Chad was pretty wobbly as William helped the golden retriever to his feet. He shook his head a few times trying get the cone off his neck.
"Okay, Chad, you understand that you have to go with Bruno and Rick when they come for you, right?"
Chad slowly nodded his head.
"That's a good boy," William said.
Chad glared at him.
William laughed, "Okay, Chad, you be a good dog, and nothing will happen to Todd, you don't Todd to join you in obedience school, do you?"
Chad yelped, and shook his head no. He was up on his hind legs begging.
"Well, you behave yourself, and Todd will be fine. I'll stop by the Canine Academy to check on you later this week. Now the drugs seem to have mostly worn off, so let's get you back to Todd. Come, Chad."
William attached the leash back to Chad's collar and tugged. Chad jumped down from the table and stumbled after William as he led Chad back to the lobby.
Todd stood up when he saw Chad.
"Why is Chad wearing a cone? You didn't fix him did you?"
"No, of course not, but we found a small tumor down there, which we biopsied. See his balls are just fine," William lied tugging at Chad's furry sack.
Chad winced. He knew that he was walking around with a pair of silicone balls in his sac. He'd play William's game, and hopefully, the turd would restore Chad's balls and humanity after Chad was trained. He wondered about that. There were a lot of dog training schools in the area. His brother Brad owned and ran the Dogwoods Canine Academy. But it didn't seem likely that William would send Chad to his own brother's school. Would he?
"A tumor?" Todd asked.
"Well, a growth. It looked benign from what I saw, but we'll let you know if the lab finds anything. Chad should wear the cone for probably a week. We'll send you a bill, " William said handing Todd the leash, "Chad may be a bit wobbly for the next few hours, but a good night's sleep will have him right as rain."
"Uh, thanks, sir."
Todd took Chad back to his car. It was weird, Chad looked like an ordinary golden retriever now. He seemed smaller than when they arrived. Chad was definitely all dog now. Todd got a wet friendly lick in the face when he got into the driver's seat after loading Chad into the passenger seat.
Todd reached under his seat and pulled out the half full silver cannister that started all this, and frowned. He wondered if Chad would turn back in the morning or if the vet had done something to make his transformation permanent? The shots maybe? Or maybe Todd was to blame? He had resprayed Chad, maybe that was all that was needed to make Chad all dog?
Todd scratched the side of his head with his left foot before he realized that he had done it. He glared at his raised leg. He had never been this limber before. Maybe he dosed himself a bit when he sprayed Chad again? He didn't want to be a dog.
He drove home. He wasn't sure what to tell his parents, so he decided just to sneak Chad into his room and not say anything. He hoped Chad would be human in the morning. After dinner, Todd smuggled a bowl of raw hamburger and a bowl of water into his room for Chad.
As a canine, Chad found himself easily distracted. He forgot about Rick and Bruno, and just focused on playing with Todd. Eventually, Todd fell asleep with his most valued pal curled up next to him.
Bruno cursed, when he tried to lift Todd's bedroom window. It had been left open two inches for ventilation, but it was a newer window with security latches that kept the window from being opened any further from the outside.
"They got a quality alarm system too," Rick said.
Bruno frowned, "Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to nab Chad."
"William won't be too happy."
"Rick, he'd be unhappier if we get caught. Tomorrow when Todd takes Chad walkies, we'll find a way to get him and take him to that dog school."
"Yeah about that. Does William know that Chad's brother owns that place?" Bruno after pausing asked.
"Huh? Probably. I dunno. It's none of our concern. I tried to tell him when he first told me about his plan, and he told me to shut it, and just do what he was paying us to do," Rick answered.
Bruno shrugged, and started to go home.
"Wait," said Rick, "we should stay and spend the night. Todd might take Chad out early. We don't want to miss him, do we?"
"Wha? You want us to sleep out here in Todd's bushes?"