AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Welcome, everyone, come on through.” Isla stood in front of the group and August buzzed with excitement to see what she had in store for them.
Keaton, on the other hand, radiated tension.
She could understand why. Smart as Molly was, she was prone to mood swings, temper tantrums, dramatic outbursts and all other manner of husky-type behavior.
It was lucky that for both the speed talent showcase and the photo shoot, they’d been able to use those personality traits for comedic relief. But now, however, she wasn’t so sure.
“I’ll walk you through today’s elimination activity.” She clapped her hands and waited until the four groups of contestants were settled. “You’re the first lot of contestants to come through. We’ll have our smaller dogs come through after you, and then we have an even smaller version of this activity set up for our more pint-sized contestants later this afternoon. As you can see, we have something fun planned today.”
Isla’s arm swept in an arc, gesturing at the room. Beside her, Scout looked on, her face lit up with anticipation. One camera was trained on the women, and another focused on the group of contestants.
Behind everyone, four identical short obstacle courses were set up, with each roped off and consisting of a small ramp, a blow-up kiddie pool with shallow water, a beach ball and a large inflated rubber duckie.
“One of the things we do at Paws in the City is book clients for commercials. We’ve even had one client book a movie recently. Our hope is to move more into film and television, in addition to our social media work, since we already have interest from several film studios looking for talented animals.”
August gasped. That was so exciting! Isla caught sight of August’s wide-eyed expression and winked. Paws in the City was growing like wildflowers and she was so thrilled to see it.
“We love a client who can do it all!” Isla turned to Scout.
“Yes, we do.” Scout grinned. “And with the increase in streaming services creating their own content, the demand for animal talent is bigger than ever. So, today we’re going to put your pets to the test. Our lovely demonstrators—Zuri and her dog, Maple—will show you what we want your pets to do.”
Everyone turned to see a woman in the retreat’s uniform holding a leash attached to a gorgeous dog with long fur the same shade as a shiny copper penny. The woman had close-cropped black hair and brown skin, and she held herself with a strong, authoritative posture. August had spoken with her the previous day, during one of the breaks, and she was the head animal activity coordinator for the retreat, and also had a background in dog training.
“Maple, come.” Zuri gestured to the dog, who obediently trotted to the foot of the ramp next to her owner. “Wait.”
The dog seemed raring to go, but she held herself in check, waiting for the signal.
“Go.”
The dog trotted up the ramp—which was only a foot off the ground—and then jumped into the kiddie pool, splashing gracefully into the water. She bent down and knocked the beach ball with her nose, sending it out of the pool. Then she jumped out of the pool, went over to the large inflated rubber duck and raised one paw, bopping it lightly on the head.
“Good girl.” Zuri crouched and ruffled the dog’s fur, praising her for a job well done.
“A round of applause for Zuri and Maple, everyone!” Isla said, bringing her hands together.
After the clapping died down, Isla spoke again. “You’ve got an hour to get your pet familiar with the activity and then everyone will have three attempts to complete it in front of the judges. We know that great training, like you’ve seen with Maple, takes time. And we want this to be fun! Feel free to add your own flair, but we want to see your pets get as close to the four main points as possible.”
“We have several staff on hand to help you out with tips and tricks—Zuri, whom you’ve already seen, plus Bobby and Willow,” Scout added.
She gestured to where the three retreat staff stood, waving their hands at the group. Nervous rumblings went through the contestants, so Keaton clearly wasn’t the only person who was a bit apprehensive.
“We’ve put your pet’s name on a sign at the front so you know which station is yours. Once everyone is situated, we’ll start the timer,” Isla said. “At any time you can raise your hand if you need help, and someone will come over to you. We can’t wait to see how well your pets do!”
Keaton raked both hands through his hair at once. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“Think positive,” August said, holding on to Molly’s leash and leading her over to their section. “The trick is to break it down step-by-step, so that she feels comfortable with each component. Move the pool away from the ramp, and we’ll tackle this bit first.”
For a moment, August wondered if she was barging in and taking charge—something she’d been accused of in the past—but Keaton looked relieved that she had some idea of how to approach things.
He moved to the pool and dragged it away from the ramp. Molly wanted to see what was going on, but August still had her on the leash so she couldn’t run amok.
“Molly, sit.” With a reluctant huff, the dog did what she was told. When Keaton returned, she handed over the leash. “Okay, so you’re going to walk her to the top of the ramp, give her a treat and then come back down. We’ll do that a few times, until she comes up the ramp on her own.”
He nodded. August unclipped the leash and Molly sat, her head turned upward with interest. Keaton still had the little bag of treats that August had given him, and he pulled one out, immediately catching Molly’s attention.
“Come,” he said, holding his hand over the ramp and walking up the side. She followed him, at first a little uncertain of the ramp beneath her feet, but when it became clear the ramp was steady, she walked up to the edge. “Such a good girl.”
He palmed her the treat and she gobbled it down. Then she jumped off and he instructed her to come back to the start of the ramp so they could do it over again. In only a few attempts, Molly walked up the ramp as soon as he asked her to.
