A Dog's Life (play)

A Dog's Life is a one-act play by Pam Valentine. It follows a day in the life of four dogs in a pound when a human comes looking to adopt. The dogs are an old mongrel named Ben, a German Shepherd named Fritz, an incredibly overweight poodle named Fifi, and a hyperactive puppy named Ginger.

"Fifi: I fell in love with a greyhound once. Fritz: What has that got to do with anything? Fifi: Nothing."
 * Berserk Button: Fifi's is her weight, Fritz's is babies, and Ben's is
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Ben is a genuinely gentle soul... right up until you press the Berserk Button detailed above.
 * Non Sequitur Scene: While Ben and Fritz are discussing their pasts:

"Ginger: How many humans have you had, Fritz? Fritz: Seven. Or is it eight? some time later... Ginger: What's fuzz? Is it food? Is it? Is it? Fritz: Nine! I have had nine humans."
 * Brick Joke:

"It's gone very... cold, hasn't it? I can't remember ever feeling this cold..."
 * Cerebus Syndrome: Hoo, boy...
 * Child-Hater: Fritz. It's played for laughs.
 * Decoy Protagonist: The focus of the story is on Ben, not Ginger.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Mostly Fritz, but Ben also gets in a few digs.
 * Dog Stereotype: Somewhat.
 * Fifi the poodle is very French and quite spoiled, but rarely snooty about it except where Fritz is concerned.
 * Fritz the German shepherd is neither heroic nor particularly skilled, and is actually something of a Jerkass for most of the play.
 * Ben the mongrel is Street Smart, Book Dumb, and functionally the Team Dad.
 * Ginger the puppy is very sweet, but completely hyperactive.
 * Dramedy
 * Fat Girl: Fifi.
 * I'm Cold... So Cold...:  are along these lines, with a fair bit less Narm than is usually present.


 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Fritz. He can be downright nasty, but he's had a pretty hard life. At the end, he
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Ben, after
 * Naive Newcomer: Ginger.
 * Nice Guy: Ben.
 * No Name Given: The humans are not named.
 * Running Gag: What's a gag? Is it food? Is it? Is it?
 * Suicide by Cop:  is functionally this, given that
 * This Is My Human: This is how the dogs refer to their owners, although the humans are still clearly in charge.
 * The Tramp: Ben's master was one.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Fritz and Fifi have something like this going on.