Cabo Read online

  A stick, a stick, thought Cabo with delight. Doggy heaven. No one had thrown a stick for him before. No one was allowed to throw a stick for him. Guide dogs don't chase sticks.

  He bounded and splashed through the shallows towards the stick.

  Suddenly the bottom whooshed out from beneath him and Cabo was surfing through the water on a magic carpet.

  The Phantom Menace strikes again, thought Cabo as he hung five on the front of the giant ray.

  Out across the harbour surfed Cabo, right into the shipping lane. Then the ray vanished from under his feet and he started swimming. At first he enjoyed the cold water, then he felt cold and tired. Then he felt very cold and very tired.

  Cold and tired and all alone, and a long, long way from home. He was shivering and waterlogged and swallowing water.

  But he wasn't alone....

  First there was a slight ripple, then a fin appeared, then another, and another. They circled around and around, and around getting closer and closer. Something brushed against Cabo's leg.

  Things were looking grim.

  Cabo tried to keep swimming but he was waterlogged and his legs wouldn't work.

  As he slowly slid down into the greenness he heard a familiar noise.

  Thump, Thump, Thump.

  Suddenly, something strong grabbed him.

  Will I drown, or get eaten first? thought Cabo.

  Then up, up, he went, whisked up in to the light and away into the sky.

  Chapter 13 - Cabo goes Flying

  It was a windy day on the beach

  Lots of smelly, horrible things had been washed ashore by the waves. Dead fish - yum; dead penguins - yum, yum; something nasty in a plastic bag - yum and double yum!

  'Yuck! Yuck! YUCK. You 'orrible dog!' scolded Carolina, and ran off in the direction of the cliff top reserve, Cabo hot on her heels.

  Seagulls glided effortlessly in the wind, hanging just meters above the cliff edge.

  'I'll have them,' barked Cabo and yolloped off through the long grass. With a mightly bound he leapt at them...

  Next thing he was flying...

  Chapter 14 - Diva - Round 2

  After Cabo’s first run in with Diva the scoreboard looked like this:

  Diva stuck her nose out of the window and sniffed the cool morning air. The sparrows on the power lines sat and twittered, taunting her. She wanted to go hunting but it was cold and frosty outside.

  She sat on the window sill watching the sparrows. Her tail swished and twitched, swished and twitched...

  CHOMP!

  Cabo finally had the cat!

  Cats 1 Dog 1

  The scoreboard looked even.

  YoWL!!

  Scratch.

  YeLP!!

  Cats 2 Dog 0

  The cat was getting bigger and the weather colder. Too cold to leave the window open, not even a crack. Everyone wanted to shut the window not open it wider for a fatter cat.

  Later that week a cat flap appeared in the front door.

  Diva could fit through but not Cabo. The cat knew that Cabo couldn’t fit but Cabo didn’t. He knew nothing, after all he was just a puppy!

  The cat taunted him. It walked up to him when he was dozing and licked his wet nose with its sandpaper tongue, then danced about in front of him as he struggled to his feet, legs going in all directions. He just about caught the cat as it vanished out through the hole in the door. There was a shattering of plastic and Cabo stopped dead, his head stuck through the cat sized hole. Diva sauntered up to him and gave him a mighty swipe across his nose.

  Cats 3 Dog 0

  Once Sam and Zozo had pulled him out backwards, Cabo slunk off and hid under Lulu’s bed. He was lying there licking his wounds and feeling sorry for himself when something caught his eye, a couple of little penguins and a pink cat with wings.

  Chomp! Chomp! P1 and P2 the Penguins went down whole.

  Blackcat was a different story. Chew, chew, splinter, he came to the same sticky, gooey ending as Zozo’s flip flop, Caroline’s shoe and le zap, the remote control for the tele.

  Poor old Blackcat.

  Later Lulu found splinters of pink wood painted with little flowers.

  'Cabo you are a menace,' she scolded. 'Nothing but a menace!'

  Chapter 15 - Guide Dog Skool - Lesson 2

  Cabo’s brothers and sisters were there, all eleven of them.

  Cabo’s brothers and sisters plus the rest of the guide dog puppies were at skool. They played and fought and ran about the place until a loud whistle bought them to order.

  It was time to put red jackets on, time to behave.

  The first exercise was to walk past bowls of food without eating any. The girls had no trouble, but then it was Cabo’s turn.

  Cabo got past the first by looking at the second and past the second by focusing on the third. Then he came unstuck. Like a big vacuum cleaner he hoovered the bowl clean, grabbed the bone at the end and was off at a trot.

  For the next exercise towels were carefully laid on the grass and a puppy had to sit quietly on each and behave.

  And behave they did until one puppy, who shall remain nameless, grabbed his towel and ran off.

  With 23 puppies in hot pursuit…

  Chapter 16 - Red Jacket Day

  To be a Guide Dog Cabo needed to be able to be the eyes for a blind person.

  He had to learn to guide them about town, through crowds, across roads and around shops, keeping them out of harm’s way.

  Not to be distracted by other dogs.

  Not to jump up on people.

  Not to go to the toilet when on duty.

  Not to eat any food.

  Not to create chaos.

  He put his red jacket on and was off on a training run around town.

  First he met Ms Purple Rinse with her dog Spot.

  Then there was the friendly policeman.

  Cabo had just learnt to cock his leg the week before and couldn’t resist leaving his calling card…

  And at the supermarket, after knocking over the clothes racks and stealing a shoe, he fell in love with the handsome black dog in the mirror and set off all the alarms trying to sneak a candy stick out the door.

  When they were back at home, Caroline looked at him is despair and said, 'Cabo, you are just a puppy, you don’t know nothing!'

  Chapter 17 - The Farm

  The kids were off to the farm on the edge of the city. Zozo wanted to ride a horse.

  Dogs were not allowed. Guide dogs were, guide dogs are allowed everywhere.

  So it was red jacket on and off to the farm.

  First Cabo hoovered up some rabbit droppings. They were just the same size and texture as his doggy food. Then he moved on to the next course: sheep poo, slightly bigger with a soft gooey centre.

  Then he met a cow. He had never met a cow before. He didn’t like the look of the pointy things at the front so went to check out the other end. The beasts tail went up in the air and sloppy muck rained down on Cabo.

  Then he chased the ducklings into the pond. The ducklings floated. Cabo didn’t, there was a splash and a yelp and down he went. Dad jumped in and hauled out Cabo, with a big toothy eel hanging on to his tail.

  Zozo never got her horse ride. Kids, Mum, Dad and dog were shown the exit.

  On the drive home a horrible smell filled the van.

  Lulu poked her head back over the seat to see vomit, dog’s vomit full of rabbit and sheep droppings, Yuck!

  Sam had a flat battery in his game boy, so had been focusing his energies on annoying the girls.

  He got the job of cleaning up the mess.

  Once home, he opened up the back of the van, receiving a sloppy horrible kiss from Cabo. Much to his surprise the back of the van clean. All the vomit and poo eaten up by Cabo, every last little rabbit dropping.

  'Cabo, you are disgusting!' scolded Sam, quite happy that he didn’t have to clean up the mess.

  Chapter 18 - Home Alone

  Cabo went everywhere wit
h Carolina. To become a good guide dog he needed to experience as much of day to day human life as possible during his year as the puppy.

  Not today though.

  Cabo had been sniffing around in the garden and had dug up and eaten a little surprise that Diva the cat had buried there. Then he came yolloping into the bedroom to wish Carolina a good morning.

  'You 'orrible smelly dog. GO AWAY!'

  Seeing the time, Carolina jumped up and ran around the house getting the kids ready for school.

  There was no time to clean Cabo, so he stayed home.

  The sounds and smells of the people faded, then Zoe came running back for her jacket, followed shortly afterwards by Sofie puffing her way up the stairs to collect her lunchbox, then the house finally fell silent.

  Cabo did his rounds.

  The bin was shut in the larder. The smell of bacon and eggs and old yogurt containers wafted out but there was no way in. The bedroom doors were firmly shut to keep him out and the cat's food was up high, out of his reach. He hoovered up the crumbs in front of the TV and wolfed down a half-eaten marmite sandwich, abandoned by Zoe when Carolina chased her out of the house, then settled down and luxuriated in the warm winter sunshine.

  But sleep wouldn't come, something was bothering him. His nose twitched, he knew that smell. He followed his nose down the stairs. Yes! The door to the garage had been left open, probably by Sofie rushing back to pick up her lunch.

  There on the bench was his big bag of dog food!!

  He ate until he could eat no more, then topped it off with just a little more and washed it down with the contents of the toilet bowl.

  Now it was time for his snooze.

  Carolina arrived home to find this:

  As she drove Cabo to the Vet to have the stomach pumped, she looked at him with despair and said, 'It's just as well you are so lovable, because you are an 'orrible, nasty creature!'

  Chapter 19 - The Mangroves

 

  Yowl! Yelp!

  A crab bit Cabo on the nose.

  Cabo and his mate Orbit were in the mangroves. They chased seagulls and swam the in the murky water, fought over sticks and rolled about in the black mud.

  Orbit went from golden to black. The mud didn't really show on Cabo.

  On the way back through the park Cabo pounced on a man snoozing in the sunshine, covering him with doggy kisses and black mud. Luckily the man was good natured about it. 'No problem, man!' he said, giving Cabo a pat.

  As Carolina was hosing Cabo down, she scolded, 'Cabo you is such a menace.'

  He wriggled free, yolloped off up the stairs and shook himself in the living room, redecorating it with black mud.

  Carolina had always wanted the house with spots on the walls...

  Chapter 19 - Enemies

  Cabo was fascinated by Diva, she looked like something that should be chewed, maybe even eaten, but he had learned to keep his distance. She hissed, she was lightning fast, and she had very sharp claws.

  Diva thought the dog was horrible.

  His arrival in the house had turned her life upside down. She retreated to high places or the safety of Sofie's room. He ate her food, caught her by the tail, and did nasty smelly farts that chased her around the house.

  He wasn't to be trusted, you never knew what he might do next.

  There was not even a chance of a prickly friendship between the two of them.

  That was until he went away for a week with all of the people.

  When he returned, Diva meowed and rubbed up against him. Horrible as he was, he was kinda likeable, in a strange doggy sort of away.

 

  Chapter 20 - The Beach

  Cabo had not been to the beach for months because of the killer sea slugs.

  As a special treat before Cabo’s guide dog training began Carolina took him to Bethell’s beach on the West Coast, well away from those snurgly slugs.

  The sand was almost as black as Cabo and burnt his feet. Cabo and the kids hot footed it across on tippy toes to the cool water of the stream.

  The air was full of the cries of seagulls, the roar of the surf and smells. Smells of seaweed, penguins, and something super smelly. Cabo ran out on the rocks and wolfed down a fisherman's squid bait.The fisherman cursed and swore as he packed away his fishing rods, then gave Cabo a pat and went and lay on the beach.

  Cabo got rolled about in the green waves with the kids, then chased them up the scorching sand dunes, getting completely covered with the fine black sand.

  He then disgraced himself by shaking in the middle of a picnic, stealing the chicken in the chaos.

  It was about then that Carolina decided that it was time to head for home.

  And that wasn't the end of it, the smelly horrible fish bait was working its way through, gurgling and rumbling in Cabo’s tummy. He filled the car with toxic green and yellow farts all the way home.

  As she hosed off Cabo back at the house Carolina said, 'Cabo you’re lovely. A total disaster, but lovely.'

  Chapter 21 - Laughter and Tears

  The small puppy that had arrived a year ago had grown and into a big black dog.

  He was naughty and rebellious, but still a puppy at heart.

  He had charmed everyone and even made friends with Diva, the cat.

  It was a year of tears and laughter; of pee and poo; of vomit and silent but deadly farts; of knocked over rubbish tins and stolen sausages; of things too horrible and disgusting even to put on paper; of waggy tails and wet noses; a year of total chaos around the house.

  But Cabo had grown up. It was time for him to become a guide dog.

  Nicky arrived in her van. Cabo jumped in, and off he went on his next misadventure.

  Chapter 22 - Cabo the Guide Dog

  Months and months had passed since Cabo had gone for training.

  Months and months and months; all but one of his eleven brothers and sisters were now guide dogs. Not Cabo, not yet. He was smart; he knew everything a guide dog needed to know: he could go up escalators; he could negotiate revolving doors; he could cross a busy road and he could find the men’s and ladies toilets, just by smell.

  But after ten long months of intensive training, he was still a naughty, naughty dog. He rummaged about in bins, he sniffed dogs bottoms, he stuck his head down the toilet bowl and horror of horrors; he stole food from the table when no one was looking. As you can probably imagine, it is hard for a blind person to keep an eye on that juicy piece of sirloin steak thawing on the bench!

  Carolina had been warned, she was waiting for the call that said, 'Would you like your lovely puppy back?'

  Ring, ring, the phone rang. 'Would you like...to come and meet Cabo the Guide Dog?' asked Nicky.

  'Yes!'

  Into the car piled Carolina, and Sofie, Sam, Lulu, Zozo, and Cabo’s mate Dylan with his owners. No one wanted to miss a chance to see Cabo.

  Cabo was beside himself to see them all. When he had finally calmed down, Carolina was blind folded

  'The cafe,' said Nicky, Cabo’s trainer and off he went, pulling on his harness.

  At first Carolina pulled back and carefully felt out into the void with her feet, but feeling Cabo’s firm and confident tug she soon let him guide her. He veered around the footpath finding the smoothest route, avoiding the posts and potholes. He stopped by the road to let a bus past; walked past a poodle without so much as a sniff, and found an empty table at the cafe.

  Cabo’s harness came off and he was a puppy again, charging off to play with Dylan and the kids in the park. They squeezed through the tunnel and followed Sam up the steps to the slide. Nicky gasped as she saw the dogs come flying off the end of the slide in a tangle of legs.

  'He is such a naughty dog,' she said shaking her head. 'But so lovable!'

  Finally Cabo was ready to be matched with a blind person.

  It can’t have been his looks or his good behaviour that made him so popular, but everyone wanted Cabo.

  Cabo headed south to Christchurch
to be the eyes and ears for a well-known sculptor.

  I bet he's just wonderful!

  The End

  If you enjoyed reading ‘Cabo’, please take a minute to rate it.

  See photos of Cabo

  https://daftstoriesbydad.com/cabo/Cabo%20the%20Guide%20Dog/index.htm

  Also published by the same author at Smashwords

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  'Lucy'

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  ‘Strange Happenings at No 4’

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  ‘Mr Farty Pants’

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  Look out for Nikolaj Vigrim on Facebook

  Contact the Author

  [email protected]