Too Big to Run

by Catherine Hapka

  “He had to take care of some clients right after school,” Lolli said. “He’s meeting us here in a little while.”

  Janey nodded, feeling impatient. The group still hadn’t come up with a good idea for their fundraiser.

  “I hope Adam gets here soon,” she said. “We need the whole Pet Rescue Club to come up with the perfect idea.”

  “In the meantime, why don’t you help me walk some dogs?” Kitty suggested. “I was going to take Patch to the park. If you guys come along, we could take a second dog with him.”

  That made Janey forget about her problems, at least for a moment. “How about Ace?” she said eagerly. “I bet he’d like some exercise.”

  Kitty chuckled. “I know he would. But he’s not quite ready to walk in public yet,” she said. “We’re still working on his leash manners. Besides, one of the other workers took him out for some exercise earlier. Apparently, he tossed a ball for Ace for almost an hour and Ace never got tired.”

  Zach laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like Ace.” He glanced at Janey. “That reminds me. My mom got those pictures you guys sent her yesterday.”

  “Great!” Janey said. “Did she forward them to Mrs. Reed?”

  “I think so.” Zach shrugged. “Mom wasn’t sure Ace would be a good therapy dog, though. He’s too hyper.”

  Janey frowned. “He’s not that hyper. Anyway, I’m sure Mrs. Reed can handle him.”

  “Do you know someone who might want to adopt Ace?” Kitty asked. “That would be great. He’s not a dog who would work for just anyone. He’ll definitely need a special home.”

  “Mrs. Reed is definitely special,” Janey said. “I sent some pictures to her. I’m sure she’ll love Ace.”

  “Great.” Kitty checked her watch, sounding distracted. “Come on, we’d better get moving.”

  A few minutes later the four of them left the shelter. Kitty was holding a leash attached to Patch, a scruffy looking terrier cross. Janey was walking an apricot-colored miniature poodle named Peaches.

  “Follow me,” Kitty said, setting off along the sidewalk. “What a nice day!”

  Janey nodded. It was warm and sunny. Lots of people were out enjoying the pleasant weather.

  “Look, Mommy!” a little boy cried from across the street. “Doggies!”

  The boy and his mother looked both ways, then hurried across. “Excuse me,” the woman said. “My son loves animals. Can he pet your dogs?”

  “Yes, and thanks for asking first,” Kitty replied with a smile. “Not every dog is friendly, but these two definitely are. Go ahead, young man.”

  Mother and son cooed over the dogs for a few minutes. After they moved on, an elderly man stopped to admire Patch, telling a long story about how he had a dog just like him as a child.

  By the time the man said good-bye, Janey felt a little impatient. Were they ever going to make it to the park?

  Finally they arrived. There were even more people there enjoying the nice day. And most of them seemed eager to come over and pat the dogs. Patch and Peaches both seemed to like the attention.

  Not Janey, though. She wished everyone would leave them alone. Maybe then they’d be able to talk about their fundraising ideas.

  She sighed as a young woman came over leading a little girl who looked about four. “Hello,” the young woman said. “This is Saffron, and I’m Rachel.”

  “She’s my nanny,” Saffron informed Janey and the others. “My mommy and daddy both have very important jobs.”

  “That’s nice,” Kitty said with a smile. “Would you like to pet the doggies?”

  “Thanks.” The nanny smiled back. “She’s crazy about animals.”

  “Good doggie!” Saffron said loudly, lunging toward Patch.

  The dog backed off a few steps, looking worried. “Carefully, Saffie,” Rachel said. “Don’t scare him.”

  “Boo!” the little girl yelled, grabbing for Patch again.

  This time the terrier cross dashed behind Kitty to get away. Janey rolled her eyes. Little Saffron might be crazy about animals, but she wasn’t very good at petting them!

  Meanwhile Saffron grabbed for Peaches. The tiny poodle stood her ground, wagging her tail uncertainly.

  “Nice doggie!” Saffron cried, smacking Peaches on the head.

  “Oh, dear,” the nanny said, yanking the little girl away. “I’m so sorry!”

  “Good girl, Peaches,” Kitty said, picking up the poodle and cuddling her. Once the nanny had dragged her charge away, apologizing all the while, Kitty glanced at Janey and the others. “Wow, Peaches really handled that well. Maybe she should be your friend’s new therapy dog.”

  “No,” Janey said. “Peaches is too small. Mrs. Reed wants a medium-sized dog. Like Ace.”

  “Oh, okay, too bad.” Kitty gave Peaches a kiss on the head and set her down. “Anyway, Peaches shouldn’t be too difficult to adopt out. Small dogs are usually easier, especially sweet ones like her.”

  Zach pointed. “Here come some more fans.”

  Janey saw a couple of teenage girls coming toward them. “Ugh,” she muttered. “Why can’t people leave us alone for two seconds?”

  Kitty laughed. “Don’t be a grump, Janey,” she said. “Everyone loves seeing dogs at the park. And we love it, too. The more people who see these dogs, the better their chances of getting adopted.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s true,” Janey said. Suddenly she was glad that Ace wasn’t with them. Otherwise he might get adopted before Mrs. Reed ever met him!

  Just then Lolli poked Janey on the shoulder. “Look, there’s Adam,” she said.

  Janey looked where her friend was pointing. Adam was coming toward them, walking a sweet-faced collie.

  “I know that dog,” Zach said. “Adam walks her all the time. Her owner has a really busy job.”

  “Like Saffron’s parents?” Janey said with a giggle.

  She expected Lolli to laugh. But Lolli didn’t even seem to be paying attention to Janey’s joke.

  “That’s it!” Lolli cried. “I just had the perfect fundraising idea!”

  Lolli’s Idea

  “What is it?” Janey demanded. “What’s your idea, Lolli?”

  “Yeah, spill it,” Zach added.

  “Wait.” Lolli led them toward Adam. “I want the whole Pet Rescue Club to hear this.”

  Soon Patch and Peaches were sniffing noses with the friendly collie.

  “Hey, guys,” Adam greeted his friends. “I just need to take this girl home and then I’ll be ready for our meeting.”

  “Forget it,” Janey said. “We’re having our meeting right here and now. Lolli just had an idea.”

  She crossed her fingers, hoping her friend’s idea was a good one. The sooner the Pet Rescue Club settled on a plan, the sooner they could help Maxi!

  “Actually, you sort of gave me the idea,” Lolli told Adam. Then she smiled at Kitty. “And you did, too.”

  “What do you mean?” Kitty asked.

  “I was thinking about what you said about how everyone likes seeing dogs in the park,” Lolli explained. “And then I saw Adam and thought about how people pay him to walk their dogs. That reminded me of the walk-a-thon I did with my parents once.”

  “A walk-a-thon?” Adam looked interested. “I get it. You want to do a dog walk-a-thon.”

  “What’s a walk-a-thon?” Janey asked. “And how does walking dogs raise any money?”

  Lolli patted the collie. “When we did it, we were raising money for an environmental group. My parents and I asked people to sponsor us—that means they promised to pay a certain amount for every mile we walked.”

  “I get it.” Zach nodded. “We could walk dogs right here in the park, and ask people to sponsor us for every mile we go.”

  “And you could invite everyone in town to walk with their dogs to help raise more money,” Kitty suggested. “People love an excuse to get out and do something with their pets.”

  “So you really think this will work?” Zach asked Kitty.

&
nbsp; She smiled and nodded. “It’s a fantastic idea,” she said. “In fact, if your walk-a-thon is a success, maybe the shelter will do the same thing next year. We’re always looking for fun ways to raise money—and raise awareness of pets in need at the same time.”

  “Great.” Now Janey was excited. “So how do we get started?”

  It turned out there was a lot to do to get ready for the walk-a-thon. On the walk back to the shelter, Kitty gave them some advice. As soon as Adam arrived after dropping off the collie, the Pet Rescue Club got to work. Janey took notes on her tablet computer while the whole group figured out what to do first.

  Soon they had a plan to get started. Lolli was going to ask her parents to get permission from the town to hold the dog walk-a-thon in the park. Janey decided to start by designing a poster to hang up at local businesses. And Adam offered to send an e-mail to all the dog owners he knew asking them to take part.

  “What should I do?” Zach asked.

  Janey thought for a second. “We need to tell Matthew that we have a plan,” she said. “Your mom knows how to reach him, right? Why don’t you track him down and talk to him.”

  “Sure, I can do that.” Zach borrowed Kitty’s phone and called his mother. She was busy with a patient, but soon Russ arrived to pick him up.

  “Where to, Zachie?” Russ asked.

  “I need to find Matthew and Maxi,” Zach said. “Do you know their phone number? Or where they live?”

  “The young man with the mastiff?” the vet tech said. “Actually, I just passed them on my way here.”

  “You did?” Zach was surprised.

  Russ nodded. “Sit tight—let’s see if they’re still there.”

  Soon he pulled to the curb beside the local high school’s playing fields. Zach spotted Matthew and Maxi right away. Matthew was dressed in his running shorts and jogging in place on the school’s track. Maxi was standing near him, wagging her tail.

  “This will only take a second,” Zach told Russ. “Can you wait for me?”

  “Sure, take your time.”

  Zach hurried toward Matthew. Halfway there, he could hear him talking to Maxi.

  “No, no, girl,” the young man said. “Stay! You don’t have to run with me.”

  “Hey, Matthew!” Zach called. “Hi!”

  Both Matthew and Maxi turned. Maxi wagged her tail and hobbled toward Zach.

  “It’s okay, Maxi,” Zach said. “I’ll come to you.”

  He ran faster and soon reached the big dog. As he was patting her hello, Matthew came over, looking worried.

  “I thought this would be a good way to spend time with Maxi,” he said with a sigh. “If I run on the track, she can hang out in the middle and watch. But she doesn’t get it. She keeps trying to run with me, like always.”

  “She shouldn’t do that,” Zach said.

  “I know, I know.” Matthew shrugged. “I just don’t know what else to do.”

  Once again, Zach was worried. Even if they got her the surgery she needed, would Maxi go back to running and hurt her knees again?

  Zach pushed that thought aside. “Listen, I have great news,” he said. “We came up with the perfect fundraiser to pay for Maxi’s surgery!” He quickly told Matthew about the walk-a-thon.

  “That is perfect!” the young man exclaimed. “I did a jog-a-thon once, and it was a blast. Doing it with dogs would be even more fun!”

  “Yeah.” Zach glanced at the big dog. “But do you think Maxi should walk that far?”

  “Probably not,” Matthew said with a sigh. “But maybe I can borrow a dog from a friend. I definitely want to help.”

  “Great.” That made Zach feel better. “Tell everyone you can think of, okay? We want lots of people to join in and help us raise money.”

  “Will do,” Matthew promised. He bent down and ruffled Maxi’s ears. “Did you hear that, big girl? You’re going to get your surgery!”

  Busy, Busy, Busy

  “We need a cute name for our fundraiser.” Janey clicked to save the flyer she was designing on her tablet. “Writing ‘dog walk-a-thon’ on every poster is too long.”

  Lolli nodded. The two girls were sitting at the big wooden table in Lolli’s cozy, messy dining room working on the advertising for the fundraiser. Lolli’s mom was on the phone in the next room talking to someone official about reserving space in the park.

  “How about calling it, um…” Lolli thought for a second. “The Doggie Dash?”

  Janey wrinkled her nose. “That makes it sound like everyone has to run,” she said. “I’m not sure it’s clear enough, either. We want people to be excited, not confused.”

  Lolli nodded. “You’re right. We should probably have the word ‘walk’ in the name.”

  “Walk for Cash?” Janey said. “Or the Dollar Walk?”

  “But that’s not clear enough either,” Lolli said. “There should be something about dogs, or people might think it’s a regular walk-a-thon.”

  “Well, we could put a dog on the poster,” Janey said. But she knew her friend was right. “Okay, how about Walk Your Dog Day?”

  “I guess that’s okay,” Lolli said uncertainly.

  Janey could tell her friend didn’t like her idea—she was just too nice to say so. “We don’t want something okay,” she said. “We want something great!” She tapped her fingers on the table. “And we need it pronto.”

  Just then Roscoe wandered over to see what they were doing. He rested his head on the edge of the table, staring at Janey with his big brown eyes.

  “What do you think, Roscoe?” she asked, rubbing his head. “You’re going to be walking in this thing—what should we call it?”

  Roscoe’s tongue lolled out, and he wagged his tail so hard it smacked into Lolli’s leg. Lolli giggled. “Roscoe wants to call it the Walk and Slobber,” she joked.

  “No.” Janey’s eyes widened as the dog’s tail smacked her again. “Roscoe’s a genius! We should call it the Walk and Wag!”

  Just then Lolli’s mother walked into the room. “The Walk and Wag?” she said. “Is that what you’re calling this thing? I like it!”

  “Me, too,” Lolli said. And this time Janey could tell she meant it.

  “Great!” Janey patted Roscoe. “Thanks for the idea, Roscoe.” Then she looked at Lolli’s mom. “Did you talk to the park people?”

  She smiled. “Yes, and you’re on. The Walk and Wag is two weeks from Saturday.”

  “Two weeks?” Janey pulled her tablet closer. “Okay, let’s get back to work!”

  “Great poster, kids!” Ms. Tanaka, Janey’s homeroom teacher, was holding one of the posters Janey and Lolli had printed out the day before. “I’ll hang it right here where everyone can see it.”

  The entire Pet Rescue Club watched as the teacher hung the poster in the middle of the classroom’s bulletin board. “Will you be in the Walk and Wag?” Zach asked. “You could bring Truman.”

  Truman was the first dog the Pet Rescue Club had helped. Ms. Tanaka had adopted him from the shelter.

  “Truman and I will be there,” Ms. Tanaka promised with a smile. “We love to go for walks. A walk for a good cause sounds even better!”

  Lolli giggled. “Remember how you wanted a big dog at first?” she said. “Well, wait until you see Maxi. She’s probably the biggest dog in town!”

  “Really?” Ms. Tanaka chuckled. “I can’t wait to meet her. Now take your seats—it’s almost time for the bell.”

  As the kids hurried to their desks, Janey was still thinking about Truman. Ms. Tanaka had wanted a large dog at first. But it turned out that Truman was the perfect match for her even though he wasn’t very big.

  I know Mrs. Reed will be the same way, Janey thought. Everyone thinks Ace is too hyper to be a therapy dog. But I bet he’ll be a perfect match, too!

  “Hi, kids,” Kitty said as Janey and Lolli hurried into the shelter lobby the following Friday afternoon. “People have been asking about the Walk and Wag all week!”

  “I can�
�t believe it’s only a little over a week away.” Janey shivered with excitement. “Anyway, I just realized something. Lolli will be walking Roscoe. But I don’t have a dog to walk. Can I walk one of the shelter dogs? Maybe Ace?”

  Kitty looked thoughtful. “I think we’ll have to walk him together, because he’s a little too big and strong for you. Okay?”

  “Okay!” said Janey. “I bet Adam and Zach will want to borrow shelter dogs, too.”

  By Sunday afternoon, it was settled. Janey, Adam, and Zach were given permission to walk shelter dogs in the fundraiser. The entire Pet Rescue Club visited the dog room to choose which dogs to take.

  “What if the dog we pick gets adopted before next Saturday?” Zach wondered, tickling a friendly hound through the kennel door.

  Kitty smiled. “I hope we have that problem!” she said. “And don’t worry. There are always plenty of dogs here. If yours goes to a new home, you’ll just have to choose a different one.”

  “Which dogs do you think we should pick?” Adam asked Kitty.

  “I already picked mine.” Janey walked over to Ace’s kennel. The lively black dog jumped and barked happily when he saw her. “Ace.”

  “Zach’s mom told Mrs. Reed about the Walk and Wag,” said Janey. “And she and Pepper are coming. She can meet Ace then.”

  “Okay,” said Kitty. “Anything to help Ace get a good home. He’s already had several adopters pass him over.”

  “Really?” Janey was surprised, but also glad—she didn’t want anyone to adopt him except Mrs. Reed. “How come?”

  “I know,” Zach put in. “Because he’s a spaz!”

  Kitty laughed. “Well, sort of, yes,” she said. “Not every dog is suitable for every type of home. You need to make sure the match is right, otherwise neither dog nor owner will be happy. Ace wouldn’t do well with young children, for instance—he’d be too likely to knock them over by accident, just being himself.”

  “He probably wouldn’t be a good dog for my family, either,” Lolli said. “He might chase the goats and sheep, or run off if we didn’t watch him every second.”