Backyard Tales & Beyond (the Fence) Presents... The Dog, The Cat, and the Chicken

Mirror, mirror on the wall who's man's best friend of them all?

"Is that a question or a joke?"says Goddy The Dog. "Granting it's a question, why ask the mirror? Ask men. I'm man's best friend. If that happens to be a joke, sorry, but I don't think I will waggle my tail at it. Come on.."

Tikky The Cat, licking her paws, retorts "Mister, mirror or no mirror, we are man's new best friend."

Pointing her newly cleaned right paw to doggy she adds " No offense but you're history. According to research, men and women prefer waking up in the morning with their cats. Listen, 46 percent of the respondents wants us to be the first thing they see in the morning, while only a meager 26 percent wants to see that dog face of yours ."

"Research, research, always referring to research. I mean, why don't you look back at history, men and dogs have been partners for thousands of years." Goddy qualifies.

"History? Haven't I told you, You're history!" Tikky hastily reminds Goddy.

Goddy sees in his mind hundreds of cats in different colors and sizes all echoing Tikky's last words. He is about to give Tikky a thundering growl, when a stream of wind brings him back to his dog senses. Just behind him is Checky The Chicken flapping her wings.

"Sorry guys, but what is research? Is it the same as.." she makes a double-scratch, her two feet brush the ground one after the other, all in the split of a second. No reply. Goddy is busy brushing his rib cage with his hind leg while Tikky does finishing licks on her paws.

"Anyway, I think chickens are going to be the next big thing." Checky continues. Both dog and cat pause and give Checky a cold stare.

"Well," Checky arranges her wings, "Both of you may be barking at the wrong tree,"

"Correction, I don't bark and never will." Kitty quips.

Checky continues "Men find us cute and funny; ever heard of the "Backyard Poultry" magazine? It closed in the 1980s but has been resurrected lately because of our increasing popularity as pets. There is this guy from Iowa named Bud Wood. He owns a hatchery business and is amazed at the number of calls he's gotten form urban residents who wanted chickens in their homes. His hatchery ships 2 million chicks a year to various customers."

"Cool." Goddy remarks.

Kitty who is now sitting Lion-King-style comments "The last time I checked, men wanted you and your eggs for dinner." Then she looks at Checky - beak to claw.

Next on Backyard Tales: Dolly the Cloned Sheep Visits the Backyard.