weeks.”
“Old enough to know better.”
Selena bristled. “He had a very hard start to his life. He was a Dumpster dog. Because of that, we may have cut him some slack. But let me assure you, he’s well loved now. A member of the family.”
“He’s a dog.”
“Duh.” Drew spoke for the first time.
“I’m not being sarcastic,” Jack replied, beginning to feel uncomfortable standing just outside the loft. It was obvious these two had called him under pressure. There was nothing voluntary about this interview. He had to be careful how he handled their hostility if the dog was to get help. “Dogs are different than humans. They’re pack animals and happiest when they have a strong leader. The best dog is a calm, submissive dog.”
“Two of my least favorite words are dominance and submission,” Selena snapped. “If these are your training techniques, I think you’d better leave.”
“I’m not a dog trainer, I’m a dog behaviorist. If you give me a chance to explain the real nature of dogs and their needs, I think you’ll see how we can address Axel’s behavior. But if you want me to leave, I will.”
She held his gaze for a long minute. “Since I’ve maxed out my credit card in advance for this visit, let’s hear what you have to say. Come on in and sit down.” She indicated a sofa, partially covered with a brightly colored throw and a huge pile of laundry.
When he sat, the corner of the throw flipped back, exposing a badly chewed cushion. Selena perched on a chair opposite as if the shambles of the room was a palace and she its queen. Drew slouched against the wall by the door, glowering at the adults. Axel’s barking had to a piteous moan.
“Is Axel neutered?” Jack asked.
“Of course,” Selena replied as if this was an impertinent question from a rather dim courtier.
“Good.” He needed to find some positive starting point. “You’ve already scored points as responsible pet owners.”
From his lookout by the door, Drew rolled his eyes.
“What are the things Axel does that you’d like corrected?” he asked, persevering.
“Well…he chews everything,” Selena answered, cautiously. “But maybe he’s teething.”
Jack noted the excuse as he glanced at the innumerable ratty chew toys strewn about the floor amid even more laundry and several half-eaten sneakers. “What else?”
“He jumps on people.”
Drew moved a few steps away from the wall. “I don’t mind when he jumps on me. He’s only playing. He’s not vicious or anything.”
“Oh, no. Just the opposite,” Selena added. “He’s awfully cute. You’ll see. And affectionate. But he doesn’t know his own strength, so you can’t expect Mrs. Bierdermeyer, who’s eighty-six and walks with a cane, to be as enthusiastic about his advances. We don’t want to break Axel’s spirit, but we don’t want him to break Mrs. B’s hip.”
“Mrs. Bierdermeyer is a neighbor?”
“Yes.”
“Do you only see her when you take Axel out?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re saying he’s out of control even on a leash.”
Selena tilted her chin imperiously upward. “We don’t expect him to heel every minute if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Ah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think it’s time I met Axel.”
Selena narrowed her eyes. “Drew, please, let him out of the bathroom.”
As the boy disappeared behind a partition, Jack stood to assume the calm, in-charge stance he used when meeting any new dog. “I’m going to observe. Pretend I’m not here.”
“I don’t think that will be poss—”
The apartment shook as a furry juggernaut burst into the room and caromed off the walls and furniture with Drew in hot pursuit.
“Axel, no!” Selena jumped up and joined the chase.
She’d described the dog as “cute.” It wouldn’t have been the description Jack would have used for the mixed breed. He loved dogs, but he didn’t idealize them. This one in particular. The shaggy head of a terrier sat on the tan, barrel-chested body of a chow, punctuated by a chow’s high, plumy tail. A herder’s very long, strong legs completed the incongruous picture. Make that motion picture.
In a tangle of paws and feet, the boy wrestled the dog to the floor. It was obvious Axel loved every minute of the roughhousing. Finally, Selena snagged his collar. When Drew rolled out from under him and headed for the sofa, Axel followed, dragging Selena. The boy, the woman and the dog collapsed on the sofa with the dog stretched across both owners’ laps, his tongue lolling from a mouth wide open in a silent canine laugh. It was clear who was in charge here. The queen had been dethroned.
“I can help you,” Jack said simply.
Selena laughed, and the sound was music. “We don’t care how he behaves inside! We just need a few training techniques so he can fly under the radar and not get in trouble when we take him out.”
Looking at the absolute disarray in the apartment, so different from his own spare living quarters, he begged to differ. Animals and humans alike could benefit from order, routine, stability. Memory flickered. Of his own childhood with a military stepfather. As a boy he hated the constant moving, the impermanence. Ironically, what kept him from feeling lost and adrift in his movable world was the discipline his stepfather brought to the household. It was obvious how Axel handled the turmoil. Jack wondered how Drew handled it.
Selena cleared her throat.
“Ah…about Axel…” he said, unaccustomed to being caught off guard. “You have to exercise discipline before you exercise affection. I can teach you how.”
“You mean we have to be cruel to be kind?” Selena’s brief smile faded as she stroked Axel’s floppy ear. “No, thanks.”
“I’m not talking about cruelty. In any form.” He wondered why the words discipline and submission had pushed this beautiful woman’s buttons. “I’m talking about the natural order of things. In the animal world. Don’t project human issues on your pet.”
Too late he realized he’d been focusing on Selena to the exclusion of Drew, and that Drew had noticed.
Glaring at Jack, the boy pushed Axel off his lap and moved closer to Selena. Like a feisty little junkyard mutt protecting his territory. “I don’t know, Mom,” he said. “Maybe we don’t need a dog shrink.”
Jack ignored the insulting tone of voice. There was no mention or evidence of a Mr. Milano. By this kid’s behavior alone, Jack would bet Drew had been
