After a moment of resistance, when there had been the instinct to recoil from the bigger of the two owners, the sheepdog accepted the leash attached to its collar with a placid display of subservience.
Now the dog flared its nostrils and used its nose to investigate every scent it encountered during the walk, including one that caused some confused, unsettled emotions.
He passed the structure of wood and metal where he had seen other human sit on past walks. As the bench wasn't occupied, the dog wandered over and took a few revealing sniffs.
The dog heard his humans make occasional sounds, but none of the sounds held any meaning except for the occasions when he heard the word "Shaggy" at which he perked up and gave the speaker some fleeting attention.
"Yes, I said you," the impostor said, looking down, pleased, at how securely the new form and instincts seemed to entrap his former master in their tight grip. "Can't you hurry up, Shaggy?"
"There's no need to rush him," Kev came to the defense of his sheepdog sibling.
The sheepdog turned its head from the younger human to the older and back again.
The impostor looked down and frowned. "He certainly is rather dumb, isn't he?"
"That's not true," Kev objected. "Jared is... I mean Shaggy is plenty smart."
Then impostor smiled at Kev's minor slip. "If you say so," he said. "I think he's getting dumber by the day."
The dog tugged on the leash, feeling a bit of pressure and ready to resume walking. The impostor allowed some slack and followed the dog onto a grassy section near the curb.
The dog sniffed the grass. It moved paw over paw in a tight circle until it hunched and quickly did its necessary business.
The impostor gripped the leash holder tighter. "I got to keep a good hold on Shaggy," he said, looking pointedly toward Kev. "You don't mind taking care of that, do you?"
Kev grimaced as he reached into a pocket for the plastic gloves and then the other pocket for the disposable baggie. He made the process as quick and clinical as possible, but still conjured up the dismaying thought that, if he didn't find a way to get Jared back into his rightful body, he would be cleaning up after his brother on a daily basis. He shuddered as he contemplated how Jared has seemingly been completely subsumed by the dog. Was there even any coming back at this point?
One thing was clear. The impostor wasn't going to be any help. Kev didn't trust him at all, which was strange since he had considered Shaggy his best friend before the weird circumstance with the amulet and collar.
He saw a special receptacle on the other side of the road for the disposing of pet waste. He started to cross the road...