When Jack turned down the dusty road leading to his farm he was greeted, as he always was, by a border collie named Pat. She was a standard black and white, in good health, and a damn good herding dog.
Jack parked the truck, with "wine" in his hand, and looked down at the playful collie diving around his heels with tail wagging.
His dad opened the old screen door and spit some chew onto the porch. "Been to town?"
"Got somethin' for the weekend." Jack lied, holding up the fairly obvious bottle. "And picked up the parts for the tractor."
"Good boy." His dad laughed. "Don't make the drinkin' better, but you and your friends gotta goof off sometime, I guess."
"Anything goin' on?" Jack asked. It was late, the day's work was mostly over, but there was always something.
"Can tend the horses, if you want. We already ate, but there's some beef left in the fridge."
"Sounds good." Jack nodded. "Thanks, pa."
"Yep." His dad nodded, and went back inside, no doubt to kick back with the paper and then head to bed.
Still, Pat eagerly followed his every move.
"Well, girl." Jack grinned. "Wanna help me with the horses?"
* * *
Jack had poured a small amount from the bottle into Pat's water dish and now he and the dog sat in the horse barn amidst the stalls.
"Well, drink up." Jack motioned with his hand, and grinned as the border collie took a deep lap from the bowl. "Hope this works." He whispered. "I saved up a bunch of allowance."
Suddenly, the dog visibly winced, and shuddered on all fours. She opened her eyes wide and then shut them again, shaking. Something was happening.
All at once, the animal's body seemed to strain against itself for a moment before it began to grow. At Jack sat in wonderment, Pat's canine body began to morph in front of his eyes. Her back legs lengthened, her torso stretched, and her front paws turned to five fingered hands. She panted, opened her eyes, and stared at Jack.
She was... a little bit more human. Not really humanoid, but quite human for a dog.
"It... it worked!" Jack gasped, and then to his shock Pat looked at him, looked at the bottle, and nodded towards her dish quizzically.
"Y-You understand?" He pointed. To which the animal nodded again. "Yeah, that's right, girl." He pointed to the bottle. "This stuff changed you. But you know that already, don't you? Can you speak?"
She looked back at herself, looked back at him, and barked loudly. Not yet.
"Can you try standing, then?" Jack blinked, wide eyed with delight, as Pat carefully raised herself back on all fours and tried pushing herself off the floor of the barn. Jack helped her by holding her front hands, and she balanced by herself, awkwardly stumbling on two back legs like a baby learning to walk. She stood a little taller than his middle, bigger than she was, but still mostly shaped like a dog.
"Not bad." Jack whistled. "You're a natural."
The dog looked at him with an odd grin: very funny.
"Hey, if I give you more you'll get more human. Wanna try it?"
Pat's eyes widened and she nodded desperately.
"All right... here we go."
Now standing, Jack uncorked the bottle again and raised it over Pat's head. The dog opened her mouth upward and Jack poured a little more into her waiting maw. She gulped it and they waited.