by Megan Rix
Next, with a little help from Lenny pushing at the shoe with his other foot, Ollie managed to pull both of Lenny’s shoes completely off.
‘Well done,’ Lenny said. ‘Socks next.’
Ollie carefully took hold of the very edge of the toe of Lenny’s sock and pulled.
‘Helps if you wear loose socks,’ Lenny added, laughing as Ollie braced his legs and pulled. The first sock was off in no time. Ollie turned his attention to the second sock and soon that one was off too.
Ollie wagged his tail.
‘It’s all a big game to the dogs,’ Lenny said, giving Ollie a bit of his dog-food kibble as a treat. ‘And that’s just the way we want it to be.’ He pulled his socks and shoes back on and when Ollie went to take them off all over again, Lenny said, ‘No, no, once is quite enough, thank you! Get my hat.’ Lenny tapped his head and Ollie ran to the table, picked up a woolly hat and brought it back to Lenny, dropping it in his lap. ‘Thank you,’ Lenny said as he put it on.
‘I never knew a dog could do all those things!’ Joe said.
‘That’s not even the half of what he can do,’ Lenny told him. ‘Not even a quarter in fact.’
‘Joe, we’re here because I thought maybe we could become volunteers for Helper Dogs,’ Joe’s mum said.
‘I gather you’ve always wanted a dog,’ Lenny said, smiling at him.
‘Well, it was really Dad and me who always wanted a dog, so I’m not sure …’ said Joe, his voice trailing off.
‘Joe, it’s actually something Dad and I talked about with Lenny a long time ago,’ Joe’s mum explained gently.
‘Your dad and mum came here back in May to see whether it might be possible. We’re always looking for volunteers to be puppy raisers, you see. We pay all the bills.’
‘So … the puppy would live with us?’ Joe asked his mum, hardly able to believe it. Had his dad wanted a dog from Lenny?
‘Yes – it’d live with you until it went on for further training or to live with the person it’s being partnered with.’
‘How long would it live with us?’ Joe’s mum asked.
‘Well, it depends on the puppy and how quickly it learns, and who it is going to go to. It can be anything from a few months to a year. Volunteers need to be at home during the day as the puppy shouldn’t be left alone for long periods of time.’
‘That’d be cruel,’ Joe said, and Lenny nodded.
‘Most of the dogs trained by Helper Dogs go to live with disabled adults, many of whom have been injured in the armed services. That’s how your dad first heard about us, through his work,’ explained Lenny. ‘In fact, only this morning I had a phone call from the military hospital about a disabled soldier called Sam Hilling who’d like a Helper Dog.’
‘What happened to him?’ Joe wanted to know despite his mum giving him a meaningful look.
Lenny sighed. ‘He went back to rescue some of his men from a house that had been bombed – and a wall collapsed on him.’
‘Oh no,’ Joe’s mum said, bringing her hand to her mouth.
‘He survived against all the odds, but will never walk again. A Helper Dog could really make all the difference to his recovery and his ability to lead a normal life.’
‘What do you think then?’ asked Joe’s mum. Joe thought about it for a moment. He took a deep breath.
‘I’d like to help,’ he said.
Ollie came over to him and nuzzled his hand.
‘Good,’ Lenny said. ‘It’ll be an awful lot of work, you know; you won’t see much of the summer holidays because you’ll need to come along to lots of training classes before you get the puppy.’
‘We’ve never had a dog before, and I don’t have any experience,’ Joe’s mum said.
‘That’s what the training classes are for,’ Lenny explained. ‘Plus we’ll need to make sure your house and garden are puppy friendly. Are you sure you’re both really interested? It’ll take a lot of dedication and there’s not much sleep for the first few weeks once you do get the puppy.’
Joe looked at his mum and their eyes met. Was this really something Dad had planned for them?
‘We’re interested,’ Joe’s mum said, smiling, and Joe nodded.
‘Would you like to meet the puppy I’m hoping we’ll be able to use for Sam once it’s old enough?’ Lenny asked them. ‘The breeder lives not far from here.’
Joe nodded again. ‘Yes, I would.’
‘I’m afraid I need to get back to work,’ Joe’s mum said. ‘Sorry, but I said I’d be back within the hour.’
‘I can drop Joe off afterwards,’ Lenny told her.
‘Great – see you later, Joe.’ She gave his arm a quick squeeze and then waved goodbye as she left.
‘Keys, Ollie,’ Lenny said, and Ollie trotted over to the table, picked up Lenny’s keys and brought them back to him.
Joe couldn’t wait to meet the puppy, but he also felt nervous. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. What if the puppy didn’t like him? It was supposed to be him and Dad doing this together. Joe didn’t know anything about dogs, let alone puppies. He’d never even taken a dog for a walk on his own before. What if it all went horribly wrong?
Chapter 3
Lenny’s van had HELPER DOGS written on the side of it. Ollie jumped in the back as Joe pulled open the passenger door. The van smelt of wet dogs, and there were old dog toys and bits of half-eaten dog chews in it as well as lots of drink cans and sweet wrappers.
‘Sorry about the mess,’ Lenny apologized, but Joe didn’t mind a bit.
Lenny drove back the same way that Joe and his mum had driven to Helper Dogs.
‘We live in the next street over,’ Joe said when Lenny pulled up outside a house with an overgrown garden.
‘No, really?’ Lenny said.
‘Yep.’
Ollie wanted to get out of the car and visit too, but Lenny wouldn’t let him.
‘Sorry, old boy, but you’ll only stress the mother dog if you come in,’ he said, finding a bit of chew for Ollie to gnaw on while they were away. Ollie made a doggie grumble sound, but he didn’t try to get out of the van again.
Joe followed Lenny through the gate and up the path. Lenny rang the doorbell and Mrs Hodges opened it, closely followed by Marnie, who always liked to know who was coming in and out.
‘Good to see you, Lenny,’ Mrs Hodges said.
‘You too. This is Joe, our newest volunteer, hopefully.’
‘Come in, come in; get out of the way, Marnie,’ said Mrs Hodges as she pushed the dog back. But Marnie still managed to push her head under Joe’s hand so he could stroke her as her tail wagged in welcome.
Mrs Hodges led Joe and Lenny down the passage and into the kitchen, where the puppies were in their playpen. Joe stood in the doorway and gasped at the sight of them. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so beautiful. The six yellow puppies were lying huddled together – some of them half on top of each other, others nose to nose. Every now and again one of them would make a little sleepy sound, while another made a sucking noise in his sleep.
‘You can come closer than that,’ Mrs Hodges said, and Joe walked over to the playpen and looked down. ‘They’re still a bit tired,’ she told him, ‘and full up from being fed. But they’ll be bouncing around again in no time. You wouldn’t believe how much energy a three-week-old puppy has once it gets going!’
No sooner had she spoken than one of the puppies yawned, stood up sleepily, walked a few paces, and then flopped back down again.
‘They’re born with their eyes and ears closed,’ Mrs Hodges told Joe. ‘And for the first few weeks they mostly eat and sleep and poop.’
Joe couldn’t take his eyes off them. He’d wanted a puppy for so long and now he was finally going to have one.
Mrs Hodges pointed to a puppy with a black ear, and a much smaller puppy, smaller than any of the others, lying next to it.
‘That’s Patch and Little Blue – they mostly sleep curled up together. Best of friends, those two.’
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‘Can they walk when they’re born, like horses and deer, or are they like human babies?’ Joe asked as he looked down at the sleeping pups.
‘When they’re about two weeks old, same time as their eyes and ears open, they learn to paddle-crawl and then to crawl properly. That’s when they get a lot noisier and nosier too. They’d be into everything if you let them,’ Mrs Hodges told him as she pressed her lips together.
The puppies were all waking up now and the black-eared one headed over to Joe.
‘You can hold him if you like,’ Mrs Hodges said as she reached into the pen and picked Patch up.
‘I’m not sure … What if I drop him?’ Joe asked anxiously.
‘Sit on the floor and I’ll pass him to you,’ Mrs Hodges said.
‘I don’t know how …’ Joe hesitated before slowly sitting down cross-legged on the kitchen tiles.
‘You’ll be just fine; they’re quite tough little things, although they can be wriggly. Ready?’ And she placed the puppy in his lap.
Joe had never felt fur so soft before. He could feel Patch’s little heart beating very fast as he held him.
Then Patch stood on his back legs and stretched up to look straight into Joe’s eyes. Joe smiled back into his.
‘Hello, Patch,’ he said quietly.
The other puppies followed Patch over to the side of the pen, all wanting to see who the strangers were.
‘I’ve set up a pen for the puppies in the garden as it’s such a nice day,’ Mrs Hodges said. ‘It’ll be their first time outside. Pretty exciting for a puppy. You bring Patch, Joe, and I should be able to manage three, and Lenny, can you bring the last two? Puppies can be very wriggly, Joe.’
As soon as they went through the back door, Patch’s little nose started sniffing the air and he sneezed with excitement. Joe carefully put him down in the playpen and he strutted about with his nose up, still sniffing the unfamiliar surroundings. Mrs Hodges put the first and second of her three puppies into the pen to join him. But when she went to put Little Blue down, the puppy was so excited that she wriggled away and the next moment was running down the garden rather than scampering safely in the pen with the others.
‘Quickly, grab her!’ Mrs Hodges exclaimed.
But it was too late. Blue had run straight into the compost heap, rolled in it, and was now covered in potato peelings and slimy green stuff.
‘Phew!’ Joe said as he picked the puppy up. Little Blue smelt terrible.
‘It would be you, wouldn’t it!’ Mrs Hodges said to Little Blue. ‘She may be the smallest, but she’s got the strongest will. So determined! Keep hold of her, Joe. The first of the prospective owners are coming to see the puppies this afternoon so she’ll need a bath. I’ll just fill the washing-up bowl and bring it out here. Luckily she’s small enough to fit in it.’
Little Blue tried to wriggle away from Joe to join Patch in the pen, but Joe held on to her firmly and didn’t let go.
A minute later Mrs Hodges came out with the washing-up bowl full of warm water, some puppy shampoo and a soft towel.
Little Blue loved splashing about in the warm water and Joe thought she wasn’t even the least bit sorry for getting all smelly if it meant she got to splash about. Once all the slime was washed off, Mrs Hodges dried her with the soft towel.
‘Little Minx should be your name,’ she told the puppy, who wagged her tail with delight.
Joe shook his head and Lenny grinned. They both knew that Mrs Hodges didn’t mean a word of it. She had a soft spot for the naughty little puppy.
Patch and Little Blue hurried towards each other as soon as Mrs Hodges had dried the smallest pup and put her safely in the playpen. They pressed their heads together, flopped on to the ground together and rolled about before jumping up again.
‘Patch and Blue have been best friends right from the start,’ Mrs Hodges told Joe as he watched the two puppies playing together. ‘First one of them would lead and then the other would be in front. They were born straight after each other and I like to think of them as friends from birth – maybe even before birth,’ she added.
Then Mrs Hodges gave Joe each of the other four puppies to hold in turn.
‘The more they get used to it, the less frightened they’ll be,’ she said.
‘They don’t seem frightened,’ Joe said as he held each warm puppy on his lap.
‘That’s because they know they’ve got nothing to be frightened of with you,’ Mrs Hodges told him.
Joe was sure that couldn’t be true. Little puppies couldn’t really know, could they? But he liked what she said.
‘We’d better be heading off,’ Lenny said half an hour later. ‘Puppies’ll need feeding and there’re more dog classes to teach and paperwork to do back at Helper Dogs.’
‘Where do you live, Joe?’ Mrs Hodges asked him. ‘You look familiar.’
‘Just round the corner,’ Joe told her.
‘Well then, you must come back to see the puppies any time you like.’
‘Can I?’ Joe said. ‘Can I really? Could I bring my mum? She had to work today.’ He looked at Patch and knew his mum would fall in love with him too as soon as she met him.
‘Yes, of course you can bring her. The more the puppies get used to being handled and played with before they leave me, the better. Bring your dad along too, if you want.’
Joe’s stomach turned over. He could feel his face going hot and red and he looked down at his feet. Suddenly Mrs Hodges remembered the funeral car she’d seen that day, right before the puppies were born. That’s where she’d seen him before. Poor boy. Had the funeral car she’d seen him in been for his dad?
‘Um, my dad’s …’ Joe started to say.
‘I think it’s time we were getting home,’ Lenny said quickly. ‘I’ll be back with Joe for Patch’s test in a fortnight. In the meantime,’ he said to Joe, ‘you’ve got a lot of learning to do to make sure you’re ready for him! It’s going to be hard work, but I’m sure you can do it. You’ll need to come back to the Helper Dogs training centre over the next two weeks to learn more about looking after Patch.’
Joe looked up at Lenny. ‘I’ll come every day, if you like, and after Patch’s test. At least until school starts …’ he added quietly. School. Joe didn’t want to think about it. A month to go.
Ollie was looking out of the driver’s window when they got back to the van. ‘No need to give me a lift,’ Joe said. ‘I only live round the corner, remember.’
‘OK,’ Lenny said. ‘See you in the morning.’
Joe waved to Mrs Hodges and Marnie, who were standing at the door.
‘See you soon,’ he said.
Chapter 4
Joe couldn’t wait to tell his mum all about meeting Patch and the other puppies, and he ran all the way home.
Mr Humphreys was trimming his front garden hedge as Joe sprinted past.
‘Slow down – you’ll do yourself a mischief running like that, lad,’ he said.
But Joe didn’t stop. He ran up the path and unlocked the front door. Mr Humphreys shook his head and went back to his trimming.
‘Mum, I’m back!’ Joe yelled.
His mum came down from her office. ‘So how was it?’ she asked.
‘You have to see them! Mrs Hodges and Marnie – that’s the breeder and the puppies’ mum – they live only one street over,’ Joe said breathlessly. ‘We can see them whenever we like. I want to see them every day!’
‘That might be a bit much,’ his mum warned. ‘Mrs Hodges will be very busy and she’s already had you and Lenny visiting her today.’
‘I won’t get in the way,’ Joe insisted. ‘I can help. You need lots of hands to look after them.’
He told his mum about Little Blue’s race for the compost heap and then he told her about Patch.
‘You won’t be able to help but love him. He’s just about the best puppy in the whole world!’
Joe headed into the kitchen to get a drink and Joe’s mum followed him, smiling at his exci
tement. This was the first time he’d managed to raise a smile since his father had died.
The following day, after Mum had finished her work hours for the day, they both went back to Mrs Hodges’ house. Joe rang the doorbell and Mrs Hodges opened it, Marnie peeping round from behind her legs to see who was there.
‘We don’t want to be a nuisance,’ Joe’s mum said, ‘but Joe told me about Patch and I’d really like to see the puppies, if it’s not too inconvenient. We don’t have your phone number so we couldn’t –’ Mrs Hodges ushered them in before Joe’s mum had even finished speaking, and Marnie nudged Joe’s hand and got the strokes she’d been waiting for.
‘It’s no bother at all,’ Mrs Hodges said. ‘The puppies are just about to have their dinner. They’re learning to eat soaked dry food rather than just their mother’s milk and it can get very messy. They seem to think the food’s for bathing in as well as for eating. Two extra pairs of hands will come in very useful indeed.’
Patch was fast asleep, curled up with his head resting on one of the star-shaped soft-rag toys Mrs Hodges had put in the puppy pen for them to play with when the doorbell had rung. He stretched his puppy legs and gave a sleepy yawn, but didn’t open his eyes until he smelt a familiar smell. It was a smell that made him happy. A smell that made his little heart race. Then he heard Joe’s voice as he came into the kitchen and Patch scrambled up and hurried over to the side of the puppy pen, his tail wagging.
‘Oh,’ Joe’s mum exclaimed when she saw him. ‘Oh, he’s beautiful. Hello, Patch,’ she said as she crouched down.
Joe lifted Patch out of his pen and hugged him as the excited puppy licked his face and made him laugh.
‘Dad would love him,’ Joe said as he gave Patch to his mum to hold for the first time.
Joe’s mum’s voice cracked. ‘Yes, he would,’ she said as she buried her face in Patch’s soft fur.
‘Would you like to help me get their food ready for them, Joe?’ Mrs Hodges asked.
Joe nodded. Under Mrs Hodges’s instruction he tipped the dry puppy food into a blender, added some puppy milk replacer and water, then whizzed it all up before pouring it into the large round metal feeder tray that all the puppies ate from.