A Dog’s Journey Read Online Free PDF

but if all he was going to do was hold me and blow tantalizing odors at me I was ready to be put down.
    “I guess so. The Vet said it can happen, two separate sires.”
    “That’s hilarious.”
    “Yeah, except we’re not going to be able to sell the two mystery dogs. You want that one? Free since you’re a buddy.”
    “No, thank you.” The man holding me laughed, letting me back down. My mother sniffed the stranger’s scent on me and, protective and kind, gave me a reassuring lick, while my brothers and sisters staggered over on their unsteady legs because they had probably already forgotten who I was and wanted to challenge me. I ignored them.
    “Hey, how’s your son?” the man with the hairy face asked.
    “Thanks for asking. Still sick, has this cough. Probably going to have to take him to the doctor.”
    “He been down here to see the pups?”
    “No, they’re a little young yet. I want them to get stronger before he handles them.”
    The two men walked away, dissolving into the blurry gloom beyond my field of vision.
    As the days passed I became aware of a young child’s voice upstairs, a male, and became alarmed over the prospect of starting over again with a new boy. That couldn’t be my purpose, could it? It seemed wrong, somehow, as if I would be a bad dog if I had a boy other than Ethan.
    One afternoon the Man scooped up all of us and put us in a smaller box that he carried up the stairs, our mother panting anxiously at his heels. We were set on the floor and then the Man turned the box gently so that we all tumbled out.
    “Puppies!” a little boy sang out from somewhere behind us.
    I splayed my legs a little for balance and peered around. It was like the living room at the Farm, with a couch and chairs. We were on a soft blanket and naturally most of my siblings immediately tried to get off it, heading off in all directions for the slick floor beyond the edge of the blanket. Me, I stayed put. In my experience, mother dogs liked soft spots more than hard ones, and it’s always smarter to stick with Mother.
    The Man and the Woman, laughing, grabbed the fleeing puppies and placed them back in the center of the blanket, which should have given them all the hint that they were not supposed to go running off, though most of them tried to do it again. A boy circled around, older than Clarity but still pretty young, hopping excitedly. I was reminded of Clarity’s little legs bobbing up and down when she saw that stupid horse in the barn.
    Though I was reluctant to love any other boy but Ethan, it was difficult not to be swept up in the joy we all felt at the sight of this little human holding his arms out to us.
    The boy reached for my brother, the one who, like me, had longer, flatter fur. I could sense my siblings’ distress when the boy snatched him up.
    “Be careful, Son,” the Man said.
    “Don’t hurt him; be gentle,” the Woman said.
    These were, I decided, the mother and father of the little boy. “He’s kissing me!” The little boy giggled as my brother submissively licked the boy on the mouth.
    “It’s okay, Bella. You’re a good dog,” the Man said, petting our mother, who was pacing around the blanket, yawning anxiously.
    The little boy was coughing. “Are you okay?” the mom asked him. He nodded, setting down my brother and immediately scooping up one of my sisters. My other two brothers were at the edge of the blanket and had stopped, sniffing, unsure of the surface.
    “I hate the sound of that cough; it sounds like it’s gotten worse,” the Man said.
    “He wasn’t bad at all this morning,” the Woman replied.
    The little boy was breathing loudly, now, coughing and making a harsh noise. His coughing was getting worse. Both of his parents froze, staring at him.
    “Johnny?” the Woman said. There was fear in her voice. Our mother went to her, wagging anxiously. The Man set the puppy he’d been holding on the floor and grabbed the boy by the arm.
    “Johnny? Can you