Rascal Read Free Page A

“Hey!” Charles yelled. “Take it easy!”
    â€œLooks like someone needs to learn some leash manners,” said a college-age girl who was arriving at the same time. She stuck out her hand. “I’m Jamie, your teacher. And this is —?”
    â€œRascal,” Lizzie said. “We signed him up yesterday. We just got him on Saturday.”
    â€œOh, right,” said Jamie. “You’re the family that’s been fostering puppies. Charles and Lizzie Peterson, right? I’ve heard all about you. Isn’t one of your puppies going to be a guide dog?”
    Charles and Lizzie exchanged a look. They were getting famous for fostering puppies! Cool. Lizzie nodded. “That was Shadow,” she said. “Our last foster pup.”
    â€œThat’s awesome,” said Jamie. “Good for you.”
    She pushed open the door to the gym, and the barking got louder. “Oh, wow,” Lizzie said when she saw all the puppies. There were six of them —no, seven! Eight! They were running and tumbling and wrestling and biting one another. One of them, a tiny brown dachshund, was peeing in the corner while its owner chatted with the owner of a baby bulldog.
    â€œOops,” Lizzie said, pointing to the mess.
    Jamie shrugged and pulled a roll of paper towels out of her tote bag. “It’s all part of puppy kindergarten,” she said.
    â€œYou can let Rascal off his leash,” Jamie added as she headed over to clean up the puddle. “We keep the door shut so the puppies can play safely when they first arrive. That way they burn off some energy.”
    â€œBut —” Lizzie began. She wasn’t sure how Rascal would get along with other dogs. They had decided to wait a few more days before introducing him to Goldie and Rufus.
    â€œJust keep an eye on him!” Jamie called as she went to talk to another owner.
    â€œOkay, Rascal, here you go!” Charles said, removing the leash.
    Yahoo! Freedom at last! That leash thing was horrible. Didn’t they understand that he needed to run and play? Plus, he had a job to do. He had to let all these other dogs know who was in charge.
    The second he was free, Rascal dashed away, zooming around the gym. He ran up to one puppy after another, pouncing on each of them and making it clear that he was the boss. The tiny dachshund pounced right back, but the bigger bulldog trembled in fear, backing up against his owner’s legs. Next Rascal jumped on a black Lab puppy, and a German shepherd with gigantic ears, and two poodles, one black and one white. Rascal stole a squeaky football toy from a shaggy black pup and chased a funny corgi puppy with short legs under the bleachers.
    Lizzie and Charles chased all over the gym after Rascal, trying to keep him from scaring the other puppies. “Rascal!” Lizzie cried. “Be nice!”
    â€œCome on, Rascal,” Charles pleaded. “Can’t you be friendly?”
    Soon Lizzie was completely out of breath.
    â€œOkay, everybody, let’s leash our pups and get started,” Jamie called from the middle of the gym floor.
    â€œHa,” said Charles. “Like
that’s
going to be easy.” He and Lizzie had already learned that it was tricky to catch Rascal if he didn’t want to be caught.
    â€œCome here, you!” Lizzie said. She tried to grab Rascal as he flew past her toward the cowardly bulldog. It was so embarrassing. All the other owners were already standing in a big circle with their puppies. They were ready to work.
    Finally, Jamie snuck up on Rascal while he was trying to wrestle with the shaggy black puppy. She hung on to his collar until Lizzie could snap his leash on. “Thanks,” Lizzie said, blushing.
    â€œNo problem,” Jamie said. “He’s just a wild child. That’s why he’s at puppy kindergarten, right?” She smiled at Lizzie.
    But an hour later, she wasn’t smiling as much. Rascal