only one jab of pain for our two yanks. When I couldn’t see past the tears I had to pause.
“Kelly, stop. I can’t do it anymore. I need a break.”
I lay on the ground trying not to move. Amos came up, whined, then licked my face but this time I was too sore to be scared. I looked up into his big brown eyes and patted the ground beside me. “Down, Amos, down.” He lay down beside me while Kelly watched in surprise.
“How did you get him to do that?”
“Amos knows what down means. He’s a smart dog. He just needs a firm hand.”
“That wasn’t a firm hand. That was a polite request.”
“Maybe he’s just in a down sort of mood. I certainly know I am. How many more are there?”
Kelly looked at my jeans. “Maybe a dozen.”
“Okay, I think I can handle that. Let’s finish it.”
When we were through I ran my hands over my legs and found a few smaller spines that had penetrated right through the denim. I had to roll up my jeans to remove them.
“You ready to go?” I asked Kelly.
“You’re going to walk home like that?”
“I don’t have much of a choice. Do you think I should take Amos to the vet?”
“Nah, he’d just lick off any medicine they told you to put on it.”
“Are you sure he’ll be okay?”
“Just don’t let him bleed on the furniture.”
We all stood and Kelly picked up Amos’ leash. Amos walked to the end and started pulling Kelly home.
“Kelly stop. Don’t let him do that. Watch.”
I took the leash and Amos tried to pull me, so I jerked suddenly and firmly on the leash and he stopped. I stood beside Amos and gave him a command. “Amos, heel!” I stepped out with my left foot to give him a visual cue and he started walking calmly beside me. “No rabbits,” I admonished him. “Good heel.” When he pulled ahead I gave a quick correction and a firm command and he fell back. Kelly just shook his head and followed us back to the house.
“Rhonda would be appalled if she saw that collar.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks. Put it on your arm and pull the leash. You’ll see it doesn’t hurt him. If he’s willing to pull a hundred pounds behind him at a run you know the collar isn’t hurting him that badly. He is actually doing very well but needs to learn to ignore distractions. You let him chase rabbits, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I get tired of trying to hold him back so, if we’re alone, I let him go.”
“Maybe I should have let him go, but I didn’t know how far he’d run or if I’d be able to get him back.”
“It’s my turn to give you a command,” Kelly said seriously. “Do not let him hurt you. If I hear that you let him hurt you I’ll be right back down here…”
“Amos didn’t hurt me. He chased a rabbit. That’s all he did. I was the idiot who wouldn’t let go of the leash. That’s not his fault.”
“I’m still telling you. Don’t let him hurt you.” Then his eyes softened. “I think you’ve come as far as he has. Do you know how close you were to his face while we were pulling out the cactus needles?”
“Yeah, but it had to be done. Necessity is the mother of bravery.”
“I thought it was invention.”
“Necessity is the mother of a lot of things.”
We arrived at the back door of the house and Amos lunged, eager to do something new. I corrected him. “Amos, sit!” No response. “Amos, SIT.”
Oh, all right, he seemed to be saying and finally sat down. I calmly removed the leash. “Wait.” I opened the backdoor. “Okay!” He dashed into the house.
“How did you do that? You’ve only had him a week.”
“Necessity is also the mother of training. He needed some manners. I needed him to have some manners so we forced some manners onto him. Do you want a sandwich before you go back? I’m going to start soaking my jeans and then I’m going to make one for myself.”
“Sure, but then I need to get back.”
I went to the bedroom to quickly change my jeans. I put the bloody pair into a sink to soak in cold water. I washed the puncture wounds, though they stung like crazy, put on a new pair of jeans, then went to the kitchen to make our lunch. I got one slice of bread and one slice of lunchmeat, folded it together and placed it on the edge of the counter. Then I moved to the side and made sandwiches for Kelly and myself.
“I wouldn’t leave that there if I were you,” Kelly warned.
“It’s his. It’s bait. But Amos can’t have it until I’m ready to give it to him.”
Amos eyed the sandwich, ignoring the much larger preparations right next to him. I saw a shift in his attitude. He checked to see if I was watching. Without turning I said sharply, “No! Leave it.” He backed off, disgusted with me. “Do you want lettuce? Tomatoes? Onions?”
“Sure, you know I’ll eat anything.”
As I worked I kept tabs on Amos. Every time he decided I wasn’t watching I’d remind him sharply, “Amos, leave it.” When the sandwiches were done I put them on plates and walked over to the bait. I picked it up and Amos looked hopeful. I tore off a small piece of bread for Shadow and placed the sandwich on the floor. “Wait. Stay,” I commanded. He wriggled in anticipation. I let him wait several very expectant seconds before releasing him with an “Okay!” Amos gulped the sandwich in one bite. Then I repeated the same command with Shadow and the little piece of bread.
“I still haven’t figured out how much to feed him,” I said over lunch. “If I fed him whenever he acted hungry then the food would be gone. I know the instructions on the bag are always high. If I fed Shadow what the bag says to feed him he wouldn’t be able to walk. So I feed Amos a cup and a half twice a day and he still gets unhealthy amounts of people food, but it’s controlled amounts.”
“How did you get him to quit stealing food?”
“I can read canine minds and head off bad behavior before he can do it. You saw. You know your dog. You know when he’s planning something. So, nip it in the bud. Don’t even let him plan.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Half the training is for the dog. The other half is for the owner. Once you learn to watch and jump on bad habits he’ll listen to you, just like he does with me. You know, I had really only planned on letting Amos live in the
