All Work and No Play

On Friday afternoon, Kyle got to the dog park early. He worked with Rex until Drew and Lucky arrived. Lucky sniffed the ground and pranced until Drew stopped. Then the dog sat and stared at Drew’s pocket.

“I’m really sorry I wasn’t here yesterday,” Kyle said. “We had to take Mia’s cat to the vet.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Drew said. He gave Lucky a treat and scratched his ears. The dog looked up and thumped his tail on the ground. “We practiced on our own, and Lucky did great. Is Mia’s cat okay?”

“She had a toothache,” Kyle explained. “My mom fixed it this morning. How are things going? What happened with the trash?”

“I took it out!” Drew said. “Every time I look at Lucky I think trash! It works.”

“Great!” Kyle said. “Is he still chewing?”

“Well, not exactly.” Drew said with a sigh. “He’s been good about using his dog toys — at least until last night. I didn’t know dogs liked toilet paper! Lucky took a whole roll outside and toilet-papered the backyard!”

Kyle laughed. “Really?” he said.

Drew rolled his eyes. “There were streamers and gobs of wet paper all over the place,” he said. “It took an hour to clean up, but he’s my dog, so I did it. And my parents were impressed that I did it without having to be asked.”

“That’s good,” Kyle said. “Do you think he’s ready to show your parents that he can behave tomorrow?”

“Let’s see,” Drew said. He shortened Lucky’s leash and started walking. Lucky followed along beside him.

“Heel,” Drew said. Lucky hung back, and Drew had to drag him. “Come on, Lucky! Heel.”

Rex stood up and barked.

“Sit, Rex!” Kyle commanded.

Rex sat, but he wiggled and barked. Lucky started pulling at his leash and jumping around. He managed to wrap the leash around Drew’s legs.

“What’s his problem?” Drew asked as he untangled his feet. “He didn’t do this yesterday. If Lucky acts like this tomorrow, my parents are not going to be impressed.”

“Maybe Rex and Lucky just need a break,” Kyle said. “They’ve been training all week.”

Drew frowned. “But Lucky won’t get another chance with my parents if he misbehaves tomorrow,” he said.

“Think about it. We get weekends off from school, right?” Kyle said. “If Lucky has fun today, maybe he’ll be more willing to work tomorrow.”

Drew hesitated. Then he unclipped Lucky’s leash. “Do you have the ball?” he asked Kyle.

“Yep, right here,” Kyle said. He pulled the ball out of his backpack and handed it to Drew. As soon as they saw it, Rex and Lucky started jumping up and down and turning in excited circles.

Drew threw the ball across the park. “Go get it!” he hollered.

Lucky reached the ball before Rex.

“Come, Lucky! Here, boy!” Drew hollered.

Lucky immediately turned and raced back to Drew. Both boys cheered happily as he dropped the ball at Drew’s feet. It seemed like the training had paid off.

Kyle didn’t know Drew’s parents, and he didn’t know how Lucky would behave tomorrow. But he knew one thing for sure — Drew and Lucky belonged together. Somehow, they had to show Drew’s parents that the dog deserved to stay.

Even if he gets into trouble sometimes, Kyle thought. Like Rex.