Toby's Story

by W. Bruce Cameron

  I sped up so I could bark at the big dogs. The big dogs ignored me. They usually did. I wondered why they never barked back.

  Tyler sped up, too. He stayed close.

  The pack of boys ahead of us had begun to spread out, some running a bit slower, some pushing ahead of the rest. A boy in dark shorts was running just in front of us as we jogged along the fence that held the big dogs in. I passed him, and then another boy. Somewhere up ahead, the Ranch would be waiting, and I’d get a big bowl of cool water and play with Sadie and greet Walt. I could hardly wait.

  I glanced back and discovered to my great joy that Tyler had finally figured out how to play Chase Me! He was right behind me. I wagged my tail for him and looked ahead again.

  Slowly, we passed boy after boy. Our trail took us back under more trees and over a small bridge with a skinny creek trickling underneath. Tyler’s feet pounded on the wooden boards, and my claws scratched them. I would have liked to stop for a drink, but I didn’t want to lose this sensational game that we were all playing. A drink could come later.

  A boy ahead of us tried to jump over a log that lay in the path. He stumbled, though, and fell to his hands and knees. I bounded over the log easily and stopped to check on the fallen boy. I licked his face. It was nice and sweaty. Tasty!

  “You okay?” Tyler shouted from behind.

  “Yeah … okay…,” the boy gasped, getting slowly to his feet. Tyler hurdled the log before the boy could start running again, and I dashed out in front of Tyler once more. Our path wound in slow curves and then led us down a slope. I could see a break in the trees ahead and sunlight shining on grass.

  Only one boy was ahead of Tyler and me now, halfway down the slope. He wore a light-colored T-shirt and dark shoes. When he looked back over his shoulder, I barked at him happily. He knew how to play Chase Me, too! He was asking me to come and get him!

  I was delighted to oblige.

  I put on speed as we headed down the slope, and Tyler, breathing hard now, stayed close behind. We were going to catch that other boy! Any second now!

  The boy in the dark shoes was right in front of us when we broke out from under the shadows of the trees and into the sunlight. But he was breathing hard, and his legs were starting to wobble a bit with each step.

  I tore around the boy, my claws digging deep into the earth. Now I was running all by myself, ahead of Tyler and all of the pack. I looked back to be sure that they understood what to do. It was their turn to play Chase Me now!

  The boy in the dark shoes was wobbling more and more. He began to slow down. Tyler did not. He ran steadily, not fast but never faltering. He drew close to the other boy. For a short time they ran side by side. Then Tyler slowly pulled ahead.

  It was funny. Tyler used to like running behind all the other boys. Then he had wanted to run just with me. Now it seemed as if his favorite thing was to run with lots of boys again, but in front, not behind.

  At least, the smile on his face as he passed the boy in the dark shoes made it look like being in front was his favorite thing. But then that smile faded.

  I turned to look ahead and saw that a big hill was rising up in front of us. I charged up it, looking back often to encourage Tyler and the other boy to remember the rules of Chase Me. I was in the front now, and they had to catch me if they could.

  Tyler was going slower now. The smile was off his face. But his feet were still steady on the ground. The boy in the dark shoes was behind him, and even from where I was running, I could hear how hard that boy was panting.

  More boys were starting to jog out from the trees behind us. Great! We could all play together!

  A sound drifted to my ears from over the top of the hill. People were shouting and cheering. They sounded excited and happy. They should come and run with us. They’d be even happier!

  A warm breeze brought a scent to my nose. Mona! She was one of the people up ahead! I wanted to be with her, so I put on a little extra speed and reached the top of the hill.

  I looked back to check on Tyler. He was still jogging after me. The boy in the dark shoes had stopped running and started walking. A few of the other boys were doing the same.

  What a silly thing to do.

  I looked ahead and saw that we’d run in a big circle and come back to where we’d started. It wasn’t nearly as far a run as the Ranch. Why hadn’t we gone to the Ranch? Tyler must have gotten very lost. Oh well.

  I could hear and see Mona now, as well as smell her. She was at the bottom of the hill, waving and shouting my name and Tyler’s.

  I ran to her, and she dropped to her knees to greet me. “Toby, you silly boy!” she kept saying. She grabbed hold of my collar.

  Then Mona looked up. “Tyler! Tyler!” she shouted, jumping and waving.

  Tyler was running down the hill now. His stride was wide, and his back was straight. I pulled on the collar so Mona would let me run to him. It was what I was supposed to do.

  “No, Toby,” she said, pulling back. I whined impatiently. She didn’t understand. I looked up at her, trying to explain it with my eyes. Tyler was running. I was supposed to run with him.

  “Oh well…,” Mona said and let go.

  Wonderful! I raced after Tyler, barking at him happily, circled around his feet a few times, and jogged with him the rest of the way down the hill.

  Tyler stopped running and put his hands on his knees and panted and panted. All the people clapped, and there was a lot of yelling. Breathless, he put my leash back on. After a little while, the rest of the boys staggered over the hill and down to where we were waiting, and everybody clapped and yelled some more.

  I wagged and wagged. All these people seemed very pleased. I must have been a very good dog.

  * * *

  After all the clapping and shouting and talking was over, Tyler drank a lot of water from a plastic bottle and poured some more over his head, and Mona poured some from another bottle into her hand for me to lap up. Then Mona pulled on my leash, and we went back to the place where all the cars were parked. One car pulled up and stopped for us to get in. Tyler and Mona sat together in the back seat with me.

  Patsy was sitting in the front seat. Mona and Tyler were laughing, and both of them talked at the same time. They said my name a lot and Tyler’s, too, and Patsy smiled, but she didn’t seem as happy.

  Then she said something back to them, and all their happiness went away, too. Just like that.

  I was confused and looked from Tyler to Mona. Was something wrong? Had I been a bad dog? I sat in case that was what they wanted. I held up a paw for Tyler to shake.

  He took it. “Good boy, Toby,” he said, but his voice still sounded miserable.

  I did Lie Still, curled up against Mona. She rubbed my ears. I was beginning to think I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was still hard to understand how all the happiness in that car could change to sadness so quickly.

  “We’ll go back now,” Patsy said soberly, and she began to drive.

  When we got back home, I jumped out of the car. Fran was waiting for us at the doorway.

  “Your mom’s already in the hospice wing with your grandfather,” she said to Tyler. “We’ll go right there.” She looked down at me. “The dog’s a mess. Mona, take him and get him cleaned up.”

  Tyler bent down and picked me up. He held me and put his face in my fur, and I felt his body relax just a little.

  “It’s just a little mud,” Patsy said gently. “I don’t think it matters all that much.”

  Fran looked at Tyler and at me. And for the first time, I did not feel like a bad dog around her.

  “Yes, of course,” she said gently. “You’re right.” She reached out a hand and stroked my back. “Good dog, Toby.”

  16

  Tyler put me down on the floor, and we went along the hallway in a pack—Patsy, Fran, Mona, Tyler, and me. Mona kept hold of my leash. In a moment, I saw that we were headed for the Quiet Place.

  “I don’t think you’ve been to this wing be
fore,” Fran said to Tyler as we walked. “It’s just a place where we can take very good care of people like your grandfather. Everything is about keeping them comfortable, about taking care of them and their families. Whatever your grandfather needs, we’ll make sure that he has it. And I’ve been in touch with your mother. She and your father will be here as soon as they can.”

  Tyler nodded. I looked up into his face and Mona’s, trying to decide why everyone was so sad. We’d had so much fun running. What had happened?

  Fran opened a door, and Tyler went inside. He reached out for Mona’s hand, the one holding my leash, and held it. So Mona and I went inside with him. Patsy and Fran stayed in the doorway, looking in.

  Grandad was there! He was sitting up in a bed, leaning back against the headboard. I ran up to the bed, wagging hard, and put my muddy front paws up on the quilt, trying to tell him what a good time we’d had, Tyler and I, running along the track. How we hadn’t found the Ranch and Sadie and Walt, but it was all right, because we’d played Chase Me with lots of boys.

  Grandad moved his hand, more slowly than he usually did, to rub my ears.

  “How’d you do?” he asked Tyler. His words came more slowly, too.

  “I won,” Tyler said, a little shakily. “Toby and I won. He ran the whole thing with me, Grandad.”

  Grandad grinned. “Of course he did. And what about this young lady? Is she your girlfriend yet?”

  Tyler groaned. “Grandad!”

  Mona spoke up almost at the same time Tyler did. “Yes,” she said.

  Grandad chuckled. “I thought so.”

  “Grandad? What happened?” Tyler asked. I dropped my feet down to the floor so I could look up at him better. “Are you sick?”

  “It’s the old ticker, I’m afraid.” Grandad had to stop talking to draw in a breath. “Just ran out of time. Sit here with me awhile, will you?”

  Tyler sat down in a chair. Mona sat next to him and held on to his hand. There was so much sadness in that room that I sat down on Tyler’s feet and whined. I wished we could go outside and run and run so fast that we’d leave all of this sorrow behind.

  * * *

  For the next day or two, Tyler and I still went for a run in the mornings. But after that, we’d go right to Grandad’s room. Mona came, too, and a woman Tyler called “Mom” and a man he called “Dad” were there a lot as well. Sometimes Grandad talked to us and had the energy to reach up and scratch my ears. Sometimes he just lay still.

  A few days after Tyler and I had run in the woods with all the other boys, Patsy came to find me. I was outside on the lawn, bringing the ball back to Dorothy.

  “I’m afraid I need Toby, Dorothy,” Patsy said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Dorothy said quietly. I laid the ball in her lap and ran over to Patsy, who gave me a treat.

  “Come, Toby. I have a job for you,” she said, and she walked with me down the hall to the Quiet Place. I was not surprised when we headed for Grandad’s new room.

  Tyler was there, and Mona, too. Mom was sitting in a chair near Grandad’s bed, and Dad was leaning over her with an arm around her shoulders.

  Grandad was asleep, leaning back on his pillows. His breathing sounded like Tyler’s after he and I had finished our morning runs.

  I wanted to say hello to Grandad, so I jumped up on the bed. He didn’t move. I sniffed at his face. There was a smell I recognized, a faint one that somehow told me Grandad was far away, too far to rub my ears or feed me a treat or call me by my name.

  I knew what to do. I did Lie Still.

  “Good boy, Toby,” Patsy said softly. “Shall I leave you together?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Dad said. His voice was hoarse.

  Tyler came over to the bed and stroked my head. He ran a hand along my back. “Good-bye, Grandad. I love you,” he said softly.

  Mom and Dad came close to the bed, too. Mona hesitated, but Tyler held out his hand to her, and she reached over to take it.

  I did Lie Still, feeling the warmth of Grandad’s side along my back. All these people were here with Grandad because they loved him. I could feel the love coming from them and how it wrapped around Grandad and held him close.

  Grandad belonged to all these people.

  And I did, too.

  It was a new thought for me, and it made me so happy my tail wanted to wag, but I didn’t let it. I knew tail wagging was not part of Lie Still.

  My life was going to be different from my mother’s. She belonged to one person, to Walt. But I did not. I wasn’t Mona’s dog, or Patsy’s, or Tyler’s, or Eddie’s. I belonged to all my friends. I was everyone’s dog.

  I was surrounded by people who loved me, just like Grandad was.

  Suddenly, I understood that I was the luckiest dog in the world.

  STARSCAPE BOOKS

  Reading & Activity Guide to

  Toby’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale

  By W. Bruce Cameron

  Ages 8–12; Grades 3–7

  Synopsis

  In W. Bruce Cameron’s Toby’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale, beagle puppy Toby teaches his newfound human friends that you can teach a new dog new tricks, but it takes a lot of patience and work. The people who train and treasure him teach Toby some vital life lessons, too. Fun-loving but sensitive Toby narrates the story. Toby describes his cozy early puppyhood on the Ranch with his mom and littermates; being adopted by nursing-home therapist Patsy and her animal-loving daughter, Mona; his battle with an energy-sapping undiagnosed allergy; and, most important, his development into a successful therapy dog, beloved by the residents and staff of the nursing home, where Patsy works (though Patsy’s boss Fran is tough to win over)! Through poignant and sometimes puzzling interactions with a variety of people, young and old, happy and sad, healthy and sick, Toby discovers his true home, his “pack,” and his purpose.

  Reading Toby’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale with Your Children

  Pre-Reading Discussion Questions

  1.In Toby’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale, Toby, a beagle puppy, is the main character and narrator. Have you read other stories, or seen movies, with dog or animal protagonists? Was the animal itself the narrator or did a person tell the story? Do you prefer that it be one or the other? How or why does it make the story more, or less, interesting to you as a reader (or viewer)?

  2.From your own experience, or from observing someone else’s special connection with a dog, what are your ideas about what a dog’s (or other pet’s) purpose, or purposes, might be?

  3.Do you think it is important to feel like you have a special purpose, or role, in your family, school, or community? Why?

  Post-Reading Discussion Questions

  1. As the narrator, beagle puppy Toby describes things from a candid, canine perspective. For example, in Chapter 1, commenting on horses he sees beyond his enclosure, Toby says: “Far away was another pen with very big, long-legged dogs inside it. One of them actually had a person riding on its back. Amazing!” Can you think of other examples from the text where Toby shares a funny impression, or misimpression, of someone or something? Can you cite some examples of wise, or thoughtful, observations Toby makes about human nature or life, from his unique, “dog’s-eye” point of view?

  2. In Chapter 2, Toby’s feet become painful and itchy. How does this issue with his paws affect Toby’s behavior? How does it affect his owner (Walt’s) and visitors’ impressions of Toby? How is he different than a typical beagle?

  3. When his sister Tabitha gets adopted, Toby comments: “It was a little sad, but it was right, too. Dogs belonged with human families. Human families needed dogs.” Do you agree with Toby? Do you have, or wish you had, a dog? How does (or could) having a dog make a difference in your family?

  4. In Chapter 3, why is Mona’s mom (Patsy) reluctant to adopt Toby, when she learns that he is a beagle? Once they decide to bring Toby to live at the nursing home where Patsy works, Mona explains Toby’s role of therapy dog, t
elling him: “People can give the patients their medicine and help them get into wheelchairs and stuff like that. But they can’t really make them happy. That’s what you can do. You can make people happy.” Do you agree with Mona that a puppy can help elderly residents in a nursing home in ways that a human can’t? Explain why you agree or disagree.

  5. Toby loves that he and Mona spend time with lots of new friends, like Trent and his Grandad. But Toby wonders, in Chapter 4, who his actual owner is since he interacts with so many people each day, and he is left alone at night: “Which one did I belong to? Who was my new human family?” Why do you think it is so important to Toby to figure out who he belongs to, or who “belongs” to him?

  6. When the vet diagnoses Toby’s gluten allergy, Mona and Patsy feel guilty for not realizing the problem sooner, but Toby “forgives” them and is just glad he has more energy to run and play. How does Toby “meet” Eddie, who runs the kitchen at the nursing home?

  7. In Chapter 6, Patsy’s boss Fran asks: “What happened to our calm little puppy?” Can you explain how solving Toby’s allergy problem leads to a different problem? How is doing Training with Mona going to help this problem? What does Toby think of Training?

  8. In Chapter 7, Toby struggles when Patsy and Mona try to teach him the Lie Still command, but he has a successful encounter, too. How does Toby help his new friend Dorothy, another resident at the nursing home?

  9. How does Toby’s curiosity lead him to encounter Trent and his running group? What does Toby observe about Trent when he (Trent) is running with the other boys? What advice does Grandad offer when Trent admits running isn’t going too well?

  10. How does Toby add happiness to a very sad day for the family who visits the nursing home in Chapter 10? What does Toby notice about Fran when she is with that family?