The Puppy That Came for Christmas by Megan Rix Read Free Book Online Page A

only given one minute’s walk for each week of their life, so at eight weeks Emma could have an eight-minute walk—but not on the road or the park or anywhere that a dog who hadn’t been vaccinated might have been. We had to keep her under virtual puppy house arrest until she was old enough to have her second round of inoculations. I loved the little puppy-dog sounds she made as she ran across the snowy garden or “talked” to Spiky, who was almost her equal in size. Toys were pounced on with delight and dragged through the snow, and always, as tiny puppies do, she needed to be within a few feet of me. If I moved across the garden, she’d be there next to me in a flash.
    When we could, too, we carried her out in a little bag so that she could experience as much of what the world had to offer as possible even before her second vaccination. Cue trips to the supermarket, frosty walks by the river and a bottom-numbing half an hour sitting near one of the local main roads, so that she’d get used to the sound of traffic and become habituated to huge trucks and lorries barreling past—after all, there’s no way except experience for a puppy to know that drivers have also been trained, and that they won’t mow down passersby. All Helper Dogs must be taught to sit at each curb and wait to be told to cross the road. They also (depending on the needs of the person they’re placed with) may be taught to press the button at a pelican crossing to stop the traffic, like Yogi, the dog we’d met who helps Denise. Whenever we left the house, people wanted to say hello to Emma—she was impossible to resist—and she was pleased to have the attention.
    Every now and then, I wondered if her mum was missing her. I thought she must be, so I rang the breeders to find out more about Emma’s first family. They were very pleased to learn that she’d arrived safely and was eating well.
    â€œGuide Dogs for the Blind have always taken all of the puppies before, but this year they couldn’t use them all. We’ve never had two puppies go to Helper Dogs before,” they said. “And she’s such a dainty little thing. We’ll send you some photos of her mum and the other puppies in the litter.”
    I reassured them that Ian and I would love and take care of her, and promised to keep in touch and let them know how Emma was progressing.
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    Finally the snow cleared and Emma and I were able to attend our first Helper Dogs class. There were ooh s and begs of can I have a cuddle from Stacey and Kate, the two dog groomers who had a salon adjacent to the training center. Emma happily obliged.
    â€œShe’s just the sweetest thing.”
    I smiled my agreement.
    â€œOuch!”
    Oh yes, she’d just started doing that. Emma had found her teeth and they could be like little needles.
    Emma was overjoyed to see Eddie, her brother. Liz, Eddie’s puppy parent, told me that Eddie was also chewing like crazy. Jamie gave us all teething toys.
    â€œTry to distract them with a toy,” he said. “It’s a stage they all go through, but you don’t want them damaging your stuff.”
    â€œOr us!” said Jo. She was the third puppy parent to receive a Christmas puppy. Hers was a black Labrador called Elvis who seemed to like nothing more than sleeping in his crate. Eddie, Elvis and Emma. All so named because of their age: Helper Dogs, like many assistance-dogs charities, found it easier for quick reference to name dogs of the same intake with the same letter.
    â€œHe just loves his bed,” Jo said. “He wakes up in the morning around nine . . .”
    Liz and I exchanged a look: sleeping till nine sounded like total luxury.
    â€œ. . . and then he has his breakfast and a little play and he goes back to bed for an hour—or maybe a little longer. He just takes himself off to sleep. That’s when I get my housework done or go grocery