A New Home for Truman (7 page)

Truman seemed to enjoy all the attention. After a few days, Kitty reported that he was already acting friendlier with people—even ones he didn't know.

“He's a fast learner,” she said as she watched Truman follow Janey around the lobby on Friday afternoon, staying right at her heel. “And you kids are great teachers! I bet he'll find his new family before long.”

“I sure hope you're right. Sit, Truman!” Janey beamed as the little dog lowered his haunches to the floor. “Good boy!”

“I wish we didn't have to take him back to the shelter,” Janey said as she turned the corner onto Third Street. It was early Sunday afternoon and she, Lolli, and Adam had just helped Kitty take Truman to the town park for a walk. The little dog had behaved perfectly, walking politely on his leash, letting several strangers pet him, and even standing quietly while a woman pushed a screaming baby past in a stroller.

“We shouldn't keep him out too long, though,” Adam pointed out. “Lots of people
come to the shelter on Sundays.”

“That's right.” Kitty gave a gentle tug on Truman's leash as he stopped to sniff at a leaf on the sidewalk. “We don't want him to miss being seen by his perfect adopter.”

“True.” Janey felt a pang of sadness. Even though they were all working hard to make Truman more adoptable, she hated to think that she might not get to see him anymore once he went to his new home.

When they entered the lobby, Truman barked and leaped forward. Zach and his mother were by the desk with one of Kitty's coworkers. Zach was balanced on one foot on his skateboard while Dr. Goldman examined a fat white cat's paw.

“Hi, Truman!” Zach exclaimed, hurrying forward to greet the little dog. “What's up?”

“We just went for a walk.” Janey took Truman's leash from Kitty, and pulled him in closer. “Truman did fab. We're still working on his training, you know.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Zach rubbed Truman's head. “I bet someone will adopt him soon.”

Janey nodded, stepping out of the way as the other shelter worker walked past carrying the white cat. “I'm thinking of posting again on my blog about how great Truman is doing,” Janey said. “I bet that will get more people to come see him.”

The bell over the shelter door tinkled as someone entered. Janey was surprised to see that it was Ms. Tanaka.

“Hi, kids!” The teacher seemed surprised to see them, too. She smiled. “You sure spend a lot of time here, don't you?”

“What can I say?” Zach shrugged and hooked a thumb toward his mother. “My mom drags me here all the time.”

“I think she was talking to us,” Janey informed him. “Hi, Ms. T. Didn't you already pick out a dog last weekend?” She'd been
so busy thinking about Truman that she'd almost forgotten about her teacher's quest for a pet. But now she was curious.

“Not yet.” The teacher shrugged. “There are lots of great dogs here, but I couldn't decide on one, so I decided to wait and think about it.”

“So you came back for another look?” Kitty asked cheerfully. “I can help you as soon as I finish showing Dr. Goldman her next patient, okay?”

“No hurry, thanks.” Ms. Tanaka smiled as Kitty and Dr. Goldman headed off into the dog room. Then she patted Truman as he trotted over to say hi. “Who have we here?”

“This is Truman—the dog we showed you before,” Lolli told her.

Ms. Tanaka looked surprised. “Really? Wow, I didn't recognize him! He looks totally different from that poor, scraggly dog in the picture.” She rubbed his ears, smiling as he slurped her hands and then rolled onto his back, begging for a belly rub. “Too bad he's not a little bigger.”

Janey shot Lolli and Adam a look. Ms. Tanaka really seemed to like Truman—and he seemed to like her, too. Maybe they'd given up on her too easily!

“He might not be that big, but he's got a huge personality,” Janey told Ms. Tanaka. “He's just about fully trained, too—watch!” She snapped her fingers to get Truman's attention. “Truman, heel!”

She quickly put Truman through his paces, demonstrating all the commands he could do. Truman got a little distracted when a shelter worker led a tiny, fluffy dog past, heading for the Meet and Greet room. But otherwise he was practically perfect!

When the demonstration was finished, Ms. Tanaka was smiling. “Very impressive,
Janey,” she said. “Truman is cute. He'll make someone a fantastic friend. I'm just not sure he's quite what I'm looking for.”

“Are you sure?” Janey's heart sank. What more could they do to convince her?

Zach stepped forward. “Can I take him for a sec?” he asked, reaching for Truman's leash.

Janey almost didn't hand him the leash. This was no time for Zach to start goofing around! She was sure if she could just figure out how to change Ms. Tanaka's mind somehow…

But she didn't resist as Zach took the leash. “Okay, Janey already showed you the boring stuff,” he told Ms. Tanaka with a grin. “Now watch this!”

“What's he doing?” Lolli murmured, leaning toward Janey.

Janey shrugged. She watched as Zach kneeled down in front of Truman.

“Okay, Truman,” he said, lifting his hand. “High-five!”

Truman barked. Then he jumped up, smacking his front paws onto Zach's palm.

“Oh, that's cute!” Ms. Tanaka exclaimed with a laugh. “Did you really teach him to high-five, Zach?”

“That's nothing,” Zach said. “Check this out.” He grabbed his skateboard and set it in front of Truman.

“Who taught Truman to high-five?” Lolli sounded confused.

Janey knew how she felt. She watched as
Truman jumped onto Zach's skateboard and then used his hind leg to push off, barking happily as he rode the skateboard halfway across the lobby.

This time Ms. Tanaka laughed out loud and clapped. “That's so cool!” she exclaimed. “Did you teach him that, Zach? Very impressive!”

Zach grinned and bowed. “Thank you, it was nothing,” he said. “I've been coming
by and teaching Truman a few tricks while Mom's here working.”

Janey frowned, not sure whether to be impressed or annoyed. Then she noticed that Ms. Tanaka was kneeling down and patting Truman, whose whole body seemed to be wagging as he enjoyed the attention.

“Truman is great, isn't he?” Janey told her teacher. And then she had an idea. “He's kind of like a big dog in a little dog's body, right?”

“Yeah,” Adam put in. “I've worked with a lot of dogs, and Truman is one of the coolest. Seriously.”

Lolli nodded vigorously. “And I think he really likes you, Ms. Tanaka.”

The teacher laughed, holding up her hands. “Okay, enough with the hard sell, gang,” she said. “You don't need to convince me—Truman already did that.”

“What? Really?” Janey wasn't sure she'd heard her right.

“Really.” Ms. Tanaka gave Truman one last pat, then straightened up. “Actually, I've been thinking my apartment might be kind of small for a big dog. And now I'm totally convinced. Besides, a bigger dog couldn't ride a skateboard like that, right?” She winked. “Anyway, when Kitty comes back I think I'll talk to her about taking Truman home with me so I can see what other fun tricks I can teach him. What do you say, Truman?”

Truman barked and danced around her legs. Janey let out a whoop of joy. Talk about a happy ending!