As Luke stared at himself, the dressing room door opened and the clerk grinned down at him. "I thought a I heard a bark. The Great Dane costumes are really popular. How do you like being a dog?"
Luke tried to answer "But I didn't want to really be an animal!", only to have a series of woofs and growls come from his mouth.
The clerk chuckled and patted his head. "Don't worry. You'll change back to normal in 36 hours. Unless you end up liking this and choose to remain a dog."
He grabbed the costume hanger and slipped a large brown leather collar off it. "You forgot this. Gotta have a license and rabies tags in case you get picked up." He showed the heavy band to Luke. It was a wide, double-stitched collar with silver studs and a silver buckle. Two tags hung from a metal ring. One looked like a city dog license and rabies vaccination tag. The other was blank. The clerk grinned. "I'm gonna call you Hamlet." As soon as he spoke the name, letters appeared on the blank tag. HAMLET. Underneath, a phone number appeared. "That's my number, in case you run into trouble. You won't be able to see or use it, but anyone who finds you will call me."
Still confused, Luke stood still while the collar was fastened around his neck. Why would he want to remain a dog? Still, 36 hours wasn't too bad. He could have some fun. As the buckle closed, he felt a strange pressure in his head, and then Luke was suddenly a DOG. It was a very strange feeling - he remembered being human, but now he had the instincts, thoughts, and personality of a happy Great Dane! He woofed and licked the clerk's hand. The young man laughed. "Feels great, doesn't it? No human worries, fears, no inhibitions. You can piss on a tree, take a dump in someone's front yard, lick yourself. All part of the package." He rubbed Luke's ears, which felt really good. "OK, come on out. You got one more choice to make."
Luke followed the clerk out to the main store. The young man pointed at the main entrance. "Go out that way and you can wander around on your own as much as you want. Try to avoid dog catchers, and make sure you don't get run over by a car or anything stupid like that." He pointed to a smaller swinging door almost hidden behind a rack of clothing. "Or, you can go out that way and spend the 36 hours living a normal dog's life somewhere - probably as someone's pet. Whichever you choose, you'll end up back here at the end of 36 hours unless you prefer being a dog. Then the change is permanent and you'll be a Great Dane for the rest of this life."
Luke stared at the two doors, tail wagging slowly. The freedom to explore sounded good, but so did the chance to see what living as a dog was really like.