Big Dog Decisions

by Michele Jakubowski

  I caught up with Sydney. She was having trouble with the tape, so I put out my hand to help her.

  “Thanks,” she grumbled and handed me the tape. “My mom says if we are all going to be a part of the business, we all have to help.”

  “I agree,” I said. “With all of us helping, it will make things easier, right?”

  Sydney smiled a little bit. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just really want this to work.”

  “So do we,” I said. “Speaking of being a team — you’re not really going to make me and Gomez pick up all the dog poop, are you?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course not! Can’t you two take a joke? Come on, we’ve got a lot more signs to hang up. If we split up, we’ll get it done quicker.”

  She was still being bossy, but at least she wasn’t so angry.

  “Has anyone called yet?” Harley asked. The two of us were sitting on my front porch waiting for the phone to ring.

  I turned the phone on to make sure it was working. It was, which made me feel even worse.

  “Not yet,” I told her.

  It had been three days, and no one had called us about Happy Tails. Not one phone call. I was starting to worry.

  Gomez and Sidney rode up on their bikes, looking even more despressed than me and Harley.

  “Any luck?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Sidney said glumly.

  “We saw two people walking their dogs, but neither wanted our help. They said they liked the exercise,” Gomez said. “So much for being helpful.”

  Sidney got off his bike and sat on the steps. “We’re never going to get dogs.”

  I looked at my three friends sitting sadly on the porch. I felt awful. This whole dog walking business had been my idea. We had worked so hard to make the flyers and hang them up.

  Plus, I really wanted my little dog. I was not going to give up! I couldn’t give up! I marched off toward my neighbor Mrs. West’s house.

  “Where are you going?” Harley called.

  “To get us a client!” I yelled over my shoulder. I have never been more determined about anything in my life — not even playing Galaxy Conquest!

  The three of them jumped up and followed me. My heart was pounding as I knocked on Mrs. West’s front door. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I felt very determined.

  Mrs. West looked surprised to see us when she answered the door.

  “Well, hello kids!” she said. “What brings you by? Did Buster cause trouble again?”

  Buster was Mrs. West’s bulldog. He was always getting out of her yard and digging holes around the neighborhood.

  “No, but we wanted to talk to you about Buster.” I took a deep breath and kept going. “We’ve started a new business walking dogs and were wondering if you’d like us to walk Buster. He seems to really like walking around the neighborhood. I thought he might like it even more if he did it with us.”

  At first Mrs. West didn’t say anything. I took another deep breath and rubbed my sweaty palms on my dress. This had to work or we were doomed.

  “I have been kind of bad about walking him myself,” Mrs. West said. “I guess he might like it if you got him out every once in a while.”

  As if he knew we were talking about him, Buster ran down the hallway and out the front door. Gomez didn’t see him coming. Buster knocked him right over. Poor Gomez.

  “Buster! Get back here!” Mrs. West called.

  “I’ll get him,” Sidney said. In a flash, he was holding Buster by the collar.

  “Oh, thank you!” Mrs. West smiled. “I think having you walk Buster would be wonderful! Do you think you could start today?”

  We all nodded excitedly. As Mrs. West went to get Buster’s leash, we jumped up and down and tried not to scream.

  “Happy Tails is officially in business!” I said.

  After we got Buster, our business really took off. Gomez and I were excited as we went to walk our newest dog named Princess. Her owner, Ms. Meyers, had twisted her ankle. She couldn’t walk Princess for a few weeks.

  Princess was the type of dog Sydney wanted. She looked like a white ball of fluff and would look perfect in one of those puppy purse things. Princess lived right next door to Sydney.

  At first I didn’t know why Sydney would choose to walk Buster with Harley instead of Princess. I soon found out why.

  “Princess has very delicate feet. Make sure she walks half the time on the sidewalk and half the time on the grass,” Ms. Myers told us. She had been giving us directions on how to walk Princess for over ten minutes. Who knew walking a little dog could be so complicated?

  The whole time Ms. Myers was talking, Princess was barking and running around in circles. When I tried to pet her, she growled and showed me her teeth.

  Ms. Myers went on, “Make sure you stay away from the Laurence’s house. They have a big dog that scares my little Princess.”

  With all the barking and growling Princess was doing, I found it hard to believe she was scared of anything!

  “Halfway through the walk, let Princess stop and rest and give her a treat. Don’t let her walk too far, or she’ll get overtired and grumpy,” Ms. Myers said. I made sure not to look at Gomez. I knew if I did, I would start laughing. This was ridiculous!

  Finally, Ms. Myers put a sweater on Princess and handed me her leash. The dog looked so silly in that sweater! If she weren’t so mean, I’d almost feel sorry for her.

  “Oh! One more thing,” Ms. Myers called as we walked out the door. “Take this umbrella.”

  I looked up at the sky. I didn’t see a single cloud.

  “It doesn’t look like rain,” I said, trying to be nice.

  “It’s for the sun, silly. And in case you forget, I put all the instructions on these cards.” Ms. Myers handed Gomez a pile of index cards with writing on both sides.

  “Uh, thanks,” he said as he took the cards, trying not to laugh.

  Gomez and I didn’t say a word until we got to the end of the street and turned the corner. Then we both burst out laughing.

  “That was crazy!” Gomez said. “I bet babysitting a baby would be easier!”

  “I bet a baby wouldn’t try to bite us, either!” I replied.

  When we were about halfway through the walk, I stopped to give Princess her doggie treat.

  “Hey! She hasn’t barked the whole walk,” Gomez said.

  “You’re right. That’s strange,” I said. I bent down and pet Princess on the top of her little head. She stood up on her back two legs like she wanted me to keep petting her. When I did, she jumped up to lick my face. Then she twirled around like a ballerina.

  “Is this the same dog?” I asked. I didn’t know why, but Princess seemed much calmer when she wasn’t around Ms. Myers and all her crazy rules!

  We were about to keep walking when I saw Mrs. Frank coming toward us. She was walking her two dogs, Missy and Max. She was still dressed in her work clothes. She looked to be in a rush.

  “Hello, Mrs. Frank,” Gomez and I said.

  “Hello there, boys,” she replied. “Is that Princess you’re walking? I heard Patty Myers had hurt her ankle.”

  “It is,” Gomez told her. “We started a dog walking business with Sydney and Harley. It’s called Happy Tails.”

  “Really?” Mrs. Frank’s eyes grew wide. “That’s great! Ever since my kids went off to college, Missy and Max have not been getting walked enough. We try to get them out, but Mr. Frank and I have been so busy with work. Can I hire you?”

  “You bet!” I said.

  We worked out a schedule with Mrs. Frank and hurried to get Princess home on time. Gomez and I were so excited. Happy Tails was going better than we’d hoped!

  Happy Tails was going great. We had a lot of dogs to walk and had been saving a bunch of money. It was adding up quickly. Howev
er, we spent so much time walking dogs that we didn’t have much time for anything else.

  I was glad when I woke up on Saturday and it was raining. I was supposed to walk Mrs. Lee’s poodle with Gomez, but I really didn’t feel like it. I was happy about the bad weather. It was a good excuse not to walk any dogs.

  Plus, my friend Aubrey had invited me over. I was heading out the door when I heard my mom.

  “Heading over to Mrs. Lee’s?” she called from the kitchen. “I am so proud of you, Sydney, for taking this dog walking business seriously.”

  “Thanks, Mom, but I’m not walking Fifi today. It’s raining.”

  My mom looked out the window.

  “It’s just drizzling,” she said. “Besides, dogs need to be walked even in bad weather. It’s part of taking care of them.”

  I felt my face get hot. Tears were stinging my eyes. I liked that my mom said she was proud, but I really didn’t want to walk a dog today. I just wanted one day to play with my friend and not be responsible.

  “But it’s raining!” I whined. I was trying hard not cry.

  “This is what I meant when I said dogs were a lot of work,” my mom said, handing me an umbrella. “They need to be taken out in all kinds of weather.”

  “Even snow?” I asked. I hadn’t thought about that. Some days it got so cold my mom would drive me to school so we wouldn’t have to wait at the bus stop. Now I was going to have to walk a dog in that weather?

  “Yep,” my mom said. “You’d better get going. You don’t want to be late.”

  I opened the umbrella and headed over to Mrs. Lee’s. Gomez was waiting out front for me. He had his hood up and his head down. He looked as miserable as I felt.

  Mrs. Lee was so happy to see us. “Thank you both! Fifi really looks forward to these walks! I don’t get around like I used to. Just a short one today will be fine in this rain.”

  Fifi did seem happy to see us, and Mrs. Lee was so grateful. I knew we had done the right thing, so why didn’t I feel happier?

  “Hurry up!” I said, “They’re going to start playing soon.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can,” Gomez replied. I didn’t believe him.

  Gomez’s older brother Lucas and his friends played football most days after school. I loved football, and I liked watching them play. Secretly, I was hoping they would let me play sometime. Gomez did not like playing football (or his brother Lucas), but he was a good friend so he went with me.

  We were busy planting flowers in Mr. Thom’s yard while Sydney and Harley walked the dogs. Mr. Thom wasn’t one of our dog walking clients. He lived next door to Pancake, a crazy mutt we walked sometimes. Pancake had gotten away from me and Gomez when we were walking him. He went straight for Mr. Thom’s flower beds. He’d dug up half the flowers before we could stop him!

  We talked about it with our parents. They explained that these things can happen when you have a business. They said it was up to us to make things right with Mr. Thom.

  Sydney, Harley, Gomez, and I had a company meeting. We decided to use some of the money we’d made to buy flowers to replace the ones Pancake had dug up. Mr. Thom was happy with our solution.

  I felt good about doing the right thing. I was annoyed, though, that we had to use so much of the money we had earned.

  “Looks good, boys,” Mr. Thom said when we’d finished. “Thank you for your hard work.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Thom,” Gomez said.

  “Sorry again about the flowers. We’ll keep a better eye on Pancake,” I told him.

  We turned and ran for Gomez’s house. When we got there, Lucas and his friends were just getting started.

  Lucas saw us coming and asked, “Wat is wrong with you? Why are you so out of breath and covered in dirt?”

  I wiped my hands on my jeans and said, “We were planting flowers.”

  “Flowers? I thought you guys were walking dogs?” Lucas asked.

  “It’s a long story,” I said. Lucas’s friends were looking at us.

  Lucas turned to his friends and said, “These two goofballs spend all their time walking other people’s dogs. Isn’t that crazy?”

  Lucas’s friend Pete shrugged his shoulders and asked, “Do you get paid?”

  Gomez replied, “Yes! A lot!”

  “I wouldn’t say a lot . . .” I started, but Gomez kept right on talking.

  “We make so much money!” he said. “And it is so easy! All we do is walk a few dogs around the block. It’s the best job in the world!”

  Lucas’s friends seemed impressed. They usually tease us. It was nice to have them be nice to us for a change. One of them even asked if we needed any help.

  “We’re good for now, but we’ll keep you in mind,” Gomez said.

  He seemed to be really enjoying the attention. I have to admit, planting flowers was a pain, but it did feel good to impress a bunch of 13-year-olds!

  “Why are you so dressed up?” Sidney asked when I answered the door.

  I was wearing a brand-new outfit: zebra print leggings under a black skirt and a pink top with sequins. It was totally adorable. “We’re going out for dinner tonight to celebrate my dad’s birthday.”

  “Oh,” he replied. “So you are going to wear that to walk Louie?”

  “Yes. That’s why I have it on,” I said.

  “Seems weird, but okay. Let’s go,” he said as we started toward the Laurence’s house to get Louie.

  I was glad I had on a cute outfit to cheer me up, because I was not happy to be walking another dog. I had been thinking about the dog walking business a lot lately. I was sort of sick of walking dogs. They were all nice dogs, and it felt good to be helping people and making money. But I was tired of it taking up all my time. Having a business was a lot of work.

  I thought about saying something to Sidney, but before I could, we were at the Laurence’s.

  Mrs. Laurence was one of my favorite neighbors. She was always in a good mood. She looked frustrated, though, as she answered the door. Her dog, Louie, was barking up a storm and trying to get out. Louie was a black and tan coonhound and one of the biggest dogs in the neighborhood.

  “Louie! Settle down!” she said to the dog. Then she turned to us. “Come on in, guys. Thanks so much for doing this.”

  I looked over at Sidney. I wasn’t too sure about walking this dog. I was surprised to see that Sidney had a huge smile on his face. He looked super excited.

  “Your dog is amazing!” Sidney said.

  Mrs. Laurence put a leash on Louie and handed it to Sidney. “He can be quite a handful. If he’s too much for you, please feel free to bring him back.”

  “He’s awesome!” Sidney said. “This is exactly the kind of dog I want to get!”

  “You can have him,” Mrs. Laurence said with a smile.

  “Really?” Sidney’s eyes got big.

  “Unfortunately, no,” Mrs. Laurence laughed. “My husband loves this big crazy dog.”

  “You don’t?” I asked. I was starting to think that maybe I didn’t want a dog. It was sort of nice to find another person who felt the same way.

  “Dogs are a lot of work,” she said. “When we first got Louie he was into everything! He would eat socks, toys, and video games.”

  “Video games?” Sidney and I said at the same time. I would be so upset if a dog ate my copy of Galaxy Conquest or Galaxy Conquest 2!

  I knew Sidney loved Galaxy Conquest as much as I did. Surely he wouldn’t want a dog now that he knew it might eat his games. This would be the perfect time to talk to him about quitting the business.

  “Isn’t Louie awesome?” he said as we walked down the driveway. “I want a dog just like him!”

  “But what about your video games?” I asked.

  “I’ll just have to put them where he can’t get them,” Sidney said. “My mom is always bugging
me to pick up my stuff anyway.”

  I didn’t know what to do. Happy Tails had been my idea. Sidney seemed more excited than ever to get a dog, but I wanted out.

  Just then Louie stopped suddenly on the sidewalk. I got closer to see what was wrong. I noticed that he had a long strand of thick drool dripping from his mouth. I was about to say how gross it looked when Louie shook his whole body.

  Drool went flying everywhere! I was standing so close I couldn’t get out of the way in time. When he stopped shaking, I opened my eyes. There was drool all over my brand-new outfit!

  That was the last straw. I knew for sure that I wanted out of this business! No more Happy Tails for this girl!

  “And then slobber flew everywhere!” I could barely finish telling Gomez the story about Louie slobbering on Sydney without cracking up. Gomez was laughing so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants.

  I noticed Sydney was standing with her arms crossed. She looked mad, so I tried to stop laughing. Sydney had been in a bad mood all day. She wasn’t talking much, either. That was very strange for her (and quiet for us). I thought it might be about Louie ruining her clothes, but that had been days ago.

  Harley, Gomez, Sydney, and I were meeting to plan our dog walking for the week. When we started doing this, it was fun planning the walks. We all wanted to walk our favorite dogs. Now we weren’t so excited about it.

  “I have basketball practice starting next week. I can’t walk any dogs on Tuesday or Thursday after school or on Saturday morning,” I told them. I couldn’t wait for basketball to start! It was my favorite sport by far.

  “Me too,” Gomez said. Even though Gomez wasn’t very tall, he was fast. We made a great team.

  “I have soccer on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday afternoons,” Harley said. She was a great soccer player. She played on a team that traveled all over for games, which was pretty cool.