My Turn – Conversations with Sweetie and Doodlebug

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Get in line, Sweetie!

Sweetie: I am in line. The head of the line. My proper place.

Doodlebug: How can that be so when I am the King?

Sweetie: Good question! Maybe because you named yourself king without the proper credentials.

Me: I’m hearing the word ‘proper’ a lot.

Doodlebug: It’s my turn!! Sweetie would not know ‘proper’ if it flew up and bounced off her nose.

Me: I’d like to see what that would look like. What does ‘proper’ look like anyway?

Sweetie: It looks like ME having MY turn RIGHT NOW!

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Put a Sock in It! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Ahh-oooo! Ahh-ooo!

Me: Sweetie, what in the world are you howling at?

Sweetie: I’m telling the loud chicken to put a sock in it!

Me: I think you mean the rooster.

Sweetie: I think I mean the loud chicken that keeps yelling at the sky!

Me: Yeah, that’s a rooster. Crowing is his thing.

Doodlebug: Pretty soon, he’s going to find out what real crowing sounds like, bulldog-style!

Sweetie: Ahhh-oooo-oooo! Some roosters don’t know when to shut up!

MoonCat:  So says the crowing bulldog.

©️ 2025. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Ordinary Days – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: What special thing is happening today, Lady Human?

Me: Uh…nothing that I know of.

Doodlebug: But you are in charge! Haven’t you scheduled anything special?

Me: Uh…not that I know of. Oh, and that notion that I am in charge of everything that happens? I thought we had that straightened out. I’m not!

Sweetie: Well, that’s inconvenient.

Doodlebug: So what kind of day is this?

Me: I don’t know. An ordinary one? Maybe?

Sweetie: Boring!

Me: Boring can be good.

MoonCat: Ordinary? Boring? With no special bulldog nonsense? Sounds restful. Pardon me while I nap.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

KING! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: So what?

Me: Settle down, girl.

Sweetie: I mean it, Lady Human. How come he gets to run his big floppy mouth about being king, whatever that means.

Me: Everybody’s got opinions.

Doodlebug: My being King is not an opinion, ma’am. It’s fact!

Me: Okay, what does it mean to be a king?

Doodlebug: Well…just what it says. A king is…A king gets to…

Sweetie: You see! He doesn’t even know. Well, guess what? I’m the King, too! So there!

MoonCat: So what?

Me: I think we’re going to have to ponder this a little more.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All RightsvReserved.

A Toe Stompin’ Good Time – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me: Owwww!

Sweetie: Lady Human, what is all that noise?

Me: You’re standing on my foot!

Sweetie: Oh, big deal!

Me: Yeah, big deal! You’re not exactly a featherweight.

Doodlebug: Here! Let me try. See if I’m a featherweight.

Me: Stop! I already know. You’re not.

MoonCat: And everybody wonders why I keep my paws tucked up under me all the time. Simple self defense.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Grilling Days – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. What is that wonderful aroma floating on the air? Wait! I know!

Sweetie: No! I know it first! It’s meat cooking outside. It’s a grilling day! And about time, too!

Me: Well, someone is grilling, but it’s not us.

Sweetie: Whatever do you mean, Lady Human? Why in the world not?

Me: Barbecue grilling isn’t the only grilling going on outside today. Or didn’t you notice the heat?

MoonCat: Just keep the icy air box going, ma’am, and bring on the nice cold tunafish.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Forward! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Those strange humans are back on our street, Lady Human!

Sweetie: Yeah, listen to all that noise! Let’s go!

Doodlebug: Yeah, let’s go chase ’em off!

Sweetie: BULLDOG CHARGE!

Me: Hold on just a second! Those are the trash collector people. The noise is from their big trucks. You don’t want to chase them off!

Sweetie: Who told them they could come snatch our trash away?

Doodlebug: Yeah! We may need that stuff someday…sometime…maybe.

Sweetie: If it doesn’t smell too bad. Save the garbage!

MoonCat: I think I’ll just find a nice out of the way spot where no one will see me. Best way to avoid nonsense.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Head Rest – Conversations with Sweetie

Posted on by H.J. Hill

Me: Sweetie, what are you doing?

Sweetie: Just stay seated where you are, Lady Human.

Me: You’re nudging my leg over.

Sweetie: Yes, it’s almost perfect. There. The perfect head rest. Just the way I like it.

Me: You might want to ask me first next time. There are things I need to get up to do.

Sweetie: Never you mind about all that, ma’am. Being my head rest is the only job you have for now.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Grumble Dogs – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Errrrrr…

Sweetie: Errrrrr yourself! My errrrrr is better than your errrrrr. You just sound like wah, wah, wah…

Doodlebug: Says who?

Sweetie: Says ME, that’s WHO!

Me: What’s all the noise about?

MoonCat: Nothing important enough to wake me from my nap, that’s what!

Sweetie: Where’s my snack? And where has the sun gone? How can I sunbathe without a sun to bathe in?

Doodlebug: And when it going to stop raining? Stupid sky!

Me: Anything else y’all want to complain about? No, forget I said that.

Sweetie: As a matter of fact…

Doodlebug: Don’t get me started.

Me: Too late for that apparently.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Who Is Throwing Ice Cubes? – Conversations with Doodlebug and Sweetie

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. The sky is screaming again, Lady Human.

Me: Stay calm and stay inside, y’all. That’s just the storm siren.

Sweetie: Just? Just?

Me: We’re alright.

Sweetie: The sky is throwing ice cubes at us! Is that alright? What is it trying to do? Make iced tea?

Me: That’s hail. It’s one reason we have a roof and walls.

Doodlebug: What are the other reasons? What else is the sky plotting to chunk at us?

Sweetie: I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the humans in charge of weather. Whoever that is, they are not doing a good job!

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Everything Not Nailed Down – Conversations with the Big Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: The wind, Lady Human! The wind.

Me: Yeah, when I was a kid, we used to say that winds like this were likely to carry off anything not nailed down.

Doodlebug: It’s about to carry me off! Nail me down!

Bud: Nail. Nail.

Me: Don’t worry. Y’all are safe inside.

MoonCat: Good. Fussing time is naptime for me. Good night.

Sweetie:  Nail me down, Lady Human, so I don’t blow away! I’m not that chubby! Really I’m not!

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Sweater Weather – Again – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me: Hey, y’all. It’s still pretty chilly. Here, Sweetie, try on this sweater I crocheted. Doodle, I have some more sweaters you can try…

Doodlebug: Nope.

Me: Well, go ahead and try this one, Sweetie.

Sweetie: Nope.

Me: It’s plenty big and nice and warm…

Sweetie: Nope.

Me: Okay, Doodlebug. You go ahead and…

Doodlebug: Noooooo.

Me: Come on, y’all.

Sweetie: Let me spell this like the humans do. NO!

Me: In that case, MoonCat…

MoonCat: Don’t even look in my direction.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

The Earth under Our Feet – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Look! Look! See!

Me: See what? Where?

Sweetie: The ground! It’s back! Right where it belongs.

Me: You mean the snow is pretty much gone.

Sweetie: And the earth has returned.

MoonCat: Oh my! Bulldogs. I give up.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Cold, White, Wet, and Weird! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Lady Human! Help! It is awful! And cold! And white! And wet! And weird! And it’s falling from the sky!

Me: It’s snow.

Doodlebug: Why?

Me: Conditions just got right and there it is. Snow.

Sweetie: Make it stop.

Me: It’ll do that soon enough on it’s own.

Sweetie: NO! NOW!

MoonCat: Calm down, silly bully. Do what sane animals like cats do. Take a nap.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

COLD! – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me: You look disgruntled, boy.

Doodlebug: If disgruntled is the human word for COLD, then I am DISGRUNTLED!

Sweetie: It’s just another case of the humans not managing things very well.

MoonCat: Oh, dogs, dogs, dogs. Get snuggled down in your blankets and cushions. Tuck your chunky bulldog paws under you. Then bury your gigantic noses in a pillow. Simply compensate for human mismanagement

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

It’s Rude to Stare – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: Don’t look now, but the beady eyed birds are staring.

Doodlebug: At what?

Sweetie: I said don’t look!

Me: Why are you all agitated?

Doodlebug: Sweetie thinks the little budgies are staring at us.

Me: Well, apparently they are.

Sweetie: They’re invading our space with their eyeballs.

MoonCat: I don’t mind. When someone stares at me, it just means that they’re admitting the truth. I’m good to look at.

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Thinking – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: How come you’re so quiet, Lady Human?

Me: I’m just thinking.

Doodlebug: Uh-oh.

MoonCat: A human thinking. Never a good thing. Hide!

Me: No, nothing bad. It’s just another holiday. New Year’s.

Sweetie: Where is its tree?

Me: New Year’s doesn’t get its own tree.

Doodlebug: Poor New Year’s. What does it get?

Me: Some people party. Some people cook a bunch of food. Some people shoot off fireworks. And some people like me are just quiet and think a lot. About the past. About the future.

Sweetie: About the food? Where are those food people? Let’s go New Year with them!

Copyright 2024. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Why is There a Tree in Our House? – Conversations with Doodlebug and Sweetie

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. Lady Human, someone has made a mistake and brought a dead tree into our house.

Sweetie: No, they did it on purpose. They do this all the time.

Me: Not really. Just once a year. It’s Christmas.

Doodlebug: Did you bring it inside so the little birds could play on it?

Sweetie: Did you bring it in so it wouldn’t get wet and cold?

Me: No, it’s a traditional decoration for Christmas. You’ve seen them before. Not a big deal.

Sweetie: Uh, a tree in our house? Looks like a big deal to me.

Doodlebug: So if it keeps raining, can I just hike my leg and…

Me and Sweetie: NO!

Copyright 2024 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.