A better dog than Blip just did not exist. Blip thought so himself. And why shouldn’t he feel that way, all his people-family told him that. How many times had they said “Good dog, Blip, good dog,” and then given him some tasty treat. Surely, only the best dog would be treated that way, Blip thought.
Then one day, “it” showed up—Stubnose the cat—and everything changed. Sure, Blip’s family would still call Blip a “good dog,” and they meant it, but now they were calling Stubnose a “good kitty.” This confused Blip. Blip wasn’t sure which was better, a good dog or a good kitty. Blip felt he was no longer special, that he was just the same as Stubnose. And since he didn’t really like Stubnose, this upset Blip.
For a while, Blip ignored the cat the best he could. He would try for his family’s attention, only to see Stubnose come around and just get in the middle of everything. Blip would get very mad. One day, when Stubnose walked by the water dish (probably heading toward someone’s lap, Blip had thought), Blip had had enough and pounced on Stubnose, knocking him into the bowl, spilling water all over the floor. Stubnose screamed and darted out of the room. Blip tried to chase him, but he kept slipping in the water and finally gave up.
Then he thought back to all the times he had made a mess in the house when he was a puppy and had gotten in trouble, which made Blip also run out of the room and hide by the couch in the big-room. Blip was shaking because of the talking-to he was going to get. But it never happened. His family thought the spill was just an accident and didn’t get mad about it at all. Blip then got an idea: if they didn’t get mad at him for that, then maybe they wouldn’t get mad if he did other mean things to Stubnose. When he took his next nap, Blip was not sad anymore, because he was too busy thinking of all the mean things he could do to Stubnose.
Stubnose now knew Blip didn’t like him. Moreover, he thought, Blip was plain mean. From then on Stubnose would check to see where Blip was whenever he walked by the water dish. Stubnose would never let Blip knock him into the water dish again. And Blip did try to sneak up on Stubnose, but Stubnose always saw him, ran away, and jumped up to safety on the bed in the sleep-room or on top of the couch in the big-room. They were both places that Blip could not reach. Stubnose would then just sit there, looking down at Blip, and swish his tail back and forth. Blip hated Stubnose’s swishing tail.
Then an idea occurred to Blip: sometimes, when Stubnose was really sleepy, his tail would droop just over the side of where he slept. Blip was sure that he could reach that, and one day, after many nap-times spent thinking about it, Blip got brave enough to give it a try.
It was such a sad day for Stubnose. It started off with Blip chasing Stubnose to make him jump up on the bed (swishing his tail, of course). Blip, who had been planning this for days now, pretended to go to sleep on the floor. Stubnose stayed on the bed for a long time, staring at Blip, but he was afraid to get down because Blip was not very far away—Stubnose didn’t want to get chased again.
After a while Stubnose started to relax, and then became sleepy, and he stopped swishing his tail. He curled up into a ball on the corner of the bed, where he always took his naps. Soon he was dreaming of chasing strings, getting scratched behind the ears, and of all the wonderful things that happen to good cats. Then Stubnose stretched out and yawned, and he flipped his tail over the side of the bed! Blip had been watching, and he quietly got to his paws and snuck over right below the tip of Stubnose’s hanging tail. There it was, right above him. Oh, how he had dreamed of this moment. Blip squatted and prepared to jump, wiggling his rump in his excitement, and then he leapt…there it was, closer and closer the tail became until finally it was within reach. Then Blip pulled down on it as hard as he could!
Stubnose awoke with such a start, digging his claws into the bed. Blip tried to hang onto the tail but couldn’t, and he let go and fell back to the floor. But he had done it! He had pulled on the cat’s tail! Stubnose had jumped from the bed by now and ran into the big-room and climbed to the highest point on the couch, howling as only a mad cat can. Blip came in, wagging his own tail, barking in excitement. He felt he was the best dog in the whole world because he had pulled on Stubnose’s tail!
Of course, all this noise was noticed by the family, and the mother came in from the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. She saw that Blip was being mean to Stubnose and began to yell loudly at Blip: “bad dog, Blip, bad dog”! Blip was crushed. He had thought he was a good dog again because he had pulled on Stunbose’s tail. He had thought that he was going to be happy again. But now he was being called a “bad dog.” He had not been called a bad dog since he chewed on a slipper when he was a puppy. Blip tucked his tail between his legs, lowered his head, and slowly walked away to hide beside the couch again.
For many days Blip didn’t want to eat or wag his tail—he was very sad. After a while, the mother noticed that Blip was so upset. She went to him and spoke with kind words, telling Blip that he really was a “good dog.” At first Blip just looked up at her with sad eyes, but then he raised his head, and finally he wagged his tail a little. Then something strange happened, Blip felt “his” tail being gently pulled. He looked and was shocked at what he saw: Stubnose was on the floor and playing with Blip’s tail! Blip didn’t know what to do. Should he run? Should he bark and tell Stubnose to leave him alone? He just didn’t know! Then he heard “those” words again: “good kitty, Stubnose, good kitty.” But before Blip could get mad this time, the mother then told Blip he was the “best dog.”
Blip sat there, confused, and then it all made sense to him: there could be a “good dog” and a “good kitty” in the house at the same time! They were both special. He was so happy that he wagged his tail harder and harder, which just made Stubnose play with it more. Finally, Stubnose stopped playing with Blip’s tail and walked up to Blip’s nose and sniffed it. Blip wasn’t sure what to do, but he decided to sniff Stubnose back. Then the most wonderful thing happened, Stubnose made this soft purring sound and rubbed up against Blip. Blip was sure that Stubnose wasn’t being mean to him… why…. this felt almost like when he got petted by his family. Maybe… maybe… of course that’s what this was! That’s exactly what it was! Stubnose was petting him! Blip was so excited that he began to lick Stubnose on top of the head. Now, this wasn’t something that most cats like to have happened much, but Stubnose knew that Blip was petting him too, and he just purred even louder.
For the rest of the day Stubnose and Blip played and played. When suppertime came they both went to their bowls and ate together, side by side. Afterwards, Blip walked into the big-room and lay down on the floor by the mother. Stubnose came in and jumped up into her lap. Stubnose and Blip looked at each other and then each curled up to go to sleep. As Blip started closing his eyes he thought to himself of how silly it had all been, and of how many days had been wasted being angry and sad, when all he needed was to realize that while he was a good dog, Stubnose was also a good kitty—the best kitty!