By Dennis Ogu

Originally, the dog never cared about bones; he ate his normal food and went about his business of protecting the house against invaders.

However, in his usual eating habit, he never shared his food with any of the other domestic animals. He always ate alone keeping an eye on any one of them that would come close around where he ate .

Goat, fowl, sheep and other domestic animals describe him as greedy and self-centered. The most spectacular part was that even when hen (with her children) would want to go and pick the left over from where he ate, he would ferociously pounce on her and pull off some of her feathers, sometimes attempting to break her wings or legs.

If the goats could stand the dog sometimes with their horns, the hen would have no option than to shout and run away for her dear life (even forgetting her children behind) as her beak would be too weak to use as an instrument of attack on the dog.

But the hen would not continue to suffer like this in the hands of this brute. She can’t keep quiet. She had to act fast to weaken him and stop this bullying.

The Dog And The Bone (2)

So, one day, the hen in her usual manner of ranting challenged the dog that he has no power beyond the household; that he is powerless outside and only shows his strength on them who are innocent and unarmed civilians in the house; that if he really wanted to prove his mettle, he should go out and compete with the lions, tigers and leopards who rule the jungle.

Was he not the same fellow who bragged that those were his mates when they were young? Why was it that he couldn’t go out and rub shoulders with them? Why is it that he can’t go out to the jungle and come home with some kills? Goat and sheep were there watching dog to hear his response.

Of course, dog knew very well that any day he entered the jungle, he would not come home alive if at all his remains would be seen anywhere. Even ordinary civet and hyena would devour him and use his meat for their dinner. So, in order to maintain his respect and protect himself from being despised, he came up with another lie.

The Dog And The Bone (3)

Dog told hen, his verbal assailant, and those who cared to listen that his dentition is too strong to join the likes of lion to eat ordinary flesh; that if he had wanted to eat raw flesh, he would have started with them at home.

Why would he have to travel to the jungle just to eat flesh when he had those that would provide him with it at home? That it was those with weak dentition that ate flesh; that his own dentition was structured to eat bones. He challenged them to go to the jungle to find out if lion and his likes had ever eaten the bone of those they killed.

His listeners were awe-struck. They would not take the risk of going anywhere to verify, but they had to test his dental strength to know if he was saying the truth. So, goat didn’t waste time in going to the backyard to bring a piece of bone that was dropped there in the morning. Dog crushed it within minutes; but what his admirers didn’t know was that it was brisket bone.

Next, they brought the bone of stockfish with spines left and right thinking it would choke him, but he carefully chewed it and swallowed it. When they brought a harder  bone, he knew from the appearance that it was hard and told them he would eat it after his dinner. He told them to keep it at the backyard, but he later went there to cover it with sand and told them he had eaten it.

So, whenever they gave him any piece of bone that was too strong for him, he would either lie to them that he needed to eat before crushing any bone or that he had eaten enough food and would eat the bone later. The next thing, he would go and hide it at the backyard.

Whenever he saw that no one was watching, he would go and bury it in the soil or even throw it away and later tell them that he had eaten it, or may be in their naivety they would believe that he had eaten it even without being told.

But since then, dog has not stopped eating bone, not that he enjoys eating it but to prove to his accusers and admirers that he has strong dentition.