Walking my master (Continuation of "A Walk" and "Pet Dog")

I had awakened with the daylight filtering through the blinds of the room. I looked at the floor, focusing my gaze, and crawled out on all fours from the cushioned corner that I had called my bed for months. I walked over to my owner's bed and climbed onto it. Normally, I would wake him up by licking the fingers of his hand that always hung over the side of the bed, or the toes if they escaped under the covers at night. But today was a special day. As a dog, I shouldn't have a sense of time or remember dates, but outside my owner's house, I was an ordinary boy with a job, visiting my family, and a loving boyfriend with whom I went hiking on weekends. So it was inevitable for me to remember things like that. The guy in front of me, at least in this place I call home, has been my owner for a year now, and for this special occasion, I woke him up with joyful licks on his face.

My owner woke up in a similarly cheerful mood that morning. He took a shower while I waited impatiently outside the bathroom door. Normally, he bathes me every morning before we go out to do my human activities, but today it wasn't necessary; today I would be myself all day. As per routine, my owner prepared breakfast and sat at the bar with me beside him, eating from my bowl the homemade dog food he lovingly prepared for me. Once we had breakfast, my owner took off my dog collar, and I headed to the entrance where a tracksuit and a t-shirt awaited to cover my nudity, which I now perceived not just as liberating but as an expression of my canine being. We got into the car and chatted during the ride as usual. My boyfriend hugged me and took some selfies for our social media while passing through traffic lights.

Finally, we arrived at the forest for the first time. After getting out of the car and shedding my clothes, I left my humanity behind in the car and became free again. My owner dressed me in the outfit he uses every time we go for a walk—knee pads, shoes disguised as dog paws, and gloves with the same camouflage. While as a dog I enjoyed nudity more, my owner was concerned I might hurt myself during our outdoor excursions. Once my owner put my collar back on, it was time to start the walk.

The environment was humid. As we ventured further into the forest, we found several puddles of mud, which led us to take a different path from the one we were used to. My owner jogged, and I followed behind him like a good dog. We were completely dirty; by that point, mud covered everything from my owner's shoes to his knees, as well as most of my body from my paws to my abdomen. It was halfway through a break to eat and drink water that a storm suddenly fell upon us. My owner ordered me to return to the car, and I complied, following him as fast as I could, but the force of the rain made it hard to see, and I ended up losing track of my owner or even of the path. I was terrified, not knowing where to go. I didn't know whether to get up and run or to stay ...