Read Cocoa Online

Authors: Ellen Miles

Cocoa (6 page)

An energetic dog like Cocoa can be a real handful, but there are ways to help a rambunctious puppy calm down. Try to stay calm yourself; if you squeal and raise your hands, the puppy is more likely to jump up on you. If you stand still and just turn away if she does jump, it will help her learn that jumping is not okay. Pet your puppy with long, easy strokes and speak in a low, soothing voice. Take your dog to puppy kindergarten or dog-training classes. Puppies aren’t born with good manners — they need to learn them. Plus, the trainer there will have lots more ideas to help you deal with your wild child.

 

Dear Reader,

 

I have a fan named Sarah who writes once in a while to tell me about her puppy Toby and all his adventures. She gives me updates on everything from the day she first brought him home, to his first collar, to his first Christmas. Toby is a chocolate Lab just like Cocoa (Toby is short for Toblerone, a kind of candy bar), and he is full of mischief. He likes to chew up his own doggy beds, play with his toys, and race around with his dog friends. Once he jumped into the fish pond at a friend’s house! Luckily, Sarah is in a 4-H club where she does a lot of dog training, so I bet Toby will grow up to be a very well-behaved dog.

 

Yours from the Puppy Place,

Ellen Miles

 

P.S. For another sweetheart of a puppy, check out SWEETIE.

DON’T MISS THE NEXT PUPPY PLACE ADVENTURE!

Here’s a peek at
ROCKY!

 

Lizzie caught her breath and took a closer look.
Free Puppy
the ad said.
Bulldog.
Then there was a phone number. That was all.

She frowned. Why didn’t it say
To a Good Home
? It sounded like the person was just going to give the puppy to the first person who called. That was no good. Ms. Dobbins, the director of the local animal shelter where Lizzie volunteered every week, would never do that. If someone wanted to adopt a pet from Caring Paws, they
had to fill out a long application with lots of information about who they were, where they lived, and how they planned to take care of the animal that was about to become part of their family. Ms. Dobbins didn’t just let anyone walk in, pay the adoption fee, and walk back out with a cat or dog.

Lizzie’s aunt Amanda, who ran a doggy day-care center where Lizzie sometimes helped out, would have agreed. She had told Lizzie that responsible dog breeders never sold puppies without interviewing buyers first.

Lizzie thought for a second. Then she closed the notebook in which she’d been writing her pen pal letter. She picked up the newspaper and pushed back her chair. “Mom,” she yelled.

Buddy scrabbled to his feet and followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Mom,” Lizzie said again as she walked into her mother’s study.

Mom spun around on her office chair and
rubbed her eyes. “What is it, honey?” she asked. She looked tired. Mom had been working hard lately on a series of articles about older people in the community. So far she had interviewed a farmer, a husband-and-wife team who ran a flower shop, and a retired detective. She said she loved the project, but Lizzie had noticed that she often went back into her study late at night, instead of reading or watching a movie in the living room.

“Mom, look at this ad,” Lizzie said, plopping the paper down on her mother’s lap.

Mom picked it up and studied the classifieds. “Which one?” she asked. “The one where someone’s selling a saltwater aquarium? I don’t think we —”

“No, this one,” said Lizzie, pointing to the ad.

“Aha,” said Mom. “Well. I hope they find the puppy a good home.”

“Exactly,” said Lizzie. “That’s exactly my point. It doesn’t even look like they’re trying!” She
picked up the paper. “It’s like they don’t care
who
takes the puppy.”

Mom nodded. “That’s too bad,” she said.

“Mom?” Lizzie asked. She came over to lean on her mom’s chair. Buddy joined her, leaning against Mom’s legs.

“Oh, no, Lizzie. You’re not thinking —” Mom started to shake her head.

“I am,” said Lizzie. “I think we should foster this puppy.”

Don’t miss any of these other stories by Ellen Miles!

Bandit

Baxter

Bear

Bella

Buddy

Chewy and Chica

Cocoa

Cody

Flash

Goldie

Honey

Jack

Lucky

Maggie and Max

Moose

Muttley

Noodle

Patches

Princess

Pugsley

Rascal

Scout

Shadow

Snowball

Sweetie

Ziggy

Copyright © 2011 by Ellen Miles. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

Cover art by Tim O’Brien
Original cover design by Steve Scott

First printing, December 2011

e-ISBN 978-0-545-46990-6

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

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