Madison’s New Buddy

Madison’s Plan

For the next visit to the shelter, Madison has decided on a new plan. Perhaps reading isn’t the key to getting through to Buddy at all. Jasmine, Sofia, and Keiko take their seats next to their dogs while Madison waits for Mrs. Wallace to take her back to see Buddy. Keiko dives right in reading a book of silly poems, her voice light and playful. Madison is in awe of Keiko’s reading—she never stumbles, or has to slow down to sound something out. Will Madison ever read as well as Keiko?

Mrs. Wallace leads Madison down the hallway to the back. Madison asks if she can take Buddy to the playroom instead of his cage. Mrs. Wallace hesitates, her brow furrowing. She thinks Buddy really would prefer the comfort of his cage right now. Madison promises that Buddy will get comfortable with her, but she thinks he needs a little play time first.

Finally, Mrs. Wallace consents. Buddy hasn’t shown any aggression since arriving, so it’ll be okay for the two of them to have a few minutes playing together. But, Madison can’t forget her project is to read to the dog, not simply play with him.

Mrs. Wallace helps Madison get Buddy out of his cage and into the play room. June stays in the play room with Madison just in case. The first thing Buddy does is dash to the corner of the room and cower, his ears and tail sagging, his whole body trembling. Madison coos softly to him that he doesn’t need to be afraid of her.

Madison unzips her backpack and pulls out a lime-green tennis ball. She tosses it gently to Buddy, who lifts his head to watch it bounce and spin across the floor. Madison picks up the ball and rolls it toward him, but it seems to make him more nervous. Shrugging, Madison reaches into her bag and pulls out a bone specially made for young dogs. Maybe Buddy’s teeth are bothering him, she thinks. But Buddy’s reaction to the bone is the same as the ball, and Madison feels a little discouraged.

Madison turns to June and asks if it’s okay to feed him a few T-R-E-A-T-S. June agrees that it’s fine, just not to give him too many. Madison pulls out a baggie filled with chicken-flavored dog treats. She plops a few into her palm and holds her hand out to Buddy. He sniffs at them, but turns away. Every time Madison inches closer, Buddy shrinks farther back.

Madison creeps closer and closer to Buddy, and drops a treat on the floor in front of him. Then, she steps a few paces back and drops another, careful not to move too quickly. She continues until there’s a trail of treats along the floor leading straight to Madison. Buddy sniffs cautiously at the piece closest to him. He seems suspicious, but eventually gobbles the treat down. Slowly, Buddy makes his way across the floor, eating treat after treat. With each bite, he looks a little less scared and a little more curious.

Soon, he’s standing right next to Madison, looking up at her with softer eyes. Madison holds up her hand with one more treat resting in it. Watching her cautiously, Buddy sniffs the treat in Madison’s palm, grabs it, and brings it back across the room to eat it. Madison is beaming, her heart lifting with relief. She has finally started to gain Buddy’s trust.

When it’s time for Madison to reconvene with the rest of her classmates, she cheerfully exclaims that Buddy finally let her get closer to him. Sofia is impressed, since Buddy was so shy just moments before. Madison explains she didn’t actually read to him at all, but he’s beginning to think of Madison as a friend.

Mrs. Wallace agrees that it’s progress. They’d had some people interested in adopting Buddy, but when they see how fearful he is, they change their minds. Jasmine nervously asks what happens if Buddy is never adopted. Will they need to put Buddy to sleep?

Mrs. Wallace shakes her head firmly. Her shelter is a no-kill shelter, meaning Buddy can live there as long as he needs to. Jasmine sighs in relief, her shoulders relaxing. But Mrs. Wallace explains that living at the shelter isn’t the same as having a loving, forever home. Madison thinks about her own new home with Mom, Leo, and Pepper. She vows she’s going to do whatever she can to help Buddy find one of his own.