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The dog sat on its hind legs, perfectly balanced and eye completely on the prize.
“Sit. Speak.” The dog barked in response. “Sing for me, girl.”
The husky threw her head back and let out anoh wrow wrowsound that had a few people around them laughing.
“Shake.” August held out her free hand. “Good girl. Other paw.”
The dog executed every command perfectly and happily gobbled up her treat when August opened her fist.
“See,” she said. “She’s smart and well trained.”
“Too smart,” Keaton muttered. Because she would only perform the commands when someone else asked. Which was a problem. Sixty seconds was not a long time to impress and the teams with the ten lowest scores would go into an elimination round.
He couldn’t go home on the first day!
Why not? It would certainly solve the problem with the room. Molly would be happy to get away from you ASAP and you could head back to Manhattan tonight.
Flunking would solveallhis problems. But there was something in Keaton that wouldn’t allow him to blow it on purpose. Not just because it would feel wrong to let his sister down, but also because that wasn’t how he was wired. Losing wasn’t an option.
“Now you try.” August put the treat in Keaton’s hand.
Sighing, he looked at Molly. “Sit.”
The dog remained standing.
“Fine, stand.”
Molly flopped dramatically to the floor like a basketball player trying to draw a foul. Then she rolled on her back and stuck all her feet in the air, pretending to be dead.
August snorted. “She’s a drama queen, that is forsure.”
“Molly, roll.”
The dog raised her head at him, glared and then flopped back down onto the ground. Around them, a few people tittered, and Keaton scrubbed a hand over his face. The fact was, he might not have much of a say in whether he went home tonight—the dog could take care of it for him.
“Can’t you do it?” Keaton asked. “She listens to you.”
“I promised Isla I would stay in the background. Besides, I have a business relationship with Paws in the City...it would be unethical for me to be the key person handling Molly. I can’t put Isla in that position.”
He sighed. “Well, you might want to go back to your room and pack your bags. I suspect we’ll be going home soon.”
At that moment, a woman in a Wild Woods Retreat uniform came outside, holding a clipboard. “Can the final group of contestants please come inside?”
“That’s us.” Keaton clipped Molly’s lead onto her collar and the dog reluctantly stood.
“Just do your best,” August said. “Remember, commanding voice and strong, clear instructions. She knows what to do.”
Keaton was grateful to be in the last group, because that had given him the maximum time to try to bond with Molly. Too bad the husky looked at him like he was a piece of gum stuck to her paw. He’d tried praise, pats, being authoritative. Nothing worked. Not even her favorite treats would get her to listen.
All the other animals here wereperfectlywell-behaved. Even Fortune Candle Lady seemed to have a masterful control of the small cotton ball dog at her feet. He’d seen the little thing dancing on its hind legs outside, pink tongue lolling out of its mouth. About seventy-five percent of the people here had dogs with them, but he’d also seen a guinea pig, a parrot, a cat and even some kind of lizard.
The Wild Woods Retreat staff member called on the first person in their group and Molly looked up at him.“Wrow, wrow, wrow.”
“Save it for the judges,” Keaton said.
This hall was slightly smaller than the one where they’d had breakfast. Cameras were set up around the area where the animals would be performing, and another was trained on the table where the judges were sitting. There were four in total—Isla and Scout, the two women who ran Paws in the City, a man named Alvin who ran a very successful Instagram account for his dog, an Italian greyhound named Minnie. The final judge was a woman who worked as an animal trainer in Hollywood, and had flown in after filming a series for Netflix.
The woman who’d been called to the stage was in her late forties or early fifties. Accompanying her was a cute little dog with enormous ears shaped like butterfly wings and one of those tails that could double as a feather duster. There was a ballerina vibe about her outfit, including a dress with a flippy skirt, pink tights and flat round-toed shoes with bows on top. The other contestants watched nervously as the woman and her dog paused in front of the judges.
