Susan Glickman - Bernadette to the Rescue

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Glickman, Susan, 1953

Bernadette to the rescue / by Susan Glickman.

(A lunch bunch book)

Issued also in electronic format.

ISBN: 978-1-926920-38-2 / E-ISBN: 978-1-926920-47-4

I. Title. II. Series: Glickman, Susan, 1953- . Lunch bunch book.

PS8563.L49B494 2012 jC813.54 C2012-901030-8

Copyright 2012 by Susan Glickman

Illustrations 2012 by Mlanie Allard

Edited by Yasemin Ucar

Designed by Melissa Kaita

Cover and illustrations by Mlanie Allard

Printed and bound in Canada

S econd Story Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council

and the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge

the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

Published by

Second Story Press

20 Maud Street, Suite 401

Toronto, ON M5V 2M5

www.secondstorypress.ca

Pretzel Comes Home

Bernadette Inez OBrian Schwartz had wanted a puppy for a very long time. She had wanted a puppy since before she could say her own very long name. She had wanted a puppy through hot, lazy summers spent learning to swim at the community center pool, and through cold, busy winters spent learning to read and write at Garden Road Elementary School. She had wanted a puppy through Kindergarten, Grade One, Grade Two, and through most of Grade Three. At first, whenever she asked for a dog her parents had said No. But then they had started to say Maybe, and nowin the spring of Grade Threethey were finally, FINALLY, FINALLY saying Yes!

This was because a beautiful cocker spaniel named Lady had just had two puppies, and their owner, Mrs. Marsh, said they needed to go to a good home. Bernadettes house was going to be a good home for the boy puppy, and her friend Keisha Clarks house was going to be a good home for the girl puppy.

Bernadette was so excited she could hardly wait. Meanwhile, she had been doing a lot of research about how to take care of a dog. Research was one of Bernadettes favorite activities. She had lots of books about animals, and plants, and minerals, and outer space. She had books about how to do safe experiments that would not blow up the kitchen and upset your mother. She had a miniature microscope that was very useful for studying dead insects, or rocks that might have fossils in them, or that weird stuff on your sweater that could be toothpaste or paint or toxic slime from the jaws of an alien creature. She had a telescope that wasnt strong enough to see much of anything (at least in the city, where there were lights on all night long). She even had a white lab coat with her initial, B , in fancy embroidery on the pocket, so that everyone would know that even though she looked like an ordinary girl on the outside, inside she was really, truly, a scientist .

She didnt have very many books about dogs, however, so she made a special trip to the library, came home with a huge pile of them, and started studying. She found out some amazing things.

Did you know that your sense of smell is ten thousand times more sensitive than your sense of taste? she asked her mother one day.

No, I had no idea our noses were that powerful, Bernadette, her mother replied.

Well, compared to dogs, we have a really weak sense of smell, Bernadette continued, her own nose buried in a book. It says here that dogs can identify odors a hundred million times better than humans can.

Yikes! said her mother. I dont think I would actually enjoy that. But I guess dogs arent as bothered as we are by stinky things. Like rotten eggs.

Or gasoline, said Bernadette.

Or hockey bags, said her mom.

Or burnt hair, said Bernadette.

Or cigarette smoke, said her mom.

It will be very interesting and scientific to walk down the street with my dog, once I get him, and see what things he likes to smell, said Bernadette. It will be like living in a world with extra colors in it.

Thats a great way of putting it, Bernadette, her mother replied. I would love to live in that kind of world. It would be such an inspiration for my paintings!

Did you know that dogs have super hearing, Dad? Bernadette asked, another day. They can hear sounds at four times the distance we can, and at much higher frequencies too.

Well, I guess youll just have to talk four times less once you get your puppy, Bernadette, her father replied. Or youll give that poor dog a headache.

Youre always teasing me! said Bernadette. Thats exactly why I need a puppyso at least someone in this house will be nice to me.

Hamlet is nice to you, said her father.

Yes, he is, said Bernadette, scooping up her guinea pig and giving him a kiss on his little pink nose. You love me, dont you, Hamlet? But I know you want a puppy too, so you can have a furry friend to play with.

Well have to see about that, Bernadette, said her father. Im quite concerned about how the dog will treat Hamlet. He might bark at him. He might chase him. He might even pounce on him.

No, he wont, Bernadette replied. According to my research, since hes just a baby he will respect any other animal already in the house when he gets here. So Hamlet will get to be the boss of him. Just wait and see.

Some of the other things Bernadettes research taught her were what to feed your dog (not chocolate or grapes), how to train him to do tricks (by repetition and reward), and how to get him to stop barking (say, Thank you; thats enough, but dont yell, because if you yell, you are barking too!). She learned that in prehistoric times, when humans still lived in caves, some curious wolves snooped around looking for leftovers to eat, and because people fed them they gradually became tame. She learned that all dogs are descendants of those first friendly wolves and that there are about four hundred million dogs in the world today. In North America, there is one dog for every five people.

That seems like way too many dogs, she said to her father. On our street, there are only three. Marcus has Sammy, and Mr. Nakamura has Bear, and the Wilsons have Pogo. Thats not one dog for every five people, is it?

Well, think about farmers, or people who have dogsled teams, or police working with canine rescue units. Maybe people like them who have lots of dogs make up for those who dont have any, her father answered.

Maybe, said Bernadette. Still, Im glad Im finally getting a puppy, so I can help to keep the ratio up where it belongs.

Keisha and Bernadette visited their puppies often, so the puppies would get used to them and not be too sad when it was time to leave their mother. Bernadette named the boy dog Pretzel, because he kept twisting himself into funny shapes. Keisha named the girl dog Cookie, because she was so sweet. And the same day that Pretzel went home with Bernadette, Cookie went home with Keisha. Lady watched them go out the door with their new families with a sad look in her big brown eyes. She started whining a little. Mrs. Marsh kept on stroking her silky ears and whispering, There, there. You still have me , my girl.

Oh Lady, Im sorry. I know youll miss your babies, said Bernadette, feeling guilty. But I promise well come back to visit you all the time.

We will look forward to your visits, wont we, Lady? said Mrs. Marsh.