Slippery rocks and a tiny trickle of water offered wonderful odors, and we followed the wet trail of the creek into a moist, cool cave-a culvert with metal sides.

Our tree was perched on a creek bank, and I was delighted when Fast tumbled head over heels down the bank, though Sister and I plummeted with no more grace when we tried to make the same descent. Hungry was several shades lighter and Sister shared Mother's stubby nose and flattened forehead, but we all looked more or less the same, despite Fast's prancing. The rest of him was as mottled and unremarkably brown and black as I was. I'm special, Fast's dazzling, star-shaped spot seemed to be declaring to the world. Of the four of us, only Fast had a splash of white on his face, and as he trotted jauntily forward this patch of fur flashed in the daylight. The first time I tottered out into the sunlight, Sister and Fast accompanied me, and naturally Fast shoved his way to the front. Our den was scooped out underneath the black roots of a tree, and was cool and dark during the heat of the day. Hungry slept more than my siblings and I did, so we often jumped on him and chewed on his face. The other one I mentally called Hungry, because he whimpered whenever Mother was gone and would suckle her with an odd desperation, as if it were never enough. Sister was only slightly less interested in wresting with me than my brothers, one of whom I thought of as Fast, because he somehow always moved more quickly than I could. My nose soon told me I had one sister and two brothers. Gradually, the other dogs came into focus, and I grudgingly accepted their presence in the nest. When my mother licked my stomach to stimulate the flow of fluids from under my tail, I blinked up at her, silently beseeching her to please get rid of the other puppies for me.

I couldn't see that my brothers and sister had any purpose whatsoever. Often finding a place to suckle meant pushing aside what I now knew was the snout of a sibling seeking to crowd me out of my share, which was really irritating.

I had figured out that when the chill air struck my skin it meant she had gone somewhere, but when the warmth returned it would be time to feed. Though my vision had resolved itself only to the point where I could distinguish fuzzy forms in the light, I knew that the large and beautiful shape with the long wonderful tongue was my mother. One day it occurred to me that the warm, squeaky, smelly things squirming around next to me were my brothers and sister.

A dogs purpose free