Page 37 of Hound Dog
I grunted and dropped to the ground, kneeling beside him, petting his short, soft fur. “You must be Jake, huh?”
Haylee smiled and bent to drop a kiss to his forehead, right between his ears. “Yep. Good ol’ Jake. We think he’s one of our older guys at about seven years old. So, he might be harder to find a home for.”
“Maybe… maybe not.”
Haylee smiled folding her arms. “You’re good with him. Do you have a dog?”
From where I knelt, I grinned up at her. “Not yet.”
“Why?”
That was a good question. I loved dogs. Always wanted one. But my lifestyle wasn’t exactly suited for a dog.
I worked constantly, waking up at three in the morning to bake cupcakes, then was in and out at all hours of the day for Hound Dog. Not to mention my, uh, extra-curricular activities, which often resulted in me spending the night at other people’s places.
I stood, brushing the dirt from my pants, and shrugged. “It’s just never been the right time, I guess.”
She snorted, but her smile kept it playful. “There’s never a right time. You just find the dog that connects to your soul and take the plunge.”
“Fair,” I laughed. “But even though there’s never a right time, there are definitelywrongtimes.”
Her only response was a quiethm.
Tyson came barreling over to us next, doing that telltale boxer wiggle, leading the pack of other excited dogs behind him.
“Hey now,” I laughed as Tyson curled around my legs, his nub tail wagging a mile a minute. “You already made me bleed once, big guy. Take it easy.”
“That’s right, you know Tyson already,” she shouted over the barking. One particular bark was piercingly loud. She pointed to the offending Jack Russell terrier. “That’s Yipper.”
One by one, she went through the names of various dogs that I’d be hard-pressed to remember.
I opened my email, bringing up my client’s intake form. She was twenty-nine. Looking for a guy who was active, loved water sports like kayaking and canoeing. A guy with a good job—no surprise there. I’d never once had a girl request a guy making minimum wage. And typed in all caps, she was looking for someoneINCREDIBLYSMART AND LOYAL.
Well, loyal described most dogs. But I knew Jack Russells were very smart. As for the water sports? Well, Meryl said to find Yipper a home that would take him to the beach. Maybe this would work out perfectly.
A border collie ran in circles around us, not barking as much as the Jack Russell, but herding and nipping the heels of the other dogs. Doing what it was bred to do. Another incredibly smart breed.
“What’s his name?”
“Hername is Ellie. She’s a worker girl. I have to keep her busy with puzzle feeders and tasks otherwise she gets bored. And when she’s bored, she gets destructive.”
I bent to pet Ellie with one hand while fielding the other dogs jumping around me with the other.
“Smart girl, huh?” I said, petting her gently. She panted, her mouth parted in a canine smile. “Can I see Yipper and Ellie alone in the yard?”
She touched her hand to her sternum. “Totallyalone? Like, without me?”
That wasn’t what I meant, but she looked hurt all the same. Which did weird things to my pulse and heart. Was she seemingly hurt that she thought I didn’t want her around?
“You can stay,” I said with a slight chuckle. “I just mean that I want to try to work with these two alone and see how smart they each are. It’ll be easier without the other dogs going crazy… especially when I start pulling out the treats.” I patted my palm to the outer pocket of my backpack where I kept my stash.
“Oh.” Her face softened as she nodded. Then she started to round up the other dogs, herding them inside through the back door, before coming back out to join me where I was already working with Yipper and Ellie.
They both knew the basic commands and performed them quickly and eagerly. Sit, down, shake, stay… they nailed them. Then I tried a few harder ones like hop, crawl, and heel.
Ellie was a bit better at heel than Yipper, but he was also really good, even when there was a distraction.
“I think either one of them will do perfectly,” I said. “Does Meryl have a major attachment to Ellie?”
