Since people seemed to enjoy the Danforth Puppy last time, here’s the next chapter.
The puppy took a while to get into town. He had to find food, usually things people had left lying around by the road, and being a pup, he had to take some time off to play.
If you’re a puppy, you make a point of having some fun.
Dogs don’t usually go skating, but the puppy learned how. He’d been chasing a flying maple leaf when he found himself sliding and spinning on some ice he hadn’t seen.
He sailed along on the ice, while the leaf, sneakily, went in another direction.
There are some good things about having four legs, (like not falling over quite as much on the ice) and the puppy, noticing he was moving pretty fast without having to do anything, thought: This is fun! Now, how do I turn…?
The result of trying to turn was a collection of furry feet in the air and a meeting with some snow on the edge of the ice.
Hmm, thought the puppy, as he figured out which end up he was supposed to be. He played on the ice a bit more, deciding this was a lesson in How Things Happen, which is usually taught to puppies by their parents.
Well, it was a good excuse to go sliding around, anyway, and he got pretty good at it.
After a while, following by the side of the road, he saw some buildings up ahead, a couple of houses. He was by now on the outskirts of Toronto, and he was staying off the road to avoid all the traffic and the snow they churned up.
He saw a huge thing with a picture of a family of smiling humans and marks on it. He remembered the marks were like the ones his kids had been looking at in their storybooks. One of the kids had tried to teach him to read, but he hadn’t had a chance to get good at it.
He looked at the big thing and saw there was also a picture of a dog on it. So the marks, he decided, must be something about dogs.
If people put more effort into teaching puppies to read, the puppy wouldn’t have spent quite so much time trying to figure out what the marks on the big thing were about.
He saw an image of letters: The Danforth. Maybe The Danforth was a place for dogs and smiling people. Remembering that people put marks on things to tell them where they were, he decided to remember the words, so he could find these smiling people and dogs.
The houses were strange, nothing like his former home, which was in a built-up area. These had lots of forest around them. He heard another dog bark, a general This Is Our Place bark. Dogs sometimes like to remind people and other dogs that places are theirs, and visitors should be polite.
That reminded the puppy that he might want to be careful about other dogs, particularly on their home ground. The barking got louder, and he lay down, watching. A tiny dog, much smaller than himself, but apparently an adult dog, came sniffing around the fence and growling.
The puppy’s mother had told him and his brothers and sister that some dogs would bite first and bark afterward.
This little dog didn’t look too dangerous and would be easy to outrun, but the puppy decided I can’t just go around fighting every dog that comes along, and anyway, it’s not my place. I wouldn’t like strange dogs coming into my home, either.
While he was thinking, the little dog had also got a whiff of him and was now barking furiously: You stay away from here, you big mutt! This is our place, and you better not come in here!
The puppy, who was very fair-minded, realized that this was actually a very brave little dog. He was at least four times bigger than the little dog, who was fearlessly defending his home.
However, he wanted to talk to the little dog, who was an adult dog, and the puppy was sure he could get some advice.
Excuse me… began the puppy.
It seemed the little dog wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
You stay away! I’ll bite you so hard you’ll be flying! You… the little dog stopped.
The little dog, who was a Scottish terrier, had realized he was yelling at a puppy. A big puppy, a huge puppy, but still, a puppy, and probably a lost puppy. The terrier, whose name was Angus, wasn’t a bully.
Sorry, I bark at everyone, just in case, so my people know there’s something around the house. What’s the matter, lad?
The puppy explained his problem. Angus was sympathetic and was able to tell the puppy how to get to town, and to look out for some of the big dogs in the area, who were bullies, and picked on little dogs, not that picking on terriers is often a good idea.
Angus also suggested staying off the road as much as possible, because some people weren’t very kind to dogs they saw wandering around on their own, and put them in big cars and took them away.
Some people, said the puppy, make dogs wander around on their own… Tell me, what’s The Danforth?
Oh, it’s a big place full of food and lots of people. It’s over that way…
(He pointed with his nose, as dogs do, saying “Smell in that direction”).
My people take me there sometimes, and the dog doctor lives there. He cured my fleas! explained Angus.
Thanks, Angus. I better be going, I have to try to get home, said the puppy gratefully.
You be careful, lad, stay hidden, and smell everything first. Good luck!
So the puppy set off, taking the little terrier’s advice, finding his way through a place with more houses, more dogs, and with some very strange adventures to come.