Copyright

First published in Great Britain by Collins in 2001

Collins

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Text copyright © Jean Ure 2001

Illustrations by Maggie Ling 2001

Jean Ure and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as author and illustrator of the work.

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Source ISBN: 9780006755104

Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2014 ISBN: 9780008116729

Version: 2014-12-16

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Keep Reading

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

We are the dogs of Munchy Flats. We live here, with our people.

I am Buster, and I am the boss dog! I was here first.

Well, first after the cats. There are two cats in this house. They are called Whiskers and Panda. They are very small, and soft, and furry. Our people call them the Furry Purries. But they have very sharp pins hidden in their paws.

Dogs have to beware of a cat’s pins. Sometimes they use them to prrrrink! at us as we walk by. And then they run off with their tails in the air, and we chase them! Round the house, up the stairs. Into the bedroom, on to the beds.

We love a good chase!

We never hurt them. Sometimes I might sit on one – by mistake, of course! But we are all the best of friends. And we all have a story to tell, about how we came to be here.

This one is Bella’s.

Bella came from a very posh family. Both her mother and her father were pedigrees, which means that Bella is a pedigree, too. Her real name is Princess Isadora of Bude. She has papers to prove it!

Me, I’m just a mongrel. Some people say that mongrels are the best. Naturally, I agree with them! But Bella was always very proud of being a pedigree. She admits, now, that she was rather boastful. She used to tell all the dogs she met, “I’m a pedigree.” Of course, some of them were pedigrees, too, but they didn’t go round boasting about it.

Bella was born into what is called ‘the lap of luxury’. Her mother was a top show dog who had won many prizes. All her pups were worth a great deal of money. Only rich people could afford to buy a pup like Bella.

Soon after she was born, an elderly lady came to the house. She looked at the puppies – two boys and three girls – and out of them all, she chose Bella!

“She thought I was just so adorable,” says Bella. “She couldn’t resist me!”

Even now, you see, Bella can’t help being just a little bit vain of the way she looks. It is true that she is very pretty, with her little round face and her big melting eyes. But she doesn’t have to keep telling us! And I don’t think she ought to look in the mirror quite as often as she does.

As soon as she was big enough to leave her mother, Bella went to live in her new home with the elderly lady. The lady’s name was Mrs Jessop, and she called Bella her little princess. She also called her Sweetykins and Booboos; and sometimes Honeybun. When Bella tells us this we all go “Bluurgh!” and pretend to be sick. Bella can’t understand it. I think, secretly, she quite enjoyed being called those silly names.

She also enjoyed being treated like a little princess! She had her own special eating bowl and her own special drinking bowl, with her name printed on them. She had her own special towels and her own special cushion (also with her name printed on them). Her top knot was tied with a red ribbon, and her collar was studded with jewels.

After every meal, Mrs Jessop brushed Bella’s teeth with a special brush, and every day she combed her coat with a special comb. Bella was very proud of her coat. It was always silky and shiny. It never had snaggly bits or tangles.

Twice a day she went for a gentle stroll round the park. She was allowed to talk to other dogs, but she wasn’t allowed to get dirty. If it was cold she wore a special coat, and if it was raining she only walked round the block.

In the evening, Bella sat on Mrs Jessop’s lap while she watched television, and at night she slept in Mrs Jessop’s bed, under the duvet.

She only ever had the best to eat. Breast of chicken and fillet steak. Steamed fish or a poached egg. She never had bones, or common dog biscuits.

“Only the best for Booboos!” That is what Mrs Jessop used to say.

“Only the best, because Booboos is special. Aren’t you, my little sweetykins? My little Honeybun? A very special girly! And kissy, kissy, kissy! How her mummy loves her!”

I’m afraid I have to say that Bella was a very spoilt little dog.

Mrs Jessop had a daughter, whose name was Sophie. Miss Sophie is what Bella calls her. Sometimes Bella and Mrs Jessop would get into Mrs Jessop’s car and drive across town to visit her. Miss Sophie didn’t really like Mrs Jessop bringing Bella, because she had two dogs of her own. Bella and Miss Sophie’s dogs didn’t get on too well.

The truth was, Miss Sophie’s dogs couldn’t stand the way that Bella kept boasting, and looking at herself in the mirror.

“Of course, I’m a pedigree,” she would say, splaying out a paw to show her little pink nails, all polished and pearly. “You’re not pedigrees, are you?”

She knew very well that they weren’t!

“They were just ordinary mongrels,” she says. And then she remembers her manners, and claps a paw to her mouth.

“There is nothing ordinary about a mongrel,” I tell her.

At that, Bella looks ashamed of herself and assures me that she didn’t mean to be rude.

I tell her that she really must stop saying these things. She hangs her head and admits that in the old days she said them all the time. No wonder Miss Sophie’s dogs didn’t like her.

Miss Sophie’s dogs were called Millie and Kim. Kim was tall and scruffy, like a greyhound with long hair. Millie was small and spotted, with ears that stuck out sideways.