That same morning, in the big old ghost house way down the end of Herring Street, Grayston, a big grey dog said by many to be quite scary, was talking to his three puppy children, Graham, Gram and Grace.

‘Why the long faces, my dear puppies? You know that’s for horses. We’re dogs and proud of it.’

‘Yes, Dad,’ said Gram rather glumly.

‘You don’t sound very proud,’ said Grayston.

‘Why should we be proud, again? Can you remind us, Dad?’ asked Grace.

‘I’m surprised you ask, my lovely Grace. We should be proud because we’re dogs,’ answered her father.

‘But all we did was get born as dogs. We had no choice in the matter and didn’t do anything special. Shouldn’t you do something to earn the pride – be good puppies or do something good?’

‘Children, we’re dogs! That’s a terrific thing to be. Isn’t it enough for you to be a dog for you to feel pride?’

‘But, Dad,’ said Graham, ‘some dogs are better than others, right?’

‘Oh yes, definitely,’ said Grayston. ‘Some dogs are much better than others.’

‘So some dogs can be bad?’ Graham continued.

‘Well, I suppose so,’ said Grayston, thinking. ‘But they’re still dogs, which is better than anything else.’

‘Why?’ asked Grace.

‘What? What do you mean “why”?’ asked Grayston, who could not believe what he was hearing.

‘Why is it better to be a bad dog than a good … cat, for instance?’

‘We’re dogs!’ cried Grayston. ‘Don’t you like being a dog?’

‘Yes,’ said Grace, ‘but why are all dogs, even naughty ones, better than other animals?’

‘Grace, my darling puppy,’ said Grayston, ‘you haven’t been the same since that rubber ball was stolen from our family. I know it was a lovely ball that sparkled in the middle when it bounced. It was a rotten cat who took your ball away. Are you feeling unwell?’

‘Dad,’ said Gram, ‘it wasn’t our ball.’

‘What do you mean? I got that ball for you to play with and you were playing with it in our garden. Of course it was our ball.’

‘No, Dad,’ said Graham. ‘It belonged to some human children. It was a special present from their parents, who had to go away for a while, and the children were playing with it to have fun and to remind them of their parents.’

‘Who’s been filling your heads with this nonsense? Was it that naughty cat who took your ball?’

‘Dad, it wasn’t actually a cat who took it. The ball was taken away by a couple of dogs. It was dogs who took it for the children,’ said Grace.

‘Yes,’ said Gram. ‘Dogs … just like us.’

‘What’s going on here? My children, you’re making me dizzy! I think I need to get a drink of water. Didn’t you like the ball I got you?’

‘Yes, Dad,’ said Grace. ‘We liked it very much, but then we learned it wasn’t ours and we felt ashamed.’

‘Ashamed!’ cried Grayston. ‘Ashamed of what?’

‘Dad, the ball didn’t belong to us. It belonged to two children called Anja and Ferdi.’

‘Well, if it belonged to Anja and Ferdi, why didn’t they come to collect it?’ said Grayston.

‘Because they were too scared,’ said Gram. ‘They were scared of the house but mostly they were scared of … you.’

Grayston’s paws became a little shaky beneath him and he collapsed to the ground. He hated to think he had caused any unhappiness to his children. Could it be true?

After a moment, he picked himself up, paw by paw, but there were still crinkly creases in his forehead fur just above his eyes.

‘Well … yes, I am a big scary dog. I thought you liked that. Aren’t I the scariest dog in all of Herring Street, maybe even in all of Amsterdam?’

‘Yes, Dad, that’s why no human children ever come to play with us,’ said Graham.

‘You want human children to come and play with you?’ asked Grayston.

‘Yes! Dad, there are puppies all over Amsterdam who have lots of human children to play with. They visit each other, they play ball, they play chasey, they bring snacks, they pat the puppies and sometimes they even cuddle the puppies.’

‘And this is what you want?’ asked Grayston.

‘Who wouldn’t want lots of human children to be your friends? Only none of them will ever come and play with us,’ said Gram.

‘No,’ said Grace, ‘they’re too scared.’

Grayston stood perfectly still for a moment, thinking about what his children were telling him.

‘Oh my goodness,’ said Grayston. ‘I’ve spent my whole life being scary. I’ve worked hard at it – not just being scary but getting the message out to everyone who passed our house. “Beware of scary dog!” Now everything seems all upside down to me.’

He turned to his children and gave them each a lick on the forehead. ‘I love my children more than I can say. I love you more than I even understand. I wake up in the morning and I just love you all up. So what am I to do? I’m an old dog and my children want me to learn some new tricks.’

Graham, Gram and Grace snuggled in close to their father and wagged their tails. They knew that he loved them but hadn’t known the love was strong enough to make him try to do at least some things differently. What a great dad! They crowded in close together and all three of them buried their snouts into the fur on his chest at the same time. Grayston felt happier now than he ever did scaring people and animals away from the house.