Dave was the miracle puppy. His mother and father are both coyotes. That doesn't sound too wierd until I tell you his father, Joe, used to be a human. Joe gave that up to become a talking non-anthro coyote. He then chose to take his chances living in a national park like a real wild animal. None of that domestic crap for him. He then met a wild coyote and fell in love. 

Joe didn't intend to find a mate, especially not a feral one. But she persisted, and a few weeks of daily visits finally eroded his resistance to the idea. She would bring him the dinner she caught some days, and he return the favor on other days to share his. It started as a friendship of convenience. Joe enjoyed not having to spend so much time looking for dinner. They started cuddling together when they slept. Joe gave up and just started calling her his girlfriend. 

Joe was told that the transformed and ferals couldn't crossbreed. What was actually said was that it was ALMOST impossible.  So he didn't consider what could happen when he banged his coyote girlfriend every night. One of his sperms had finally hit the mark. He had been living with her for a few years when she had gotten pregnant. He could tell by the way she smelled.

Joe was an understanding Coyote. He couldn't blame her for getting knocked up by someone else after craving to have pups of her own after all these years. At least, that's what he assumed. 

His seed only managed to make one puppy. It was practically a miracle because of how low the chances of fertilization were. When the single pup was born, Joe named him Dave. He spoke to Dave everyday with his human voice. His girlfriend, which he nicknamed Becky, didn't mind. Dave really didn't mind raising what he thought was someone else's pup. Everything was going fine until the day Dave started trying to speak the human words he has been hearing all his life. It hit Joe like a truck. Beyond all the odds this was actually his son. He knew he had to get outside advice.

The next day after breakfast, Joe went to find the road. He waited for a car to approach and held a paw up in an attempt to get them to help. A red truck came to a stop. A human adult and his teenage son look out at him, unsure of what to do.

Joe cheerfully said "Don't worry! I'm not wild. I just need some help finding the ranger station." The man lowers his window and says "It's just down this road. You need a lift?" Joe gives a friendly smile, it has been a while since anyone talked to him. Becky wasn't much for conversation. The man hooks his thumb towards the truck's bed and Joe manages to jump up into the back. They take off down the road.

The teenager looks at Joe from the back window of the truck. Joe sits looking back at him. The teen slides open the glass partition and asks, "Do you live in this park?" Joe answers "Yep." The teen asks the burning question, "Why are you going to the ranger's station?" Joe considers what he was going to tell the ranger when he got there. He decides the teen is probably old enough to know about the birds and the bees. Joe answers, "I got my feral girlfriend pregnant and she had a talking puppy."

The man driving the truck turns his head to look back at Joe and says, "I thought that wasn't possible." Joe shrugs and says "Me too."

At the ranger station Joe explains the situation. Isaac, the Park Ranger says, "Congratulations. but I'm gonna have to call this one in." After the Ranger relayed the info to HQ, he tells Joe, "You're gonna have to bring him out for a vet to check him over and issue a microchip." Joe considers it and says, "Becky probably won't like that. Can that wait until he's old enough to leave his mother's side?" The ranger agrees, "That's fine, If you give me all your info I can have the paperwork ready and waiting when you return."

Isaac gives Joe a crash course in raising a crossbreed. It was one of the unusual scenarios that was included in his ranger training.

Joe and the Ranger drive out to the spot he was picked up at. Joe says, "Two months and we will meet you at the station." The Ranger says, "You better be teaching him everything you know. If you can develop his brain enough, his life will be so much easier if he chooses to ever leave the park." Joe thinks 'why would he ever leave the park? It's great here.'

The coyote does his best teaching his pup. Dave learns at a decent rate. He is growing up faster than a human would. Finally the day comes for Dave and Joe to make the trek to the road for a visit to the vet. Joe gives his girlfriend a lick and says to her, "Becky we might be gone for a few days in the city. Don't worry we will come back soon." Joe is unsure if Becky can understand.

Joe says, "Come on pup, it's time for you to see the outside world." Dave says with excitement, "Okay Dad!" Dave was afraid when he met his first human. But he used the language his father taught him and it worked out well. 

After being raised in the countryside as an animal, Dave took to the human's and their buildings and technology pretty fast. After he got his checkup and his microchip, Joe was trying to explain how it let him use money. Dave was wrapping his head around it fast. "So I can work for someone, they give me this money to do the work, and then I can use the money to get things from other people?" Dave said in recap. Joe says, "Yeah, it's the system that has worked since the beginning of history."

Dave says "Why do we live where we can't use money? It would be so much easier instead of hunting for dinner!" Joe realizes that Dave was probably never going to be happy living out in the park after knowing the conveniences of modern life. After their visit to the city, Dave makes a promise to himself that he will live there when he grows up.

Joe and Becky continued to raise their son the best they could, but, he was always sneaking off to find hikers and campers to talk to about the outside world. Dave even started visiting the ranger's station for lessons on how to read. 

Isaac enjoyed the company of the chatty Coyote pup. After the daily lesson, Isaac says "What does this sign by the road say?" Dave moves his lips quietly sounding out the letters, "Do not feed the animals, unless they talk." Dave looks at Isaac, "What does that mean? Doesn't every animal ask for free snacks?" Isaac shakes his head no and says, "It means don't feed the dumb ones, it will make them dependant on humans." Dave asks "Why doesn't that include me?" Isaac answers "Because you are smart enough to get your own snacks."

It was during these lessons that he learned about the petting zoo in the city. Dave loved the idea of getting paid money to just talk to people and let them pet him. 

He finally got Isaac to call the petting zoo to ask about getting Dave a job there. The petting zoo's Park Director was very interested in adding a rarity like Dave to the roster. It would bring in so many curious guests.

The next day, Dave said goodbye to his parents. He was a young adult coyote now. With never being content to live in the wild, it was kind of a relief for Joe that his son found a job that would make him happy. Joe says "Try to call the ranger's station every so often to let us know how you are doing in the big city." Dave says, "Okay Dad!" He gives his parents a final lick on the cheek and heads off. 

At the road the ranger is parked waiting for him. Dave hops in the passenger seat and sticks his head out the window as they drive. Dave enjoys the music on the radio, he enjoys the strange new smells, and he anticipates the new life waiting for him in the city he remembers from his youth.

Once they reach the petting zoo they head inside to get him setup. Isaac feels like Dave is his son after mentoring him all these months. Isaac watches as Dave is registered into the petting zoo's system. With a hug they part ways. 

A few weeks later the country coyote has adjusted to the petting zoo life well enough. His only problem is his nemesis, Kyle the rabbit. Dave enjoys taking part in events at the zoo like the rabbit hunt game. He has yet to catch Kyle when he is the prey. His fur stands on end as he thinks about the steak reward for catching Kyle during the game. When the bunny hops by he always gives Dave a wide berth. It still takes all of Dave self control to not pounce Kyle. He used to eat rabbits like Kyle for dinner. Now Kyle is like money, he represents a dinner but wasn't dinner himself. Dave wishes he could control his wild side that comes from his mother.

Dave is always fascinated by everything new he sees. He smells every animal he meets to burn their scent into his brain. Most of the other employees quickly take to Dave the country coyote. His naivete about everything annoys a few of the rougher animals like Sugar the White Wolf.

"Hey Dave!" Calls out Sugar. "We were going to have a poop eating contest later. Did you want to sign up?" Dave was oblivious to subtle things about human manners and behaviors. Dave replies, "Sure, I used to eat my own poop all the time back home." Sugar and his friends fall down laughing at Dave. 

Unsure why they started laughing at him, Dave lowers his ears and tail. From the ground Sugar says "You really are a country dog who doesn't know anything." Dave files this conversation away as something to ask Isaac about in his weekly calls home. Despite the occasional bullying Dave is pretty happy with his new life at the petting zoo.