"Moochie's Story"

Hi, my name is Moochie, and I'm a dog...not a puppy. I live with the Tucker family. I've got them trained pretty well.

I didn't always live with the Tuckers. I was born a few blocks away, at what used to be the Franklin's house.

Me and my brothers and sisters were born just a couple months before the Franklins were moving to New York City. They put an ad in the newspaper. "Free Puppies. Mother terrier mix. Father unknown. If you want one, come get one."

People kept stopping by to look at us, and I kept trying to play with them, show them how charming I am, how much fun I can be. You know, I'd chew on their shoelaces, run between their legs, try to climb their pants, show them how I can rip paper.all that fun stuff.

Everybody saw that I was cute, but they kept saying I'd be too much trouble, that I was too feisty, too messy. Soon, all my brothers and sisters were gone, and it was just me and Mom. Then, someone came and took Mom.

A couple days later, the moving trucks started showing up. And I overheard Mr. Franklin say he was taking me to the pound because there was no way he was taking a dog to New York City.

So, I had to find a new home.and quick.

I snuck out the back door, crawled under the fence, and ran down the block, until I got to the park. Once I got there, I saw this boy playing ball with some of his friends. He looked like a nice enough kid, so, I ran over to him and started tugging on his shoestrings to get his attention.

At first, Billy tried to get me to go away. He said he was too busy to play with a dog, but my charm and persistence paid off. He started to play with me, and he took me home to meet his mom.

I could tell right away that Mrs. Tucker was the one I had to win over in order to stay with Billy and his family. And I really wanted to stay with them; they were super nice and had really cool home. So, once again, I turned on the charm, and she melted like butter. She gave me lots of hugs and kisses, and a big dish of cold water.

When Billy's dad came home, he kept saying that I'd have to go back to my family. He said that he didn't want a dog living in his house, mooching food, and chewing on shoes.

Billy's mom just laughed. I guess she thinks that Mr. Tucker is funny.

Billy and his mom took my picture and made a bunch of posters with my photo on them. They stuck these posters up all over the town.

After a few days of no one calling, Billy's mom said I could stay with them. Mr. Tucker grumbled about it at first, but I think it was all a big show. He's really just a big softy who - like everyone else -can't resist my charm. When no one else is around, he gives lots of yummy treats and belly rubs.

Once they decided to let me stay, Billy and his mom went out and got me a cool red collar, a dog license, two nice bowls for my food and water, some toys, plus this great bone-shaped tag with my name on it - Moochie.