Chapter 2

I m going straight to the pound," I whined. "This is it. There's nothing else left. I'm a goner."

I paced up and down by the fence along my side yard. I didn't know what the pound was like, but I remember Scotty whining and crying when his master was about to take him there. I remember that I never saw him again. Whatever the pound was, it was bad.

"This is it," I whimpered. "He's gone in to get my collar, and when he comes back out..."

My tail tucked under my belly. My floppy ears drooped so low they almost dragged on the ground.

"What are you whining about?"

I jerked. The growl from the other side of the fence startled me. My droopy ears perked up.

"Who's there?"

"What are you whining about?" the voice repeated. It was Red, the Irish setter who lived in the yard next to mine.

I'd never seen Red because of the wooden fence. In fact, this was the first time he'd ever talked to me in the whole two months since he had moved next door with his family. I'd tried to talk with him before, but he only snarled at me through the cracks between the fence boards.

It was good to hear another voice. Besides, I was in so much trouble that I really needed someone to talk to, even if it was someone who only growled.

I squinted, trying to see through one of the cracks.

"I messed up," I told the fence. "I messed up bad, and I don't even know how it happened."

Red hair and one white eyeball appeared at the crack.

"I saw the cars with the red and blue lights on top last night," Red said. "The men in the blue uniforms kept going in and out of the house, and your master kept yelling. What did you do, get inside and tear the living room up or something?"

"No!" I shook my head so hard my ears flopped against my cheeks. "I'm a watchdog. I don't go inside."

"So what did you do?"

"I did what I was supposed to do." I shrugged both ears. "I watched."

Red growled, "Exactlywhatdid you watch?"

I folded my tail under my bottom and sat down. "Well," I began, staring at the eyeball. "Last night I was watching, just like I'm supposed to. A little while after dark, this man dressed all in black climbed over the back fence. He kept wiggling something at the door, and finally he went inside."

"What did you do?"

"I watched," I answered, wiggling my whiskers. "I watched him bring a big sack out of the house and lift it over the fence."

"Then what?"

"I watched him bring out two more sacks."

Red snorted. "And you watched, right?"

I smiled. "Right."

"That's all you did?"

I twitched my whiskers. "That's what I'm supposed to do. I watched because I'm awatchdog."

"You didn't growl or bark at him?"

"Oh, no. Dogs get in trouble for barking and growling."

"You didn't bite him?"

"Heaven forbid! I never bite.Never!"

There was a strangewhoompffrom the other side of the fence. I pressed my eye closer to the crack. Red had fallen on his side. He rolled back and forth. He wagged his tail and laughed and laughed and laughed.

"It's not funny," I whined. "I'm in trouble. My master's probably going to take me to...to...the pound."

Red just kept rolling and laughing. Finally he got to his feet and told me to follow him to the back corner of the yard. Once we got there he started digging.

"Dogs shouldn't dig," I warned him. "You'll get in trouble."

Red dug faster.

"No, I won't," he said. "The bushes are thick here. My master won't see the hole or the dirt. Even if he does, he won't get mad. Besides, you need help. You're the most confused, messed-up pup I've ever met."

My ears drooped, and my tail folded under my tummy. "Please don't dig. I had a friend named Scotty. He was a digger. His master took him to the pound. And when you go to the pound...well, no one ever comes back from the...the pound!"

Copyright © by1995 by Bill Wallace

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Excerpted from Watchdog and the Coyotes by Bill Wallace
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.