Movie For Dogs Read Online Free PDF Page B

all four children could not claim stomachaches simultaneously without arousing suspicion, so they tried to cram as much activity as possible into the few precious hours between when school let out and when they were expected home for dinner.
    In those after-school hours, Bruce and Tim constructed the toolshed and Debbie canvassed the neighborhood for dog actors. By Wednesday, she was able to report proudly that she had assembled a cast of eight in addition to Red Rover and Bebe.
    Mrs. Swanson had happily agreed to Snowflake’s playing the part of Juliet and had even volunteered to take her to the beauty parlor to get her hair done and her toenails painted for the occasion.
    “This will do wonders for Snowflake’s self-esteem,” Mrs. Swanson said. “The poor dear has been so depressed since she stopped winning ribbons. The idea of starring in a movie is bound to rejuvenate her.”
    Debbie didn’t have the heart to tell her that Snowflake’s role was a minor one. All she had to do was look glamorous.
    Debbie had also enlisted Trixie, Foxy, Curly, Fifi, and Frisky from the Doggie Park, along with her own dog, Lola, and Tim’s dog, MacTavish.
    The Bernsteins regretfully declined to let Bully participate, because Saturday was his birthday and they were having a party for him.
    “I understand,” Debbie told them. “We’ll miss Bully terribly, but I hope he gets lots of presents.”
    Secretly she was relieved that they wouldn’t have to worry about Aunt Alice straining her knees as she attempted to cram the massive bulldog through the door of the toolshed.
    On Thursday, they filmed three scenes in which Debbie was grieving. In one she wore a scarf; in another, a baseball cap; and in the third, one of her mother’s hair extensions. She looked like a different person in each of the shots.
    Bruce thought the performance was ridiculous, but Andi had written the scenes especially for Debbie and was insistent that they be included.
    “Those scenes provide drama,” she said. “They’re very important.”
    On Friday, they filmed Bobby gazing wistfully out through the chain-link fence, hoping for a glimpse of Juliet. Bruce got that scene in one take,because Red was perfect. The talcum powder had turned him gray enough to satisfy even Andi, and when Bruce went out into the alley with his camera, Red, who had expected to be taken for a run, gazed through the fence with an expression of such longing that it would have broken the heart of anyone who’d seen it. Then Bruce went back into the yard and shot the scene in which Bobby opened the gate and ran into the alley. That, too, was done in one take. As soon as Bruce shouted, “Open, sesame!” Red rushed to the gate, took the latch in his mouth, and shoved the gate open.
    “How did you teach him to do that?” Tim asked in amazement.
    “It’s a step-by-step process,” Bruce explained. “First you teach your dog to go to the gate. Then you teach him the command ‘paws up.’ Then you smear chopped liver on the latch, and while he’s licking it off, you yell, ‘Open, sesame!’ and help him push the gate open. After a while he learns to put all those steps together and does the whole thing on his own whenever you tell him to.”
    “Awesome!” Tim said. “I’m going to teach MacTavish to open the freezer and bring me a dish of ice cream. What’s next on our shooting agenda?”
    “I could grieve again!” Debbie offered eagerly. “I haven’t grieved for Trixie yet.”
    “We’ve got more than enough shots of you grieving,” Bruce said. “What we need now is some action. Let’s film the scene where Red pops up through the roof.”
    A voice spoke suddenly from behind them.
    “What are you guys doing?”
    Jerry Gordon was standing in the alley, peering at them over the gate.
    “What does it look like I’m doing?” Bruce responded irritably. “I’m taking pictures of my dog.”
    “The dog you bought with dirty money,” Jerry said. “The money you made