“Ew!” Ralph laughed, nearly falling over as he watched me in dog form. “Do you really have to lick yourself down there?”

I froze mid-lick and gave him a sheepish look. “I don’t know why, Ralph. I tried to stop, but it’s like...instinct or something. Dogs are just wired to clean, uh, weird places.” I hesitated, then added, “Besides, I always kinda wondered what it’d be like to—”

“Whoa! TMI, Andrew! Way too much information!” Ralph threw up his hands like he could block the words from hitting his ears.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, and his expression shifted to panic. “Oh no, I’m going to be late for school! And if Mom finds out you’re a dog, you know what’s gonna happen!”

“I hope she’s already gone,” I whined, my tail drooping.

“She’s never gone, Andrew,” Ralph groaned. “Mom doesn’t have a job, remember? She’s a stay-at-home wife. Dad’s the one who works.”

We crept toward the back door, each step careful and silent. Ralph’s mom was strict about her “no animals in the house” rule—a rule I was now breaking in the worst way possible. To make things worse, Ralph kept giggling, nearly blowing our cover.

“Ralph,” a voice called from the kitchen. “Aren’t you going to school?”

Ralph froze, eyes wide. “Uh, yeah, Mom! Just forgot something upstairs. Andrew’s helping me get it!”

“Andrew?” she called back, her footsteps growing louder. “You mean the dog? Andrew?”

Ralph bolted, dragging me out the door before she could catch us. Outside, he burst into laughter, clutching his sides.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, confused. Looking up at him was strange—normally, we were face-to-face, but now, everything seemed huge.

“You’d laugh too if you saw what I just did,” Ralph wheezed. “A tiny dog dragging his...um...giant accessories on the floor.”

I blinked, then looked down. Oh. That’s what he meant. “I wonder why, when I changed, my...uh...stuff didn’t shrink to match the rest of me?”

“I don’t know,” Ralph said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, “but it looks like your human...uh...gear got stuck in dog mode.”

I sighed. “I hope it fixes itself soon.”

We walked to my house, but every few steps, I found myself sniffing or peeing on something. Ralph groaned. “Andrew, do you have to sniff and pee on every single tree we pass?”

“Again—dog instincts,” I said, wagging my tail unapologetically. “I don’t make the rules.”

“Yes, but it looks ridiculous with—”

“Stop talking about it!” I snapped, cutting him off.

Finally, we made it home, where I saw Mom in the yard. My tail wagged furiously, and I barked with excitement.

“Thanks, Ralph, for bringing Andrew back,” Mom said, stroking my fur. “He’s been running off a lot lately.”

“No problem, Mrs. Johnson,” Ralph said with a grin.

“I just hope he hasn’t been out causing trouble,” she added, giving me a suspicious look. “You don’t think he’s gotten another dog pregnant, do you?”

“As far as I know, he hasn’t,” Ralph said quickly. “He’s been with me the whole time.”

“Well, I’ve been wondering if it’s time to, you know...” She made a vague gesture, and my ears perked up. What was she talking about?

I didn’t have time to dwell on it because she handed me a rib bone. I grabbed it eagerly and ran to the corner of the family room to munch on it. I wasn’t sure why I was so excited about a bone, but I chewed like it was the best thing I’d ever tasted.

Later that day, I heard Mom on the phone. “Yes, it’s really big... Uh-huh. You think I should? Okay, I’ll bring him in.”

I stopped listening. Whatever it was, it sounded boring. The bone was way more interesting.

But then, Mom appeared with a leash in her hand. Zelda, our other dog, bounced around excitedly, thinking it was her turn for a walk.

“Not now, Zelda,” Mom said, clipping the leash onto my collar. “Andrew needs this more.”

I wagged my tail. Was it walk time? Maybe we were going to the park! But instead of heading outside, Mom led me to the car. She locked me in a small carrier and placed it on the back seat. I whined, confused. Where were we going?

The car ride felt like forever. I tried to peek out through the tiny holes in the carrier, but I couldn’t see much. Finally, we stopped. Mom carried me inside a building, and the sound of barking dogs hit me like a wall. My ears flattened. This wasn’t the park. It was...a vet’s office.

“Don’t worry, Andrew,” Mom said, peering through the carrier door. “This is for your own good.”

What was for my own good? I whined louder as she handed me off to a man in a white coat.

“Hold still, Andrew,” the man said as he prepared a syringe. “This won’t hurt a bit.”

It did hurt, but I didn’t have long to think about it. Everything went fuzzy, and the world faded to black.

When I woke up, I felt...different. Groggy and sore, but also different. The man in white was talking to Mom.

“While we were neutering him, there was a bit of a complication,” he said. “Unfortunately, his...uh...male anatomy had to be removed entirely. We couldn’t reattach it. The nerves were too damaged. So, we wanted to ask—would you prefer to leave him as-is, or would you like us to make him female?”

Mom’s jaw dropped. “You can do that?”

“Yes,” the man said. “Some owners prefer it. We can also make sure she’s capable of having puppies, if that’s something you’d like.”

Mom hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “I think that would be best. We’ve always wanted puppies, and Zelda can’t have any. Just...take good care of her.”

“Of course, Mrs. Johnson,” the man said with a reassuring smile. “We’ll call you when she’s ready to go home.”