Snappy, the biting dog
Snappy is a really cheeky dog. Usually he is playful, jumpy and flattering, but still, there is a big problem with him. Since he started to go to the dog nursery school, he bites everybody he doesn’t like, with that one sharp teeth he has.
He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He didn’t even bite before.
The problems began when he started to go to the nursery school. One day, in the corner, he noticed a rubber-duck, which he liked very much. Just when he went over to sniff it, Becky, the “monster” of the school, appeared and bit Snappy’s bottom. The little dog was very frightened at first, he didn’t know why he was bit, but then he drew the conclusion, that here this is how things go. From there on, he bit too, if he wanted something very much.
He bit Dandelion, the poodle girl, while she was drinking, because Snappy was thirsty too, but he couldn’t get to the water bowl.
He bit Scratchy, the terrier, when he dug out the bone Snappy had buried the day before. He didn’t care that these were gnawed bones.
He bit when he was sleepy, and he bit when he wasn’t.
He bit when he was hungry, and he bit when he wasn’t.
He bit when he was sad, and he bit when he wasn’t.
And he bit when he was angry, and he bit when he wasn’t.
Then he went to kindergarten, but unfortunately, things went on the same way. Snappy always bit those who he was mad at. However, in the kindergarten there was a dachshund girl, called Gentle, who Snappy liked very much, and so he started to follow her everywhere. But gentle wasn’t happy about this and she always hid from Snappy.
The little puppy was very sad because of this, because he really wanted the dachshund to be his friend. But the more she hid from him, the sadder he became.
One morning it happened that Snappy managed to cut in the way of Gentle, before she could hid anywhere. Snappy grabbed the opportunity and asked why she doesn’t want to be his friend.
“Hello. Why are you always hiding from me?”
“Because I’m scared of you” answered Gentle.
“From me? But I never hurt anyone” said Snappy, surprised.
“Then why did you bit Danny the day before?” asked the puppy girl.
“Oh, that was different. I was angry with him, because he ate from my lunch” explained Snappy.
“And Crumbles yesterday?” went on Gentle.
“I was angry with him too, because he barked loudly and I woke up because of it.”
“And the postman? You bit him too last week, remember?”
Snappy started to feel uneasy, because he realised, that he really does bite everyone, who he is angry with. And as he looked at Gentle, whose friend he wanted to be very much, he started to feel ashamed.
“You are right” he said, looking down at the ground “I really was very rude with them. I don’t even know how to make it right.”
“First, apologise to everyone. Then, promise that you will never bite anyone ever again, even if you are angry” said Gentle and then she turned around and went away.
It took a week for Snappy to apologise from everyone, and another two weeks to prove that he will never hurt anyone again. When all this was done, and Gentle wasn’t afraid of him anymore, they became friends.
This is the story of how Snappy, the biting dog became the friendly puppy.
Are you angry too, sometimes?
What do you do when you are angry?
And what do you do when you hurt someone?