So between Chris, Dimples, Uncle Joey, and his hitman, Ramos, that pretty much covered everyone who knew my secret. Well… there were a couple of others, but Gabriel lived in France, and Kate lived in Seattle, and they had both sworn to keep my secret. So it was mostly safe, and I’d do everything in my power to make sure it didn’t get out.
The dogs all seemed adorable, and I knew this was going to be hard. How could we pick the right one when they all seemed so sweet? While Savannah spoke to one of the smaller dogs, a dog sitting in the last cage caught my attention.
The tan-and-black dog lay in the corner with his head resting on his paws. He didn’t look up at us like the other dogs, and I got the feeling he was sad. Krista noticed me looking his way and came to my side. “We don’t know much about that dog. Someone dropped him off a few days ago, said his name was Coco, and left.”
“He seems depressed. Is that possible?”
“Sure. I don’t know what happened to him, but he hasn’t shown much interest in anyone or anything since he got here.”
“He’s a beautiful dog. He’s a German Shepherd, right?”
“Yeah, that’s definitely his breed. I just wish the person who brought him in would have given us more information.” She thought the dog was probably worth a lot of money, so it didn’t make sense he’d been dropped off here. “He’s a beautiful animal. I’ve tried to make friends with him, but he’s not very responsive.”
She was thinking that all of the staff had tried to engage him, but none of them had succeeded. It was a shame, since that meant he’d be hard to place with a family, and the longer he stayed, the worse his chances of adoption became. Lately, he’d hardly touched his food. It was so sad, like he’d given up on life.
Hearing that broke my heart. I wandered over to his cage and crouched down on his level to peer at him. “Hey Coco. What’s going on?”
His head jerked up, and his ears straightened. He studied me for a few seconds, then rose to his feet and trotted over to me. He sat down on his haunches, right next to where I crouched, and looked me straight in the eyes. Surprised, I smiled and reached out my fingers for him to sniff.
“Hey buddy. What’s up? Are you sad?”
After sniffing my fingers, he gave them a lick before nuzzling them with his nose. Then he placed his paw on the cage, right next to my hand, and let out a low woof that sounded just like help. Surprised, I lost my balance and fell on my butt.
He stood, peering my way like he was concerned that I’d fallen over, then woofed deep in his throat asking if I was all right.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Oops. Did I just say that out loud? I glanced behind me, noticing that Krista, Josh, and Savannah were all watching me with fascination.
Needing a distraction, I smiled at my kids and looked back at the dog. “Coco, this is Josh and Savannah.” They came close to the cage and knelt beside me.
He looked from me to them, then he moved to where they knelt and sniffed their fingers in greeting. They both spoke to him, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. After they stopped admiring him, he sat down and placed his paw on the cage and woofed.
I heard help again, and both my kids seemed to understand that he wanted something as well. Krista shook her head in wonder. “Wow. He’s never done anything like that before. Do you want to take him outside? We’ve got an area all set up where you can play with him.”
“Yes,” Savannah said.
“Okay, good.” Krista grabbed a leash and opened the cage door. She snapped the leash to his collar and led him out. “From what we’ve observed, he’s well-trained and responds to most of our commands. If you decide you want to take him, I’ll show you what they are and how to talk to him.”
I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be necessary, since I could understand him just fine. He let her lead him out of the cage, but he stopped next to me and wouldn’t budge. She shrugged and handed the leash to me and we followed her outside.
As soon as I started walking, he stayed right beside me. I took him through a door to a fenced lawn area with trees and a bench. Krista explained some of the commands to me, and I walked him around the enclosure. He was so well-trained that I wondered if he’d been a service dog, or even a police dog.
“Now let’s take him off his leash,” Krista said, handing a rope toy to Josh. “That signals to him that it’s okay to play, and you can see how he interacts with you.”
She unhooked his leash, and he ran over to Josh and Savannah. He played tug-of-war with Josh and the rope. Soon, both of the kids were talking to him and petting him like they were best friends. Coco followed their commands with attentive intelligence, and we were all impressed by how smart he was.
As we watched them interact, Krista shook her head. “This is unbelievable. He’s never taken to anyone like this.” She wondered what made us so special. She’d heard that animals had a sixth sense about people. Maybe he knew we’d be a good match for him? But
