There was someone else who was waiting for the puppy too -- Officer Chris, a police officer who lived in a far away place called Illinois, & worked in a far away place called St. Louis.

But the puppy didn’t know any of this yet. He thought that his kennel was the whole world. All he did was eat, play & snuggle with his family.

Sometimes he would also tease his brother & sisters, or grab the edge of the puppy food dish & turn it over. He loved watching the puppy food roll across the floor.

One night, while everyone else was asleep, he heard a little scratching noise. It came from a hole in the wall. Without warning, out popped a tiny mouse. The tiny mouse froze when he saw the puppy. He was afraid of the puppy. But the puppy didn’t know that, he just wanted to make friends. And the puppy & the tiny mouse became good friends.

They played every night. The puppy would play with the mouse until his mother made him go to sleep.

When the kind man came to visit the puppy for the first time, he picked him up & scratched his ears. (The puppy’s favorite thing in the whole world was having his ears scratched!). The puppy liked the man right away, but didn’t know that this kind man would change his life forever.

All the puppy knew was that the kind man spoke in a strange language called “English,” & was really good at scratching ears. That, & he had a kind & gentle voice the puppy liked.

One morning, the kind man arrived at the kennel earlier than usual. After scratching the puppy’s ears the kind man picked him up. He cuddled into the kind man’s strong arms & felt safe.

The puppy’s mother reached up gently & licked the kind man’s hand & her puppy’s face. (The puppy loved when she did that!) The kind man petted the puppy’s mother & each of the puppy’s brothers & sisters, too. The puppy was very happy.

Out of the corner of his eye the puppy saw his friend the tiny mouse, with a big chunk of puppy food in his paws. Everyone he knew & loved was here. As he fell asleep in the kind man’s arms, the puppy didn’t know that he would never see any of them again.

When the kind man left the kennel a few minutes later, he had the puppy in one arm, sleeping, & the puppy’s ripped & worn blanket in the other. This puppy had a long journey ahead of him, & the blanket would be the only thing he had to remind him of home.

The kind man looked back at the kennel. He had been here many times before, & would return many times more. This kennel breeds very special dogs - search & rescue dogs. The kind man smiled at the puppy sleeping in his arms. And this was going to be the most special one of all! He could feel it.

To be continued...

Servous As A Puppy

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