After Big Guy enjoyed Jared as his latest bitch, he allowed the transformed teenager some time to himself, but not before making a prediction.
"I saw you jumping through hoops to impress those kids," the big Rottweiler barked. "You should just save yourself the trouble. You're my bitch, and you ain't going nowhere, bub."
As Jared stared past the brutish canine thug at the wall clock, which had ticked closer to 4 o'clock while Big Guy was having his way with him, he clamped his shaggy tail tightly between his legs and whimpered. He collapsed in a big, furry heap on the concrete floor of the pin and bemoaned the treachery of Boxers and kid brothers.
At some point he must have fallen asleep because when he next opened his eyes the clock on the wall showed 5:11. He had missed any final opportunity of the day to have himself adopted out of this scary place of canine perdition. He watched one of the shelter workers heft a bag of dog food and pour dry kibble into a row of stainless steel food dishes. The Rottweiler and Great Dane didn't waste any time before plunging their snouts into the dishes and scarfing down the food, which Jared dismissed as unappetizing after one exploratory sniff.
The man used a filled bucket to slosh some fresh water into another row of stainless steel bowls as Jared watched with sleepy eyes behind a fringe of fur. "You gonna eat?" The Great Dane woofed at him. "You know they only give us one meal a day on weekends."
The Rottweiler pushed itself between Jared and the food dish. "He don't want it," the muscular dog woofed at the Dane. "His choice."
Jared watched as the Rottweiler began to consume his apportioned food. Producing a whimper from the back of his throat, he whined, "Hey! That's mine!"
The Rottweiler shrugged his muscled shoulders and continued to eat until the Dane nudged him from the dish. "Cut him a break," the Dane intervened.
The Rottweiler huffed but decided his effort wasn't worth it and abandoned the remaining food to Jared, who took a few bites and discovered the cheap dog food tasted as unappealing as it smelled. The Great Dane monitored his progress and interjected before Jared finished off the allotted dog food.
"Looks like you could reward the dog that looked out for you," the Dane suggested.
Jared glanced toward the Dane's long, angular snout and then back to the dish. "It's yours," he woofed with a sigh.
The Great Dane finished off his "cut" of the food as Jared realized the clever canine had just shaken him down in the shelter's own version of a protection racket.
Jared walked over to the bowls and lapped some water and hoped that his kid brother who had gotten him into this mess was some how going to deliver a solution. A small amount of food in his stomach, with thirst quenched, Jared walked to a corner of the cell. For some inexplicable reason, he felt compelled to circle a spot on the concrete three times before he settled himself onto the hard, cold surface for a rest.