Book #1: Runaway Retriever
Merlin is a great dog.
Parker's new golden retriever is a guy's best friend, with tons of energy for walks and playing catch. And Merlin clearly thinks Parker is the best thing since rawhide bones.
There's just one thing . . .
Merlin is an escape artist. No fence is too high, no cage too strong to keep him from following Parker everywhere he goes. Can Parker make Merlin sit--and stay?
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Read an Excerpt:
As soon as we rang the doorbell, I heard barking.
“Shut up!” someone yelled, probably Katie. “Shut up! Dog! Shut up! SARAH! PUT HIM OUTSIDE! SAAAARAAAH!”
“I’M DOING IT!” Sarah yelled back.
Dad looked really nervous. He kept saying, “Are you sure about this?” When he heard all the noise, his face went kind of white. But I wasn’t worried. I’ve been to Katie’s house a couple of times, and it’s always like that, since way before they had a dog. Sometimes I think Camellia likes it over there because all the yelling makes it so different from our house.
The barking got farther away, and then finally the front door opened and Katie was standing there.
“Camellia!” she shrieked happily, the way she does every single time they see each other. “And Parker, oh my gosh, when did you get so tall?” She saw me about two weeks ago, but normally she doesn’t talk to me much. And maybe I’d grown since then. She reached past me to shake Dad’s hand. “Hi, Mr. Green, great to see you. Come in, you guys!”
But as Camellia stepped forward, suddenly I heard the barking again—only it was coming from behind us now. I turned around just as a dog came galloping around the side of the house at full speed.
He was not small or fluffy or silly-looking. He was a big, brown-eyed golden retriever with long, shining, sun-colored fur, and he was running straight at me.
“OH MY GOSH, SARAAAH!” Katie hollered. “You left the gate open again!”
“I DID NOT!” Sarah screamed from the back of the house.
“Well, now we’re never going to catch him!” Katie yelled.
Something made me open my arms as the dog hurtled toward me. I mean, he wasn’t even a little bit scary. He just looked really, really excited to say hello.
Which is what he did, by leaping up and planting his paws on my shoulders and licking my face all over.
“Ew, GROSS!” Katie yelled. She reached to grab his collar. “Get DOWN, dog, OFF! Leave Parker alone!”
“It’s OK,” I said. I got on my knees and the dog sat down in front of me. His tail went thump thump thump on the porch. I didn’t even know dogs could smile, but this dog had the hugest grin I’d ever seen. He looked like someone had poured sunshine all over him.
“You’re such a pain in my butt, Dog,” Katie said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Woof!” the dog said, tossing back his head so his long silky ears flapped. He grinned at me. I got the weird feeling he agreed with me about how dopey Katie and Sarah are.
“Come in and I’ll get you his stuff,” Katie said. Dad started to say something, but she kept on talking right over him. “We got a crate for him, but good luck keeping him inside it!” Do you own an escape artist dog? You're not alone! You'd be amazed how clever some dogs can be about getting out of their crates...or closed rooms...or fenced-in yards! Sometimes they just want to be near you, or sometimes they just want to run around outside. If your dog is a furry Houdini, try doing what Parker and his family did. For instance, if the dog can get out of one crate, try putting the dog in a different type of crate. Most importantly, try to make his crate a place where he feels safe, so he actually wants to go in there. The crate should be a safe little den for the dog, not a place he's terrified of. When we got a new crate for Sunshine, we left it open on the living room floor, which is where we usually hang out. We didn't force her to go inside, but sometimes when she wasn't looking, we hid treats in there. Then later she'd be like, "sniff sniff sniff...hey! SCORE! There are TREATS in here! Best crate ever!" So now she goes in there all the time -- sometimes checking for treats, but usually just to take a nap or when she thinks we're making too much of a ruckus and she's like, whatever, crazy people. We're lucky that our dog is way too little to jump over our big fence, but we still spent a lot of time outside with her when the fence first went up, making sure she couldn't squeeze through any gaps and that she wouldn't try to tunnel underneath. She's pretty happy just to gallop around the yard, though -- like Merlin, she'd rather be with her people. But don't feel bad if your dog is a fence-jumper! It doesn't mean they're trying to get away from you. Maybe they saw a squirrel they wanted to chase, or another dog they wanted to say hi to. Maybe they just got bored in the yard by themselves. You'll hear this a lot from dog trainers, but it's true: the best way to keep your dog happy and good is to give them lots of love and exercise. That means walks and playtime and teaching them tricks and throwing Frisbees for them or taking obedience and agility classes with them -- there are lots of ways to tire your dog out! And a tired dog is a happy, good dog...one who'll be just as happy to sleep on the couch or in his crate, instead of trying to escape all the time.
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