Want to go for a walk buddy she asked when she had finished Instead of jumping up and grabbing his leash in his mouth like he usually did Amigo just wagged his tail politely and heaved a little sigh Abby sighed too Lately Amigo hadn’t had as much energy as usual He still liked to go for walks but he hardly ever ran or played like he used to As Abby rinsed her plate in the sink she thought about the rest of her day The next item on her list just said AMIGO Abby reserved an hour after school every day just to spend time with him Her sister Emily had drawn the picture of Amigo that went next to his name Abby was pretty good at drawing but Emily was better After AMIGO the next activity in her day was Dog chores Abby was in charge of looking after the ranch’s rescued dogs The ranch had just had a big adoption event so there was only one rescued dog now She was a one-year-old black Labrador named
Bella She was still just a big puppy and she had lots of energy Maybe combining Bella’s playtime with Amigo’s would help perk him up Amigo often ended up being almost like a teacher to some of the younger dogs at the ranch Dogs learned from each other as much as they learned from people Not long ago Amigo had helped a fearful German shepherd named Destiny trust people more Now Destiny had a new home with Miriam’s older brother Caleb Abby headed to the kennel room at the far end of the house on the first floor Inside the large room were some crates a metal grooming table and a playpen for young puppies Outside in the middle of a row of long chain-link pens a glossy black dog was lying in the grass chewing on a rope toy The dog sprang to her feet when she saw Abby Her tail wagged so hard it made her whole hind end sway back and forth
Hi Bella said Abby smiling It was hard not to feel cheerful around such a happy dog Even though Bella had been found abandoned in a shopping mall parking lot she almost never seemed sad or worried Abby opened the gate to Bella’s pen and clipped a leash on her collar She led Bella into the house When Bella spotted Amigo she sank into a playful bow Amigo touched noses with Bella and sniffed her all over His tail started to wag slowly and then faster Abby led them both outside to the ranch’s big backyard She found a tennis ball in the grass and threw it as far as she could Bella ran after it but Amigo lay down in the grass under the big shady oak tree Abby felt a little disappointed She’d hoped that Bella’s energy would encourage Amigo to play Bella brought back the ball and dropped it at Abby’s feet Abby threw it for her again She bounded away through the grass barking with
