Jo Coudert - True Tales of Puppy Love

A heartwarming collection of stories about the dogs and the lives theyve touched around them, previously published in the anthology The Little Book of Puppy Love

Sometimes, animals come into our lives just when we need them most. In these true stories about the powerful connections between people and their dogs, Jo Coudert and Jennifer Basye Sander uncover the simple joys of loving and being loved by our four-legged companions.

In this book youll meet the German shepherd with a special sense for comforting the sick; the bacon-hungry dog whos perfected her puppy eyes, the white toy poodle who grieves with his owner, and many, many more.

These animals dont just bring us comfortthey save our lives. Coudert and Sander celebrate the everyday miracles that happen when we form bonds with animals.

This new edition combines charming stories into a perfect collection for anyone who loves nothing more than sloppy dog kisses.

Praise for The Dog Who Healed a Family

These touching and engaging vignettes will make animal lovers out of us all.

Publishers Weekly

Great gifts for animal lovers, or anyone who wants to be reminded what a poignant, funny and enriching gift that animals are to the human spirit.

Tulsa World

Praise for The Dog with the Old Soul

Brimming with tears, laughter and love, The Dog with the Old Soul reminds us of the life-altering connection that animals can make in our lives.

Talkin Pets

The friendly, first-person presentations reflect wise, warm and compelling storytelling that captures both the combustible and complex feel of the human-animal bond.

Seattle Kennel Club

Jo Coudert was the author of nine books, including Seven Cats and the Art of Living. A lifelong animal lover, she lived in Califon, New Jersey.

Jennifer Basye Sander is the author and coauthor of over fifty titles, including the New York Times bestseller Christmas Miracles.

True Tales of Puppy Love

Jo Coudert

Jennifer Basye Sander

Table of Contents

by Jo Coudert

by Jo Coudert

by Jo Coudert

by Tish Davidson

by Dena Kouremetis

by E. G. Fabricant

by Sheryl J. Bize Boutte

by Louise Crawford

by Mark Lukas

Jo Coudert

C urled nose to tail, the little dog was drowsing in Nancy Topps lap as the truck rolled along the interstate. Suddenly Nancy felt her stiffen into alertness. Whats the matter, old girl? Nancy asked. At seventeen, Snoopy had a bit of a heart condition and some kidney problems, and the family was concerned about her.

Struggling to her feet, the dog stared straight ahead. She was a small dog, with a dachshund body but a beagle head, and she almost seemed to be pointing. Nancy followed the dogs intent gaze, and then she saw it, too. A wisp of smoke was curling out of a crack in the dashboard. Joe! she shouted at her husband at the wheel. Joe, the engines on fire!

Within seconds the cab of the ancient truck was seething with smoke. Nancy and Joe and their two childrenJodi, twelve, and Matthew, fifteenleaped to the shoulder of the road and ran. When they were well clear, they turned and waited for the explosion that would blow everything they owned sky-high. Instead, the engine coughed its way into silence, gave a last convulsive shudder and died.

Joe was the first to speak. Snoopy, he said to the little brown and white dog, you may not hear or see so good, but theres nothing wrong with your nose.

Now if you could just tell us how were going to get home, Matthew joked. Except it wasnt much of a joke. Here they were, fifteen hundred miles from home, stranded on a highway in Wyoming, with the truck clearly beyond even Joes gift for repairs. The little dog, peering with cataract-dimmed eyes around the circle of faces, seemed to reflect their anxiety.

The Topps were on the road because five months earlier a nephew had told Joe there was work to be had in the Napa Valley and Joe and Nancy decided to take a gamble on moving out there. Breaking up their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, they packed up the kids and Snoopy and set out for California. But once there, the warehousing job Joe hoped for did not materialize, Nancy and the kids were sharply homesick and their funds melted away. Now it was January and, the gamble lost, they were on their way back home to Fort Wayne.

The truck had gotten them as far as Rock Springs, Wyoming, but now there was nothing to do but sell it to a junk dealer for $25 and hitch a ride to the bus station. Two pieces of bad news greeted them there. Four tickets to Fort Wayne came to more money than they had, much more, and dogs were not allowed on the bus.

But weve got to take Snoopy with us, Nancy pleaded with the ticket seller, tears welling in her eyes. It had been a disastrous day, but this was the worst news of all.

Joe drew her away from the window. It was no use getting upset about Snoopy, he told her, until they figured out how to get themselves on the bus. With no choice but to ask for help, they called Travelers Aid, and with kind efficiency the local representative arranged for a motel room for them for the night. There, with their boxes and bags piled in a corner, they put in a call to relatives back home, who promised to get together money for the fare and wire it the next day.

But what about Snoopy? Matthew said as soon as his father hung up the phone.

We cant go without Snoopy, Jodi stated flatly.

Joe picked up the little dog. Snoopy, he said, tugging her floppy ears in the way she liked, I think youre going to have to hitchhike.

Dont tease, Joe, Nancy said curtly.

Im not teasing, honey, he assured her, and tucked Snoopy into the crook of his arm. Im going to try to find an eastbound truck to take the old girl back for us.

At the local truck stop, Joe sat Snoopy on a stool beside him while he fell into conversation with drivers who stopped to pet her. Gee, Id like to help you out, one after another said. Shes awful cute and I wouldnt mind the company, but Im not going through Fort Wayne this trip. The only driver who might have taken her picked Snoopy up and looked at her closely. Naw, the man growled, with an old dog like her, thered be too many pit stops. I got to make time. Still hopeful, Joe tacked up a sign asking for a ride for Snoopy and giving the motels phone number.

Somebodyll call before bus time tomorrow, he predicted to the kids when he and Snoopy got back to the motel.

But suppose nobody does? Jodi said.

Sweetie, weve got to be on that bus. The Travelers Aid can only pay for us to stay here one night.

The next day Joe went off to collect the wired funds while Nancy and the kids sorted through their possessions, trying to decide what could be crammed into the six pieces of luggage they were allowed on the bus and what had to be left behind. Ordinarily Snoopy would have napped while they worked, but now her eyes followed every move Nancy and the children made. If one of them paused to think, even for a minute, Snoopy nosed at the idle hand, asking to be touched, to be held.

She knows, Jodi said, cradling her. She knows something awful is going to happen.

The Travelers Aid representative arrived to take the belongings they could not pack, for donation to the local thrift shop. A nice man, he was caught between being sympathetic and being practical when he looked at Snoopy. Seventeen is really old for a dog, he said gently. Maybe you just have to figure shes had a long life and a good one. When nobody spoke, he took a deep breath. If you want, you can leave her with me and Ill have her put to sleep after youve gone.