The Good Pup

Well, me 'an my doggie had our first big fight,
So I drove around looking for that hound all night.
Saw a nearby pound, and it just seemed right.
So I pulled up.

Not a soul around but old Barkley:
You know, the mutt from TV's Sesame Street.
And he walked up and said, "What'll it be?"
And I said, "A good pup."

He didn't reach around for the pound's pass key.
He didn't sniff me for beer.
His blue eyes kinda went misty,
He said, "You sure can find that here!"

"Cos it's the first doggie kiss on your scruffy face.
Momma's all worried when the living room drapes
Are shred to pieces cause he wants to play.
Cos this one's a lively pup.
And it's the way that he looks with burrs on his coat,
And eatin' his supper from granny's gravy boat,
And digging a hole in the lawn he's tearin' up.
Yeah, man, that's a good pup."

He grabbed a ragged ear and he started to scratch.
An' I smiled and said, "Hey, my Tater does that!"
He'd itch and we'd talk and the hours passed,
Like old friends.

I saw a black an' white picture an' it caught my stare,
It was a grinnin' geezer scratching Barkley's hair.
He said, "That's my owner,"
Taken about a year after we met."

He said, "Spent five years in a pound
When my temper got to bitin',
But I've an owner three years now
Cause there's one thing stronger than fightin':

"Was the sight of him holdin' my first leash,
The way he loved it when I bared my teeth
And growled when his youngest boy, Earl,
Painted my toenails purple.
"It's a new tee-shirt saying, 'I love my dog,'
Being right here when I lick my paws,
And nuzzlin' that man when the Good Lord calls him up.
Yeah, that's a good pup!

He said, "He'll come home when he gets hungry.
When he whimpers, 'I'm sorry,' say: 'So am I.'
And look into those eyes of that big, dumb dog.
And drink it up.
Cos that's a good pup."