A DOGGY’S TALE
by Matt Wood
As if they know their lives are shortened seven times that of a man, dogs constantly remind their owners to make the most out of each day.
Bella
Lexi
Harper
Sophie
I woke up this morning to scratch my head, then noticed my humans were laying in bed. I must wake them up, they’re wasting their day, it is time to eat, run, bark, chew and play! I jumped on Dad with kisses and hugs, but he shewed me away like a swarm of bugs. A little discouraged I let things calm, then I crouched down low and pounced on Mom! I knew I convinced her it was time to get up, when she said, “Ok, Ok you crazy pup!” I raced her to the pantry and won, again, it doesn’t even seem like she tries to win.
Never the less, she filled my bowl, and I ate that food with my heart and soul. I just can’t explain it, my body goes numb, then I notice seconds later, there’s not even a crumb. Yes, you guessed, what’s next is true, I stood by the door cause I had to go poo. She opened the door and I rushed to the grass, hunched my back and let out some gas. I was kicking up dirt and something caught my eye, I turned my head and saw a bunny hop by! Filled with excitement, the chase was on, I pursued that bunny across the lawn.
It jumped once left then hopped twice right, crawled under a bush and was out of sight. Unfortunately, this time I didn’t win, but it’s Ok, it’s time to go in. I ran to the door and walked inside, Mom stopped me right there, “Wanna go for a ride?” She had places to go and errands to run, I just love car rides, they’re so much fun! We reached the car and she opened the door, I’m so excited for our trip to the store! We cruised the streets and toured the town, and as you may have guessed, the windows were down.
She drove me around for quite some time, while the sun was bright and the day was prime. On our way home we stopped at the park, she wanted to take me before it got dark. She hooked up my leash and we walked around, I must have sniffed every inch of the ground. We approached a girl with her dog by a tree, he popped up his head and stared directly at me. A typical male, he tried to act mean, so we barked back and fourth and created a scene. Then we chased the squirrels and jumped in the creek, time was lost playing hide and go seek.
Darkness fell and it was time to go, we said our goodbye’s just after hello. We got in the car and started to drive, I turned to my mom and gave a high five. We reached the house and opened the door, this day has been great, but could there be more? We walked through the door and there was a treat, my dad was waiting for us to greet! I played with my dad and we both became tired, the day has been great, but I think it’s expired. We must lay down our heads and get some rest, because the day after today is always the best.
This book was written, photographed, and designed by Matt Wood in his Bookforms class as a student in the Communication Art & Design program at the University of Louisville. The four dogs in this book are Bella, Lexi, Harper, and Sophie; Matt’s current family dogs. The introduction quote is set at 10.5/18 Century Schoolbook bold and the poem typeface is set at 8/13 Century Schoolbook regular. The photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix S200 and altered to a duotone format in Adobe Photoshop. The layout was designed in Adobe InDesign and the grid consists of 10 rows and 10 columns per 7x7 inch page with no gutter.