River trotted through the area, his family, consisting of his mate and three pups, following behind him. Along with Kohaku.
Kohaku was by far the black sheep of the family. She couldn't remember much from her puppyhood, but she didn't want to. All that she could remember was of whines and whimpers; empty stomachs and beatings. She had been raised in a puppy mill, or so River had told her.
"Kohaku, come on! You're lagging behind. You can lolly-gag all you want when we get to the park, but until then, book your rump across the city!" River yelled across the road.
Arielle, River's mate that looked somewhat like a smaller version of a golden retriever mixed with other various breeds, nudged River in the shoulder. "Take it easy on her, Riv. She's still young. She's known nothing other than the city her whole life."
"Ari..." River looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm just anxious to get to the park. I mean, all the other dogs seemed excited, saying that it had tons of shade, lots of space, plentiful food, and plenty of places to explore. Who wouldn't be anxious to go there?"
The three pups whined, the black one, Dahlia, finally speaking up. "Papa, are we almost there?"
The other two pups, Blair, a tawny reddish-brown pup, and Sven, a white pup with black blotches, looked up to their father, waiting for his answer.
By that time, Kohaku had crossed the street, barely escaping a speeding car's path. She turned around and barked ath the car, which was long gone, but the satisfaction of getting the last bark in satisfied her.
River, in turn, nodded to his family, and said, "Just a few more blocks."
~~~~~~~~~~
The sight of a miniature-pony sized dog would frighten any child, with sanity in tact, but Oliver's owner, a child just over the age of ten, wasn't phased by his dog's gargantuan size at all. In fact, he preferred large dogs, often riding Oliver like a pony.
Oliver, however, didn't like being so large. True, being huge had its perks, but it also got in the way of many things. Once he had tried to play with a purebred jack russell terrier, and if it weren't for the dog's amazing ability to jump and run on the turn of a dime he would have squashed him.
Almost any dog would be able to play with other, smaller dogs, but most dogs that were smaller than Oliver shivered at the sight of the monstrous hound.
Once Oliver's owner freed him of his leash, he shook himself off, though there wasn't any water on his coarse, wiry coat, and ran off. He was amazingly fast, and crazily agile. It was a wonder he wasn't all over television for winning agility competitions.
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