Young Writers Society

Tugga is a dog who's owner that he refers to as "master" goes off to war and takes him with him.
He becomes one of those pet mascots for the people who are at war. His role is somewhat irrelevant, but he more or less tells the story of the war. It is told through the eyes of the dog, in first person, but a lot of the things the dog describes differently, due to him being a dog, and he will also seem almost innocent when it comes to the war when all he thinks about is food and things like that. I don't really know, but I've been wanting to write something like this for a while.

I reckon that's a great idea, very interesting, it would put a lighter, less sad veiw on war

Actually, I doubt that, because I plan on killing someone off, perhaps even the dog. Maybe the dog will sacrifice himself for his master.

That sounds pretty cool. I'd read it as I love animals and war stories. It sounds like it could be pretty interesting because dogs are usually quite sympathetic towards everyone, but they'd still die for their friends.
One thing I might recommend is that you don't call the owner "master", because that sounds more formal and more like something to do with slavery than a close partnership, you know?
As a side note, I remember going to this thing called "The Festival of History" in England and they had an exhibit about dogs who came with their masters during the war and eventually became war heroes. It was fascinating.

Well, just wondering, do you have any other names instead of "master" that I should use? Should I perhaps use the mans actual name, or perhaps a name that the dog associates with him? I'm not really sure. Anyone?

Have you read Wolf Brother? In that book, the perspective is split, so that some scenes are written from the POV of a wolf cub. The cub refers to his human friend as Tall Tailless, quite obviously on account of him being large comparitive to a wolf and, well, having no tail. So the name could be done on appearance, like that.

You could even just refer to the human as Human. I don't think a dog, having had two myself, thinks of their master as a "master" at all. My Labrador knows how to push all our buttons when she wants to be fed or have a walk, so you could talk about the man as "Feeder" or "Walker", in terms of the purpose he serves in the dog's eyes.

Sometimes a dog will think of their owner as the pack leader, though, so you could base your name off that. There are lots of possibilities; it depends on how your dog views its owner.

Sounds like a good idea, just please please please don't kill the dog xD

It reminds me of Winnipeg the Bear for some reason. I love her story. It sounds like a very good idea to me

Khe Sahn wrote:Well, just wondering, do you have any other names instead of "master" that I should use? Should I perhaps use the mans actual name, or perhaps a name that the dog associates with him? I'm not really sure. Anyone?

"Daddy" or "dad," maybe. At least that's what my parents refer to themselves when they talk to our pets. I've read/watched things narrated by dogs where they call their owners their "humans" the same way a person would refer to their pet as their dog, and I thought that was pretty cute. It could also be funny if the dog made up his own name for his owner the same way we do for our pets, but maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. XD If it was me, his owner would probably get a name that's based on what he smells like or something, since we like to name our animals by their characteristics sometimes, haha. He could also call him by his name, but to me that would be removing the fact that he's a dog and not a human.

I think it could be interesting... but I would do some research on whatever war you're planning on doing it on. Also I wouldn't flinch back from anything horrible, personally, since that's what war is. I can't imagine reading a completely fluffy war story, personally.

I have a bit more to add now. I've established four different endings I could use.
1. The dog drags his injured owner to safety. This one is the kind of happy ending I was trying to avoid. And they lived happily ever after *shudders*.
2. The dog takes a bullet for his owner, thus saving the owner's life and killing the dog, so that the reader doesn't feel too bad.
3. The dog and owner die together. This is the general war story ending, and I thought it would reflect a more truthful view on war. Pointless deaths.
4. The owner dies, but the dog doesn't. In the final chapter, the dog could have a great big meaningful reflection of war, and of his owner.

I think that 2 and 4 are good. 1 is too... yeah, happy ever after. 3 is good, very profound, but you have to admit, it's really bleak. So yeah, 2 and 4 sound really good.

Hm...
Having the dog take the bullet so the owner can live might not work out well. The enemy wants to kill the opposing force, right? It's his job to do so. He'd get in a lot of trouble for not killing an enemy soldier when he had the chance. So what's stopping him from shooting the dog, re-aiming, and wasting just one more round of ammo to kill the owner? Nothing.

I think I like 3 or 4 the best. But more likely 3.

@Vanadis: I was thinking like a situation where it would be a single shot. For instance, they might think all of the enemies are dead or whatever, but one man is still ever so slightly alive, you know? And he takes aim and shoots at the owner, with a pistol, and the dog leaps out and takes the bullet. The owner and the others kill the guy before he can do anything else. It's probably not great, but that's only an example of what I may do for 3.

I was thinking... dogs and other creatures don't tend to think in words.
So you could use a sort of symbol or pictograph in place of a name.

It sounds adorably cute! I love stories like this! Just remember to do a lot of research... you want the war to come out by being as subtle as you can.