Dog Boy

21

I hope that this works for you. I'm sorry if it might feel a bit... degrading, but it should be able to get you clean.
- Mom

I looked over the bottle. It was green, and clearly labeled as dog shampoo, a happy running golden retriever on the front. I took note of a smaller text, that said it helped to prevent fleas.

Fleas. Gross. I hadn't considered with all my fur that fleas were now a possibility. No, I wasn't going to bristle at having to use pet shampoo, if the alternative was bugs crawling in my fur.

Upon getting in front of the shower's jets of water, I immediately realized why dogs hated baths. It felt horrible. The smell of wet dog permeated the bathroom, and I immediately was soaked through. I'd never liked the feeling of having wet clothes on, and this was like having a thick wet sweater over your whole body you couldn't take off. 

I sighed, and adjusted the temperature. After a while though, the warm water still was relaxing, and I got used to the annoying feeling of the drenched fur. Then the shampoo - it took forever, but eventually I got completely lathered up. In an odd way, it felt kind of satisfying scrubbing down into there, getting it all clean. I finally topped it all off by grabbing my normal shampoo, and getting at my island of normal human hair on top of my head. I rinsed off, and then turned off the water.

I was left there, sopping wet, fur drooping off my arms, legs, and tail, and some getting a bit into my eyes. It felt awful. I wanted it off. I vigorously shook back and forth, flinging the water off my body.

Huh.

It took a second to process it, but I'd just... acted like a dog. The impulse to do it had come out of nowhere. I let out a nervous chuckle, and kept shaking. Surprisingly, I was able to get a lot of the water off. I found myself laughing. It felt so... silly. But it worked. Looking around at water droplets and some bits of stray wet dog hair all over though, perhaps next time I'd do it before  I got out of the shower.

Drying off with a towel did not help as much as I would've liked. I did however, succeed in shedding fur all over it. I groaned, realizing that dog hair everywhere was going to be my life now - and that it probably would not be enjoyed by everyone else. 

I looked at myself in the mirror again. With the larger mirror, I could see my whole body. I still had the frame and muscular shapes of a normal person - but several select places were more canine like - it was like I was some living mr potato head that a kid had mixed up with a different one's features for fun - if that made any sense. I was just glad I wasn't walking on all fours, and that outside of my face, tail, hands, and feet, I wasn't too different. Except the fur of course.

The fur was getting dry, but it still felt too wet to put clothes on. This led to me getting out the hair dryer. I'd honestly never used one before, but it thankfully wasn't too difficult. It actually felt somewhat nice, feeling the warm air blow against my fur. As I was drying off, I also noticed a brush on the counter with another sticky note - saying that brushing regularly would hopefully reduce shedding.

By the time I was done drying off and giving myself a decent brushing, I fully realized how nice it felt to be clean. My fur smelled nice now, and was nice and fluffy, shining a clear golden brown.

Though it was new and unfamiliar, I couldn't deny that in that moment, I felt and looked good.

My fur still proved an annoyance when getting on clothes however, lumping and folding uncomfortably upward. Although I tried to smooth it back down, it soon became a useless task. I guessed it would just have to be something I'd need to learn to ignore.

Ending it off with combing my normal hair, and pulling my tail through the back of my pants, I smiled at that dog boy looking back at me, feeling satisfied. I looked weird, I looked goofy maybe with my big ears - but it was still me. And maybe those goofy big ears suited me.