This had to be a gimmick, I thought as I stared suspiciously (and I was hardly ever suspicious) at the collar in my hand. It looked like a normal dog collar except for the transmitter on one side. This transmitter (according to the instructions) transmitted the barks and yaps into English (or any one of 120 languages) to communicate with your pet.

I put the collar on my dog, Zoe and after she fidgeted for about 20 minutes I finally turned it on.

She had a high nervous voice, which determined her gender and attitude

"Itchy, itchy," she muttered, "stupid collar, I'd like to be bare thanks!"

"Hello." I said pleasantly, "How are you doing today Zoe?"

She turned around and cocked her head, looking at me with large, luminous brown eyes.

"You… You… Can understand me?" She asked, when she finally sat down and was now looking at me again with her normal rapt attention.

"I sure can." I replied, "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me."

"Sure, anything!" She replied eagerly, her bump of the tail wagging, which made her entire lower body move as befit a corgi.

"Tell me your story." I said, "Tell me your story in your own words, it's been something I've been wondering about."

"Sure," she replied, "it's an okay story, I guess, it has some sad parts and some happy parts." Her bump wagged again. "I think I was born on a farm. There were always a lot of other dogs around and the people there were nice. Then one day I was taking away from my brothers, sisters and my mom. I went to live with this nice lady."

I nodded, knowing she had a previous owner.

"Then one day we were going far away and we went to a place that was always dark and rainy. There was always mud!"

She wrinkled her nose.

"I know how much you hate the rain." I said sympathetically.

"It's loud," she whimpered, "and noisy, and I don't like getting my paws wet when I have to go potty."

I chuckled.

"I know. So what happened next?"

Zoe wrinkled her nose again as if she were trying to remember.

"Things were happy." She said simply "After I got used to the new place and all the new smells… new people… I thought I would be with her forever… Then she told me one day I had to go away. I wondered where we were going and I was even more confused when she didn't come with me. She took me to this big noisy place with lots of big noisy feet and it smelled funny. They put me in a crate and took me to more big noisy places."

She shuddered.

"It's called an airport, it's how people and other things travel." I explained.

She was quiet for a while before she continued.

"Then I was back on farm, but it was different from when I had left. There were more dogs and everyone seemed to be fighting over something. When I was trying to get something to eat one of the dogs bit me."

"I know, you had a scar on your muzzle when I got you."

"I was just getting comfortable when I met you." She said quietly. "I knew you and your family were nice people… I just knew it."

I smiled.

"I'm glad." I said.

"Then I came here to be with you." She hopped on my lap. "I don't want to leave, ever. Never ever."

I scratched her behind the ears.

"You don't have to." I whispered, "I love you Zoe."

She settled down in my lap her radar like ears twitching.

"Love you too." She whispered back as she settled down to sleep.