing and catching germs, nasty bacteria that can sicken or even kill, the fist bump will displace the handshake. This is significant in that the fist is counter to the original intent of the handshake: to show an open hand.

Werefolk have never been big on handshakes, not that I have noticed in my over 250 years. It is not possible in dog form, is difficult and awkward in wereform and is even awkward for most of us in human form. But even for us the idea of greeting others with a fist is a bit awkward, and even a little  ominous. And I still say I'd rather give a sniff than a bump or a shake.

Tired. Out patrolling all night.

Caitlyn's Friend

Caitlyn has a best friend at school. The girl is also a junior, an AP student, and founder and president of the SSSG, the Student Sobriety Support Group. This in spite of the fact that she freely acknowledges that she has never touched a drop of alcohol and never intends to. Caitlyn asked her then why did she found this group. The girl answered that she id so because she thought it was important. Caitlyn was not curious about that answer. I am.

There is a new weredog in the area. She works at my vet's office and came from Nasville. I am trying to get her to join our pack. She says she can't but won't say why and is very mysterious about where she is from.

Warin called me earlier and wants to meet tonight, outside. I said, "Dude, it's not even a quarter moon." He said not to worry that I have the coat for it. Oh well. There was a time that I slept outside in winters all the time, just curled up and went to sleep. Rarely did we have fires, never if there was danger close. Oh well, guess civilization and comfort has its effects on everyone.

I need to get Warin to search for scent with me in an area not far from here, where I was told by the fox that she smelled something very strange.

I cannot recall if I posted about the fox.

Casius Marcellus Coolidge

Casius was one of the most prolific artists in American history. He created such memorable masterpieces as Dogs Playing Poker.

And he was a weredog. Of course.

Those dog paintings were not meant to be jokes. They were portraits. Of actual games. When they were found out they had to be played off as jokes.

Casius was one of the few weredog artists. Most weredogs cannot draw a straight line or draw even stick figures. But there have always been a small number, and are a curiosity to other weredogs.

Van Gogh was a weredog. His madness was due to him getting the illness from staying too long in human form too long and not cycling back to dog phase.

Caitlyn and Warin

Caitlyn has become quite the adept weredog, sniffing out and befriending werewolves all over our AO, especially in her high school, where she has discovered several weredogs, many who are being raised by werewolves, and werewolves being raised by weredogs, in numbers much more than anyone suspected. This traditional taboo now seems to be common, a new dynamic in our brave new wereworld.

Warin is now the leader of our pack. This in itself is a shocking development when one considers that he is a half-breed, the product weredog-werewolf union. Weredogs cannot breed and conceive with weredogs, nor werewolves with werewolves.

Weredogs and werewolves can conceive and and breed. I had always heard rumors of this but had discounted them as dangerous fantasy. But it is true.

Warin is bringing werefolk together, dogs and wolves, in ways I have never imagined possible, in spite of my own efforts to bridge that ancient chasm. And together wolves and dogs are facing this new threat - the noes, who even though they are quiet now, it is only a matter of time before they come back at us again, harder than ever.

Caitlyn is also helping to keep tabs on Jolina, thank Dog.

Old Ladies and Jolina

Back on the keys. Been off for a while. Had more troubles with the Varans and Waerwulfas. Actually, if not for the Varans intervening on my behalf, the Waerwulfas would have taken me on that last long walk by now. The issue was my unauthorized activities, one of which is this blog, many of which are too in the open. More on all that later.

Counter-Neo Ops have dropped off a lot. That is due mostly to a diminished Neo population, thanks in great part to my pack, and their having gone to ground and are keeping a low profile. But we know they will ramp back up. And when they do we will be ready.

Our pack has had numerous requests recently, from pack members, for assistance with elderly humans. Lasie, a pack member, is living with a man of 81 who has no family in town and who is failing with some sort of dementia. Lasie shifts back and forth between human and dog, as needed, to provide what support and needs she can for him. But it is getting harder, and others pack members are helping her out. The other day he disappeared and it took them thirty minutes to track his scent to a Chinese buffet where he was trying to sing karaoke into a serving spoon.

Klaus, pack member, is living with a widow of 76 who has family in town, her kids, but none of whom visit or see her often. She is also failing with some sort of dementia, Klaus thinks Parkinson's, and requires much of the same from Klaus, constant monitoring and shifting forms in order to play the parts of her dog and her nephew. Taking her, he says, to doctor;s exams is particularly dicy. Klaus knew he woman when she was a young girl, was known to her as her Uncle Ustaf, and found her eight years ago when he was casting about for a new phasing role. So, his connection to this woman is strong, which is always good and bad, happy but dangerous for dogs, who tend to be, on the whole, easily betrayed by our sentiments.

So, that and some other matters are keeping the pack very busy, allowing less time for night patrols, many of which now go out with only 1 or 2 dogs. I do not like 1 or 2 dog patrols. They are tactically unsound and violate the logic of always having someone to cover your six.

Jolina, Jack's daughter from a previous marriage, came to live with us. She is sixteen and a sophomore, younger than Sven and Rick, who both are eighteen and seniors. And she is a handful, and requires constant overwatch by me and rescue by Sven and Rick. Three times one of them has to go get her from a bad party, with a bad crowd, twice in different parts of town with a crowd much older than her. Once Rick and Sven had to bust some ass to get her out, due to a drunk guy who Sven says was high on something and was certain he had found his piece of ass that night. Rick knocked out two teeth and they left him and one other guy on their asses and drug Jolina out of there. I have had to go twice, each time masquerading as a cop. Once the scene and crowd was so dangerous, and my hackles up so much, and was being faced down by a clutch of tough but large punks, I shifted just enough to show some fang and give some convincing snarl. The punks could not get out of my way fast enough. Doing that, however, is difficult and dangerous. Many cannot control their transformation well enough to turn it back before completion. I am told that werewolves cannot do it at all. Jolina was so high that she was unaware of the drama or near-violence.

So, Varans and dementia and crazy teenage girls, as well as financial markets and project planning, are keeping me busy. Oh, and Caitlyn and her hyper-active lifestyle and leads. Oh, and Sarah too.

Freedom

Ganieda told me some scary things. True freedom is anarchy. Morality is slavery.

We have been having old arguments in pack meetings.

Some people, often pet partners, claim that pets are not free, that pets are slaves, not masters of their own destiny. This is the classic wolf argument.

To be truly free one must pay a price, must give some of that freedom up in order to be free. Work, defense, security, food, shelter, love, all of it demands a price, requires that one give up some portion of his or her freedom in order to attain it.

Commitment is the key. One must commit to something to gain it. And commitment demands a price.

Freedom isn't free. I agree. But not in the way that some political bumper stickers allude to.

Freedom alone cannot complete the dog or man. We need purpose, mission,

We dogs have paid a price for our security and domestication, for being part of civilization. But what we have gained outweighs the cost in a big way.

So far.

Laying Low

I have been laying low lately, trying to stay off certain radars, and also traveling.

I found my family, Jack and the gang. They had moved. I didn't know because I was gone when they moved. I lived in the old house for some weeks before a surprised realtor found me napping one day, after a full night of patrolling, when she came in one morning to show the house to some buyers.

I finally found Sarah. Or, actually, she found me. Long story.

Sven and Rick are seniors in high school, both doing their best to graduate, and at times doing their best not to. Braden is back from the war and Tyler is out of rehab. Jack is working at the VA and Sherri spends al day on the phone giving out medical advice.

I cannot speak or write about current or proposed operations against neos. Nor can I talk or write about any encounters or discussions that I have had with Varans or Waerwulfas. Nor can I talk about any werewolf pack meetings that I might or might not have attended to foster cooperation and propose joint operations.

But there's lots of other things I can tell about.

Doga: Yoga for Dogs

For all you dogs and people who want to exercise together.

http://www.livescience.com/26397-yoga-dogs-doga-classes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livesciencecom+%28LiveScience.com+Science+Headline+Feed%29

Don't ask me. I just work here.

Kids More Active with Dogs

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100921084919.htm

Children whose families own dogs are more active than those without, according to new research.

Go figure.

Back Home -

I am back home now, have been for about three weeks. It should be three months. But I has snatched and detained. I say "detained"now, but that detention was nearly my end. Had I not been able to convince the Varans and Waerwulfas who had me chained up that my recent travels and efforts were for the good of all, it would have been my end.

One of the older twins, Braden, is back home, medically discharged from the Army, having hard times with his injury, the loss of a foot, and PTSD.

He bought a civ versn of the M4 and sleeps with it. Without it he cannot sleep. I go in each night and remove the magazine while he sleeps. But he started figuring that out, of course, and has begun stashing spare mags in his room. So I started removing the firing pin and leaving it on his dresser. He figured that out too and now twice daily breaks down, checks and cleans that M4.

Sven and Rick are doing OK, no major problems, fewer than I expected. But they do spent far too much time in the basement, in the dark, playing video games for my liking.

Tyler has been out of rehab for some time. He is doing well,

Family At Home

Jack and Sherry and the boys are back home. I have been sniffing them repeatedly for clues. I am dumbfounded.

I spent months in this house alone, trying to figure out and find them.

They seem fine and the same, except for a very thin tendril of scent that I cannot identify, that I did not even detect on them at first, so subtle is it.

Warin told me "Go home" when I got to his house. He would not say more. I got here early morn, as Jack was making coffee. I barked to be let in and it didn't take long. He yelled and dropped to his knees and hugged me, nearly crushed me. Our noise got up the boys and Shelly, who all came running downstairs, all saying "Chester! Chester! Chester!"

I am going to spend the day staying close to them, trying to get a clue as to where they have been.

Warin told me there is a pack meeting tonight and I have to be there.

Correlation Dog Causation

An economist weredog who I know swears this is the funniest cartoon he has ever read.

Click on the cartoon to see the whole thing.

SOF K-9 Memorial Unveiled

This is big in the K-9 and werefolk communities.

http://sofk9memorial.com/statue_unveiling__celebration-1

The SOF K-9 Memorial Foundation to Honor Fallen Canines at Airborne & Special Operations Museum

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, the Special Operations Forces (SOF) K-9 Memorial Foundation will host a statue unveiling and celebration at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum to memorialize the bravery and dedication of the Special Operations K-9 Soldier.

The memorial is a life-sized, bronze statue of a Belgian Malinois dressed in full combat gear. The Belgian Malinois is smart, like the German shepherd, but has shorter hair and handles heat better.

This will be the only memorial specifically dedicated to special operations K-9s in the world. Surrounding the statue are 58 paver stones listing the names of the dogs that were Killed In Action (KIA). "Like their human counter-parts, Special Operations Multi Purpose Canines (MPC) are specially selected, trained and equipped to serve in roles not expected of the traditional Military Working Dog (MWD)," said Chuck Yerry, President of the SOF K-9 Memorial Foundation. "Truly daring and brave, these dogs often lead their Soldier team-members in the most dire conditions to save lives and complete the mission."

The memorial is on the Parade Field with paver stones created from North Carolina granite. Each stone bears the name, country of origin and year a Special Operations dog was killed.

Leaving Camp, Heading Home

I got a call from Warin a few days ago. He says I have to get back there, that it is important. So, I am departing camp tonight. Will be back at Warin's house sometime during the night. What time depends on where I stop and how long along the way. There are several good to great werefolk bars and cafes between here and there.

In particular, there is a very good werewolf BBQ joint, in an out of the way location, that has some of the most amazing and unique BBQ. The werewolf who owns the place and masters the pit is a sorcerer of meat.

People do sometimes find their way to this place. But they get a different menu than werefolk. Some of the stuff on the weremenu would not please the palettes of people.

We have trained a lot of werefolk here in these recent and past months. I have been surprised at how many werefolk, even werewolves, have let go their fighting skills and instincts. Such is the lure and blur of civilized life, I suppose. I have communicated with other such training centers all over the U.S. and Canada, and the world, where the same training and results is ongoing.

I will be back in KC tomorrow. Wonder if Warin has any word or leads on Jack and the family.

Woman Finds Dog in Rubble after Tornado

This lady finds her dog in the rubble that was her house in Moore, Oklahoma, after a tornado leveled it, as she is being interviewed.

http://gawker.com/oklahoma-tornado-survivor-finds-missing-dog-during-live-509025167?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Savour Every Moment

Keith Hopkin also made this vid for the Petcurean pet food company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0iRYycmlOI

Dogs in Cars Video

Keith Hopkin is a weredog.

http://dogs-in-cars.com

Over a million hits.

Huan, Greatest of the Elvish Wolfhounds

One of the werewolves here now as a trainee is a professor of literature...I know, surprised me too. He is a Tolkien fan, amongst other fandoms, and he told something last night very interesting. We were talking about old stories and legends and werelore in general, and he started telling tidbits and trivias from literature and history.

This wolfprof said that the battle between Huan and Draugluin is based upon a historical event and that Tolkien was a weredog. He also said that if Tolkien had been a werewolf he would have told it differently.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's histories, of Middle-earth and the Undying Lands, there was a vast array of good and evil, of heroes and villains, and they were, of course, often brought together to do battle.

In this time and place, evil created many evil beasts to torment the peoples of Middle-earth. The wolves and werewolves of Melkor the Dark Enemy were some of the more vile and terrifying. Note: These wolves were not normals wolves, but creatures created by evil, for evil.

One of the most over-looked heroes is Huan, largest and fiercest and lord of the wolfhounds, who were created, or maybe magically bred, by the elves to oppose and destroy the wolves and werewolves. They were very effective. And Huan was the greatest of them, enormous in size and strength and also immortal. Oh, and he spoke and understood the languages of men and elves.

To free his lord, Huan went to Sauron's tower on the Isle of Werewolves. There he slew multitudes of werewolves before finally Draugluin, lord and sire of all werewolves, came out to face Huan. It was an epic battle, but Huan killed Draugluin. Then Sauron came out, pissed off about losing his top werewolf, and Huan kicked his ass also. Sauron surrendered the tower and dispelled all his forces and fled.

Damn. And hoo-ah.

This wolfprof says that that story derives, with some alterations, from the time of all-out war between the forces of neanderthals and werewolves and those of humans and weredogs, that it happened approximately 12,000 years ago. I am intrigued and seeking more details.

Also, you have not lived until you have tried to teach werewolves fire discipline with rifles and pistols. Most want to be cowboys and fire gangsta style. Dog help me.

Breaks over. Back to the range.