Roosting – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Lady Human, that big loud fancy bird outside is acting weird.

Sweetie: Yeah, it’s pretending to be a parakeet and is sitting on a stick.

Me: He is a rooster and he is roosting.

Doodlebug: How come we can’t do that?

Me: Your feet aren’t made the same way.

Doodlebug: How come?

Me: For so it seemed good to the Great Creator.

MoonCat: Flat sturdy ground beneath my delicate little feet. So it seems good to me, too.

©️ 2026. H.J.Hill. All Rights Reserved.

A Puddle of My Own – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, I found the most wonderful thing!

Me: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold up there, partner! Don’t bring that mud in here!

Doodlebug: Great globby mud feet, Sweetie!

Sweetie: Thanks! There’s a big ole puddle right in the middle of the yard! I can splash in it and stomp in it!

Doodlebug: I want one!

MoonCat: What else can I say but YUCK! But I always say YUCK! So there’s that.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

A Chicken Squawk Convention – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: There is a loud chicken meeting going on outside, Lady Human.

Me: Yeah, they’re holding some kind of convention.

Doodlebug: How come? I’ve talked to those chickens. They never say anything but ‘Squawk!’ and ‘Cluck!’

Sweetie: A lot like humans.

MoonCat: I could say something, but I won’t.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Heat Wave – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Why is it hot feeling today, Lady Human?

Me: We are having a mini heat wave.

Sweetie: What is the heat waving at? Not me, for sure.

Me: We’ll drop down about 45 degrees in a couple of days.

Doodlebug: It’s that stupid sky that can’t make up its mind again.

MoonCat: As long as it makes up its mind in my favor, I don’t mind a few waves here and there.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Speaking of Food – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Speaking of food…

Me: Were we speaking of food?

Sweetie: Always. Humans eat different stuff all the time. Our food always looks the same.

Doodlebug: And you never eat our food, which is good because more for us.

Sweetie: Yeah, we want some different food.

MoonCat: Don’t look over here. Mine is mine.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Rights.

Food, Yes…but No Sweaters! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Where’s our food? Food! Food! Food!

Me: It’s here. Y’all are food fixated.

Sweetie: Food is what it’s all about.

Me: No. Life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Do you know who said that?

Sweetie: Clothing? Like sweaters? Life IS more than sweaters. No sweaters! No sweaters! No sweaters!

Doodlebug: Food! Food! Food!

MoonCat: And so run the one-track bulldog minds.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Parakeet Tranquilizer – Conversations with the Big Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: What is that sound you are playing, Lady Human?

Me: It’s a Gregorian chant. Very old.

Doodlebug: The budgies are listening. They’ve gone quiet.

MoonCat: Maybe the Gregorians could chant more often.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Gut Reaction – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, that was a wonderful loud noise that just flew out of your mouth. Do it again!

Me: Sorry, that was a burp. Something I ate didn’t set well.

Doodlebug: We burp all the time. Here, let me show you.

Me: No need to make an effort.

Sweetie: Yeah, Doodle, you know it’s better when it comes out on its own.

MoonCat: Oh, don’t anybody hold back on my account. Better out than in, even if I have to throw a blanket over my nose.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Drawing a Blank – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, why are you staring at your paper? Your ink stick hasn’t scratched on it at all.

Me: I’m drawing a blank.

Doodlebug: A blank? What does that look like?

Me: Like nothing.

MoonCat: Good. You’re already finished then.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

When Trees Flap Their Wings – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Look! Look! The little trees are full of birds flapping their wings. The birds may carry them off.

Me: No, it just looks like bird wings flapping. It’s really all the leaves shaking in the wind.

Doodlebug: So trees flap their wings, too.

Sweetie: Trees are weird.

MoonCat: They aren’t the only ones.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Drumming – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Make it STOP! Some human is hitting one of those boxes with one of those sticks and I can’t sleep.

Doodlebug: They call it a ‘drum’ and a ‘drumstick’, but not the kind of drumstick that humans chew on. That is very different and smells wonderful.

Me: You are hearing heavy rain hitting an empty washtub outside. It will stop when it stops.

MoonCat: Or when someone like a human brings the washtub inside out of the rain. Just a suggestion.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Copycat – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, Doodlebug is trying to be me. I eat. He eats. I drink. He drinks. I sit down. He sits down.

Me: He’s copycatting you.

Sweetie: Make him stop.

Me: He’ll stop when he gets tired of the game.

Sweetie: Not fair. He’s not copycatting MoonCat and she’s a CAT!

MoonCat: I am one of a kind. Nobody copycats me.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

A Hangnail Hangup – Conversations with the Big Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Baby: Aaaccckkk!

Sweetie: What’s wrong with Baby, Lady Human?

Me: Nothing now. She was scratching at their curtain and a hangnail on one of her toes got stuck on the cloth. I pushed it out and she’s free.

Doodlebug: Oh, no! Toenails! Clippers! RUN, BABY THE BUDGIE! RUN!

Sweetie: Birds don’t run. They fly. Don’t you know anything? FLY, BABY THE BUDGIE! FLY!

MoonCat: Sit calmly, Baby the Budgie. Avoid all bulldog advice.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

A Decent Storm – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me: Okay, outside business time. They say we’re likely to get a decent storm tonight.

Sweetie: A decent storm is one with no rain, no icy sky rocks, no wind shaking the trees. That kind?

Me: Not exactly. Rain, for sure, and maybe some of the other stuff, too.

Doodlebug: So really an indecent storm.

MoonCat: The bulldog vocabulary is improving. And that’s about it.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Run between the Raindrops – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Rain, Lady Human…make it stop.

Me: I’m not sure I would if I could. We may need this later. And it’s not that heavy. Do what MoonCat says. Run between the raindrops.

Sweetie: I’m way too wide to do that.

MoonCat: So that’s the problem! And all this time, I thought it was because your short bulldog legs don’t get up to speed quick enough.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

 A Nice Big Bowl of Birdseed – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human, can I have…?

Me: No.

Sweetie: But I would like…

Me: No and double no.

Sweetie: You don’t even know what I was going to ask.

Me: You were eyeing the parakeets’ bowl of birdseed which thankfully you can’t reach and no, you may not eat birdseed.

Doodlebug: Just as a taste treat?

Me: Nope. You don’t see me eating it just as a treat, do you?

MoonCat: Not a good argument, ma’am. The list of things that dogs would eat though you wouldn’t would wrap around the world.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.