The Family Dog

She said she wanted a dog... she became the dog instead.

Ben’s relationship with his girlfriend Jessie had been tense for days. They had recently moved in together, and it seemed like Jessie was missing something. Ever since she got it in her head that she wanted a dog, she’d refused to let it go – and Ben had just about enough.

Jessie didn’t want to talk about anything else – every conversation would revolve around getting a dog, and thus devolve into a petty argument between the two.

Ben was distraught – he didn’t want to break up with her, but knew that two people and a dog were too much to maintain on his current salary. Jessie was a student and too busy with schoolwork to get a job – Ben didn’t care and was happy to provide for her, but this meant there was no room for a third ‘roommate’.

By now, the website Ben would end up finding should be familiar to you – Cameron, Danielle, and Emma have all visited it and used one of the products it sells – but of course, it was new to him.

He’d expressed his distress about his situation with his girlfriend online, only to be sent a message by another user. The stranger’s message read, “This collar will permanently solve the dispute between the two of you.”

Ben was initially hesitant to visit the link, fearing it might contain a virus, but curiosity got the better of him.

‘Dog collar choker’, the website read. Not reading the rest, Ben chuckled. “She might appreciate the joke,” he said, immediately proceeding to order the choker.

It was red, resembling a dog’s collar in slightly smaller design. There was an option to have a little plaque engraved with a name, and Ben opted to have it done.

A day later, the package arrived – surprisingly fast. Ben grinned, and took the package to his girlfriend without opening it.

“Jessie?” he called; his girlfriend popped her head out of the bedroom, where she’d been studying.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I have a present for you.” Ben motioned with the package, giving it a slight shake. Jessie’s eyes lit up.

“Oh!” she shouted. “Coming!”

Ben placed the package on the coffee table as Jessie sat down on the couch.

“Close your eyes,” Ben said, beginning to fiddle with the packing tape. “I want to put it on you.”

Jessie smiled nervously – had he bought her a necklace? She couldn’t wait to run to the bathroom and see how it looked. No – wait, she had her phone with her. She’d check with her selfie camera.

She heard the tearing of tape and cardboard, and some rustling of paper. She could hear Ben approach her, and the clinking of metal as she felt Ben bend over her from behind.

He placed something around her neck, but she could tell it wasn’t a necklace.

“A… choker?” Jessie mumbled as Ben stood upright, and she quickly reached for her phone to see her boyfriend’s gift.

“Yeah,” Ben chuckled. “I hope you like it.”

Jessie raised an eyebrow as she looked at the choker. It was red leather, with a gold-coloured little plaque attached.

It looked like…

“A dog collar?” she dropped her phone and turned as red as the collar, jumping up off the couch to scold her boyfriend. “Are you out of your mind? Do you think this is funny?”

Ben chuckled. “Geez, Jess,” he said. “You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.” He then burst out laughing, clearly content with his own joke.

Jessie growled. “You… stupid…”

She blinked. She’d formulated a sentence in her head just now, but suddenly forgot the words. Her eyes turned back up towards her boyfriend, now filled with concern.

Ben picked up on this. “Jess? What’s wrong?”

Jessie shook her head. Once again, she failed to verbalize her thoughts. She felt… itchy. Her butt was itchy.

She reached down, feeling a strange bulge just above her butt. Moving her hand inside her pants to feel the bulge, she felt something… fuzzy.

Her eyes grew wide with concern, and she grabbed the fuzzy ‘thing’ with full force; Jessie let out a startled yelp as she pulled the tail that was now growing out of her back out of her pants.

“What the fuck?” Ben yelled. “Is that-”

It was a tail, covered in golden fur, rapidly growing longer and furrier. Ben’s eyes widened as he locked eyes with his girlfriend.

“The collar,” he mumbled. “Quick- take it off!”

Jessie nodded, quickly reaching for the collar’s buckle. She fiddled with it, but her fingers were quickly refusing to cooperate as they stiffened and began to shorten into stumps.

She whimpered, desperately motioning for her boyfriend to help – Jessie began to feel unstable on her feet, and quickly lost her balance. Ben ducked forward to catch her, proceeding to fiddle with the collar’s buckle in his girlfriend’s stead.

By now, toe pads had began appearing on her foot soles, which were also shrinking. Fur was poking from underneath her shirt, which had become significantly tighter as her breasts had grown.

By the time Ben had removed the collar, it was much too late for Jessie to turn back – her ears had grown longer, hairier, and were beginning to droop forward like the ears of the golden retriever she was becoming.

She whined, pawing with her ever-changing hands at the shirt that low looked uncomfortably tight – Ben helped her take it off before it would become impossible to do so.

Ben raised an eyebrow as he looked at his girlfriend’s torso – six boobs were staring back at him. The original two now several cup sizes larger, and the four below that slightly smaller. Fur was growing in rapidly, making them slightly less visible. But the fact that she wasn’t a purebred golden was obvious – the first two still looked ever so slightly humanoid.

By now, the poor girl’s transformation was nearly complete – her face had started to lengthen, and her nose was turning dark and wet – new teeth grew in as her old ones fell out.  Her once long, brown hair had turned the same colour as her new fur coat, blending in with it perfectly as her neck and shoulders repositioned themselves in her new skeletal structure.

Her eyes remained the same, human, and most importantly – angry.

She growled at him, snapping at his fingers to get him off her – Ben quickly backed off to avoid losing an appendage.

“…Geez,” he said. “I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t know this would happen, either…”

Jessie, now properly on all fours, fully looking like a golden retriever, stared at him. Ben looked at the collar in his hand, and slowly began moving towards her.

“…But we might as well make the best out of this for now.”

He placed the collar back around her neck, not even being surprised that it somehow fit perfectly. As soon as the collar buckled, Jessie’s transformation completed.

She blinked, her human irises replacing themselves with those of a proper pup, her human thoughts and emotions forgotten.

Jessie jumped into her new owner’s arms, greeting him with a happy lick. Seems like they both got what they wanted – Jessie got the dog she wanted so badly, and Ben got to stay together with Jessie and the dog at the same time.

Perhaps not in the way he’d imagined… But maybe someday in the future, Ben would find another girl to marry. For now, he’d gained a brand new best friend.