Sam the Stolen Puppy Read Free Page A

make a big fuss of Sam. “You’re such a clever boy! I can’t believe you taught him that, Jack, that’s brilliant!”
    “We’re going to learn ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ next,” Jack said, pleased with the reaction he’d got. “But it’s a bit harder.”

    The real dog-training classes started to go a lot better after the first couple of weeks – it was as though Sam suddenly got the hang of it. Emily felt really proud of him at the classes. He was so little compared to some of the other dogs, but he was one of the best ones there.
    “Sam, sit!” Emily was standing just in front of him. Sam looked up at her enquiringly. Oh yes, he knew this one. He thumped his bottom down, tail swishing the grass happily.
    “Good boy! Now, stay!” Emily turned and walked away.
    Sam watched her uncertainly. He wanted to follow Emily, but he knew he wasn’t supposed to. He gave a little whine, hoping she might come back to him.
    Emily looked round. “Stay, Sam!” she said firmly.
    Sam sighed, and watched Emily with his head on one side, waiting. Yes! Now she was calling him. He leaped up and raced towards her, frisking round her legs happily.
    “He’s doing really well, Emily, you’ve worked hard with him.” Lucy, the class instructor, was smiling down at Sam. “You gorgeous boy.” She tickled him under the chin, and Sam closed his eyes blissfully. “Right, everyone, we’re going to practise that a few more times.”
    Emily told Sam to sit again, and walked back to the other side of the training area. Sam waited beautifully, and Emily glowed with pride. Quite a few people were standing with Dad, watching the class, and she imagined them all thinking how well behaved he was. One couple seemed particularly interested in the dogs, and Emily was sure she saw them point to Sam. They had a gorgeous pointer with them. Maybe they wanted to bring him tothe class, although he looked a bit old. As Emily watched, the pointer half-turned to look at a dog walking behind him, and the man who was holding his lead yanked him back really hard.
    The dog crouched back against the man’s legs with his shoulders hunched, looking miserable, and Emily gasped. That was so mean!

    The man caught her watching, and smiled at her. Emily looked away quickly. She’d almost forgotten Sam, and she turned back to call him.
    Sam had got a bit bored waiting, and he thought Emily had forgotten him too. He was creeping very slowly towards her on his bottom, with a “please don’t tell me off!” look on his face.
    Emily giggled. He was so funny!
    Emily soon stopped thinking about the couple with the pointer, she was too busy concentrating on Sam. At the end of the class Dad was full of praise for them both, and they were all walking happily back to the park gates when Sam turned round and yapped. The pointer was right behind him, andhe wanted to say hello.
    “Oh, sorry,” Dad said to the man holding him. “Is your dog friendly? Sam hasn’t met that many other dogs yet, he gets a bit excited.”
    Emily glared. That wasn’t fair. Sam did like meeting other dogs, but they shouldn’t have been letting their pointer get that close if they didn’t want Sam to talk to him.
    “Don’t worry! Bertie’s very friendly,” the man said, smiling.
    Emily didn’t think the pointer looked that friendly. He looked as though he was too scared of being told off to do anything . He cowered away from the man, and something about the man’s too-nice voice made Emily shiver. She didn’t trust him.
    “Your puppy is gorgeous,” the woman who was with him said. “Is he a pedigree Labrador?”
    Dad said that Sam was indeed a pedigree dog, and mentioned the breeder he’d come from. The couple seemed very interested, and asked lots of friendly questions, but Emily still didn’t like them. She tugged at Dad’s hand, hoping to get him to leave, but he ignored her.
    “Da-aaad… Can we go?” Emily muttered.
    Dad looked down at her in surprise. “Wait a