the dog he had grown up with , the dog who had pulled a yelling , gleeful five-year-old brett patiently around and around the dooryard on his flexible flyer , budded into a harness joe had made in the shop , the dog who had been waiting calmly by the mailbox every afternoon during school for the bus , come shine or shower ... that dog bore only the slightest resemblance to the muddy , matted apparition slowly materializing from the morning mist .