Kevin pulled back on the leash as doggy Jared strained against it, eager to explore, to run free, to enjoy all the pleasures of being a dog.
He should feel a little guilty for changing his big brother back into a dog without so much as asking if Jared wanted to transform, but he looked like he was enjoying it.
His tail wagged continuously, and it took all of Kevin's inferior strength to pull back on the leash enough to keep Jared under control.
"Easy, Shaggy," Kevin said, scratching the area behind his brother's doggy ears.
"Oooh. Feels good," Came the unbidden response. He abandoned thoughts of running loose and sat back abruptly on his haunches. His tail thumped happily on the sidewalk pavement.
"More! More!" His doggy mind found the scratching behind his ears extremely addictive.
"You like that, do you?" Kevin asked his brother. He scratched Jared's ear a moment longer, but then started along the path again. As if a switch had been flipped, Jared raced ahead. Leading the way down the path, he began to stop and sniff the many distracting scents he encountered along the gravel trail. He had never known it was possible to learn so much from a mere sniff of a scent.
"Come on, Shaggy," Kevin said, tugging on the leash.
Jared tried to ignore the pulls on his leash as he sniffed around a fallen log on the side of the path. He lost himself to this new form of exploration so completely he didn't notice the approach of the two boys.
They were older, and bigger, than Kevin, and his Shaggy senses picked up the sudden sharp tang of fear emanating from his small human master.
The two twelve-year-old boys were well-known bullies at Kevin's middle school, and they recognized their frequent victim almost immediately.
"Isn't that little Kev?" The tallest boy, named Matt, said in a faux curious voice.
"Isn't that a big dog for a little runt like you to be walking?" The second boy, Dale, asked.
Thanks to Shaggy, Jared began to pick up subtle signals of aggression.
"Get out of the way," Kevin said and tried to shove his way between the bigger boys.
Matt caught his wrist, while Dale grabbed the leash.
"Come here, dumb dog," Dale said, tugging on the leash.
"Stop it," Kevin yelled.
The growl began as a low sound that increased in volume rapidly.
"Better cool it, Dale," Matt cautioned. "I don't think little Kev's doggie likes you very much."
Dale snorted in laughter. "Think so?" The boy jerked hard on the leash, surprising Kevin's transformed brother.
"Sit your shaggy butt," Dale said.
Shaggy growled again, but Dale responded with a louder, sterner voice. "SIT!"
Something kicked into motion and Kevin's canine brother found himself obeying the human.
"That's better," Dale said, laughing again. "Looks like your dog knows who is real top dog. "You ought to take lessons from him, Kev."
"Give him back," Kevin retorted, trying to reach for the leash in Dale's hand while twisting in Matt's grip.
"Can he do any other tricks?" Dale asked.
Matt scoffed. "Looks dumb, even for a dog," the bigger boy said as he increased his grasp on the smaller boy's wrist.
"Roll over," Dale tested, starting with something simple.
Jared resisted, but Shaggy's mind was conditioned to perform. Despite his efforts to combat the urge, Jared rolled over in the grass next to the sidewalk.
"Maybe not as dumb as his owner," Dale decided.
Matt looked unimpressed. "Let's go, Dale. This is getting boring."
Sensing the distraction, Kevin squirmed and kicked the bigger boy in the shin. Matt yelped in anger and surprise, but released his grip.
Shaggy's protective instincts kicked into gear, and he strained against the leash. Something snapped, and Shaggy felt himself surge toward Matt, who screamed and fled.
In shock, Dale flung the now useless leash aside.
It was the wrong move, since Shaggy whirled and advanced on him. He growled, baring teeth.
"Sit," Dale shouted. "I said sit."
The human had tried to hurt his owner. The human was bad.
Dale, seeing that the tables had turned, fled. Seeing he had forced the bad human into flight, Shaggy took after him.
Kevin, as surprised by anyone else by the turn of events, yelled for Shaggy to stop and pursued his brother-turned dog as "Shaggy" did his determined best to catch up with Dale, who now started screaming for help as he tried to get away from the enraged dog.