“Did you call the shelter last night?” Lolli asked when Janey walked into school on Thursday morning.
Janey nodded and sighed. “He’s still there.”
“I don’t get it.” Lolli leaned against the wall of cubbies, watching as Janey put her stuff away. “Truman is such a great dog! Why doesn’t anyone want to take him home?”
“I have no idea.” Janey was about to put her tablet in the cubby with the rest of her things. Then she stopped and stared at it. “But I just thought of something. My blog was what saved Truman, right? Maybe it can also help him find the perfect home!”
“What do you mean?” Lolli asked.
Janey was already logging on to the Internet. “I’m going to post an update about Truman. Lots of people saw the picture of him on my blog.”
“That’s true,” Lolli agreed. “You got tons of comments about how horrible he looked.”
“So now I’ll tell everyone he’s safe and looking for a home.” Janey typed quickly, describing how the animal officer had saved Truman. She added that the little dog was at the shelter waiting for an adopter to come and take him home.
Lolli watched over her shoulder. “Don’t forget to mention how cute he looks now that he’s healthy and clean,” she suggested.
Janey nodded. She wished she’d taken pictures of Truman at the shelter. Maybe she could get some later. But her words would have to do for now.
“There!” she said, hitting the key to post the blurb. “That should do the trick.”
But when Janey called the shelter again on Saturday, Kitty told her that Truman was still there.
“Your ad did work, though,” Kitty added. “Sort of, anyway. Three different people came in looking for Truman because they’d seen him on your blog.”
“Really? Then why is he still there?” Janey asked.
“They all decided he wasn’t quite right for them,” Kitty said. “They all chose different dogs instead.”
“Oh.” Janey sighed. “Oh, well, lots of people come to get new pets on the weekend, right? Someone will probably take him home soon. Lolli and I will be right over—we want to see him again before he finds his new owners.”
Soon the two friends were at the shelter playing with Truman. A family was in the Meet and Greet room getting to know a few of the shelter’s cats, so the girls tossed a rubber bone for Truman in the wide, rubber-paved aisle of the dog room. There were dogs in the runs on either side of the aisle, but Truman paid little attention to them, staying focused on the girls.
“Good boy!” Janey exclaimed when Truman pounced on the bone and then brought it back to her. “You already know how to fetch!”
“He’s supersmart.” said Lolli as she ruffled Truman’s ears. “Aren’t you, boy?”
Just then the door to the dog room opened. Kitty walked in, followed by a nicely dressed man and woman and a five-year-old boy.
“Excuse me, girls,” Kitty said. “This lovely family has come to see Truman.”
“That’s right.” The mother had a nice smile. “Are you Janey? We saw what you wrote about Truman on your blog, and we just had to meet him!”
Her husband nodded. “We were planning to get a dog this weekend anyway, and we think Truman might be perfect. Is that him?”
“Yes, this is Truman.” Janey saw that Truman was backing away from the man. “Um, he’s a little shy with new people.”
“He’s cute! Here, Truman!” The little boy rushed toward Truman, who quickly sidled out of reach.
“Slow down, son,” his father called. “You don’t want to startle him.”
He strode over and grabbed Truman before the little dog could get away. “Careful,” Kitty warned. “He’s still getting used to things here, and…”
“Easy, fella! We just want to pet you, that’s all.” The man hugged Truman to his chest. Truman struggled against his grip, looking anxious.
“Why don’t you let me hold him for you?” Janey said quickly. “He knows me, so that will help him relax.”
“Ow!” the man said as Truman scrabbled against his chest, looking frantic now. “Oh, no! He just put a hole in my new shirt!”
He set Truman down and peered down at his golf shirt. Truman darted behind Janey and pressed himself against her legs. She could feel him trembling.
“It’s just a shirt, Steve,” the man’s wife said, rolling her eyes. “But perhaps Truman isn’t quite right for us after all. We don’t want a dog we need to tiptoe around.”
The little boy already seemed to have forgotten all about Truman. He was over by one of the runs, reaching in to pet a friendly hound mix.
“I want this one!” he cried. “Look—he likes me!”
“Can we meet that one?” the man asked Kitty. “He seems like a good family dog.”
Kitty shot Truman an anxious glance. “Sure, let’s take him over to the Meet and Greet,” she said. “I think the cats are out of there now.”
As soon as the family had disappeared, along with Kitty and the hound mix, Truman came out of hiding. He grabbed the rubber bone and dropped it at Lolli’s feet, wagging his tail.
Janey sighed. “Oh, Truman,” she said, kneeling down to give the dog a hug. “You’re such a sweetie pie. Why can’t anyone but us see that?”
