Roxy by Ellen Miles

Author:Ellen Miles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2019-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

Me! I’m the best girl!

After a few more hugs, Charles put Roxy down and picked up his clipboard. “Okay, let’s get to work,” he said. He had decided to teach Roxy and Buddy how to pick something up and then drop it again, into his hand — sort of like fetch, but without all the running. For a moment, Charles wished Lizzie was there, since she was such a good dog trainer. But this was something he wanted to do on his own. It was just as well that Lizzie had decided to go to Caring Paws to check on Roxy’s mom and siblings.

“Doesn’t Buddy already know how to fetch?” Sammy asked.

“Sort of,” said Charles. “He’s great at running after something you throw, but not so great at bringing it back or giving it to you. Sometimes I practically have to wrestle with him to get the ball back.”

“Or the octopus,” said Sammy, holding up the stuffed toy they had decided to use for training. The eight bright purple legs dangled temptingly, and Buddy made a little leap at the toy.

“Uh-uh, Buddy,” said Charles. “Sit.” He handed the clipboard to Sammy.

“Okay, get ready with the stopwatch,” he said. “Let’s see how long it takes to train Buddy to do this.”

He put the toy on the ground. “Take it,” he said. Buddy pounced on the octopus, tail wagging. “Good b —” Charles began, but before he could finish getting the words out, Roxy pounced, too.

The puppies began to play tug-of-war with the toy, wagging their tails as they growled happily, each tugging one purple leg while the octopus head dangled between them. They dug in their back feet and pulled as hard as they could. Buddy was bigger, but feisty little Roxy wouldn’t give up. She tugged and tugged, and Buddy pulled back. The toy’s squeaker squealed louder and louder.

“Hey! No! C’mon, Roxy, you’re going to hurt your leg,” said Charles, but he was laughing too hard to sound serious. He rescued the toy, pulling it away from both puppies. “Let’s try this again,” he said. This time he picked Roxy up and held her as he started over, dropping the octopus at Buddy’s feet. “Take it,” he said. This was the easy part. Buddy pounced. Before his puppy could start shaking the toy or run off with it, Charles pulled out a treat — the boring brown kind. “Okay, start the timer,” he said to Sammy. Then he gave the more difficult command to Buddy. “Drop it,” he said, holding out the biscuit, as if to trade it for the toy.

Buddy sniffed at the biscuit, without letting the octopus fall from his jaws. Then he ran off, shaking the octopus happily. Charles laughed again. “He seems more interested in the toy than in the biscuit,” he said.

“Should I stop the timer?” Sammy asked. He held up the ticking stopwatch.

“I guess so,” said Charles. “Then let’s try again with the special treat.” Still holding Roxy, he ran after Buddy and managed to get the toy back from him.

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