The Lost Puppy

Chapter Two

Toby travelled the twenty-minute journey to Ruby’s house in a special cardboard box with flaps and a handle on top, which Auntie Nell had given them. But Mum had said that Ruby could get him out as soon as the car pulled up at the house.

When Ruby opened the flaps, Toby was squashed into the corner of the box with his special blanket in his teeth, looking very worried. He really didn’t understand what was happening, and he didn’t like all the lurching about. The box smelled strange too, sort of new and biscuity. He was glad he had the blanket, which smelled of home, and the other puppies, and his mum. But he dropped it when he saw Ruby and wagged his tail, just a little. He didn’t stir out of his corner though.

“Hey, Toby…” Ruby whispered. “Are you OK? Was it scary being in the car?”

Toby edged closer to her and stood with his front paws on the side of the box, looking up at her hopefully. He didn’t like it in here. He wanted to be stroked and fussed over. And fed. He was starving.

Ruby laughed as she picked him up and he nibbled at her jacket. “Are you hungry? Auntie Nell didn’t want to feed you before we drove home – she said you might be sick. And she thought it would be good to feed you here, you see. Then you’ll have good first memories of being with us. In your new home!”

Toby barked – a sharp, demanding, “Feed me!” bark. He was sure he knew what Ruby was talking about. Auntie Nell always talked to the puppies. Shall we feed you now, hmm? That was what she said when she was getting the yummy biscuits out.

“Come on then!” Ruby followed Mum inside, and Dad staggered after them with the huge box, while Anya danced around them, singing a little dog-song she’d made up.

“We’ve got to do a bit of unpacking and then you’ll get your dinner,” Ruby explained to Toby, as she put him down gently on the kitchen floor. “Your bowls are in here, and a big bag of the food you like.”

But Toby was distracted from food for a moment, as he looked around the kitchen. Dad quickly closed the door. “We’ve got to keep him in here for a few days, remember,” he told Ruby. “Auntie Nell said to get him used to one room first.”

“And it’s tiles in here,” Mum added. “So we can wipe up if he makes any puddles. I know Auntie Nell’s started house-training him, but he’s bound to be a bit confused, and he might forget he has to go out to wee. We’d better put some newspaper down too, just in case.”

Ruby carefully unpacked the box, admiring the cute bowls Auntie Nell had got, with little bones painted on them, and the soft red padded basket.

“Look! There’s a collar and lead!”

“Oh yes. We’ll have to get a tag with our phone number put on that.” Dad nodded. “Here’s the food, shall I open it, Ruby? Then you can give him some.”

Ruby carefully used the measuring cup to fill the bowl with food – Auntie Nell had explained about measuring out the right amount of puppy biscuits for Toby’s size. As she put it down, Toby immediately stopped sniffing his way along the kitchen units, and raced for the food bowl like some sort of trained sniffer dog. He gulped down the biscuits in huge mouthfuls, licking all the way round the bowl in case he’d missed some. Then he had a long drink of water.

“His tummy’s nearly touching the ground!” Ruby pointed out. It was true. Toby’s little dachshund legs meant he wasn’t that high off the ground anyway, and now his stomach looked like a small balloon underneath him. He gave a huge yawn, licked round his mouth again, and then looked around for somewhere to collapse and sleep off his enormous tea. He stomped over to his basket, where Ruby had put the special blanket Auntie Nell had given them. She’d explained that it had been in the pen with Maisie and the puppies for the last few days, so that Toby would have something that smelled familiar.

“Oh, Anya!” Mum sighed.

Toby’s new bed was already occupied. Anya was curled up in the soft basket, fast asleep. Toby looked at her doubtfully, and then turned to look up at Ruby, with his ears hitched up just a little in a, Well, what am I supposed to do about this, then? sort of way.

Mum gently lifted Anya out of the basket, but Toby clearly wasn’t sure about it now. He stood at Ruby’s feet, staring up at her pleadingly, and she knelt down next to him. Toby gave a little sigh of relief and heaved himself on to her lap, scrabbling round her knees a couple of times, and then slumping down in a heap – fast asleep.

Toby settled into his new home very quickly. And he was growing up, too. He was still small – he was never going to be a big dog – but over the next couple of weeks he stopped sleeping so much, and became more and more adventurous – and a bit naughty. He loved playing in the garden with Ruby and Anya, especially rootling through the flowerbeds. Then he would trot happily back to the girls, covered in leaves and bits of twig, and shake himself all over them.

He was also terribly nosy. As soon as he was allowed out of the kitchen, after the first couple of days, he investigated the entire house. Every time Ruby wasn’t watching he would manage to find himself another secret hiding place, which he would get stuck in. Then he’d howl so she had to come and rescue him. Ruby didn’t understand how he actually managed to find half the spots, let alone climb into them. When he got trapped behind the washing machine Dad had to pull it right out from the wall for Toby to escape.

For a dog with such short legs, he was a very good climber, although he was much better at climbing up than down. That never stopped him, though.

About a week after they’d got Toby, Ruby let him out into the garden on his own for the first time. Up until now she’d always gone with him, but he needed a wee, and she was helping Mum do some cooking.

Ruby had just set the oven timer for the chocolate chip cookies they were baking, when she realized he was still outside. She looked out of the kitchen window, but she couldn’t see him.

“Maybe he’s sitting by the door, waiting to come in,” Mum suggested.

But he wasn’t. Feeling worried, Ruby ran outside, hoping that Toby hadn’t found a gap under the fence. She and Dad had gone all the way round the garden checking it for holes when they’d first brought him home, but what if they’d missed one?

She raced down the garden, calling anxiously. “Toby! Toby!”

Mum stood on the patio, carrying Anya, and peered into the flowerbeds.

Suddenly, Anya laughed and pointed, and Ruby heard a worried little whine somewhere up above her.

“Toby! How did you get up there?”

He was standing in the doorway of Ruby’s treehouse, staring down uncertainly. The treehouse had been Ruby’s birthday present the year before, and it had clever steps built round the tree trunk. Obviously Toby had managed to scramble up, but he wasn’t so sure about getting down again.

“Oh, Toby! You aren’t supposed to go climbing!” Dachshunds’ long backs meant stairs weren’t good for them – Ruby was amazed that he had even managed to get up the steps. She reached for Toby, and he wriggled into her arms gratefully so she could carry him down. Then he ran all around the garden twice, as though he liked the feel of solid ground under his paws.

Getting stuck in the treehouse didn’t teach Toby to be any more cautious, as Ruby had hoped it might. He was still only a very little dog, but he seemed to think he was enormous, and he had no fear at all.

A few weeks after they had brought him home, once he had had all his vaccinations and been microchipped, Toby was ready to go out for his first walk.

Ruby fetched his beautiful blue lead. They were taking Toby to the park – and she knew he would love it!

“Toby, keep still!” She was trying to clip the lead on to his collar, but Toby kept wriggling. He’d never worn the lead before, but somehow he knew it meant something exciting.

“Let me check your collar too…” Ruby whispered. Auntie Nell had told her that it was important to fit his collar properly – not so loose it would slip off, but not so tight it would rub. She was supposed to be able to put her finger between Toby’s neck and the collar. “I’ll open it up one more hole, it’s a bit tight on you. Toby, stop jumping!” She giggled as he wriggled again and licked her nose.

Ruby was a bit worried that Toby would be nervous as they walked to the park – especially with the noisy cars speeding past. But he bounced along happily, sniffing everything they passed. His claws clicked busily on the pavement as he scurried from side to side, occasionally darting behind Ruby as he caught another interesting whiff. Ruby kept having to stop and unwind the lead from around her ankles.

“Are you all right, Ruby? Do you want me to take him?” Dad asked. Mum was walking with Anya, who was just as much trouble as Toby, and didn’t have a lead, unfortunately.

“No.” Ruby shook her head firmly. Toby was her special responsibility, and she had to be able to look after him. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to go for a walk?

At last they reached the park. It wasn’t very far away, but Toby had probably covered three times the distance by going forwards, backwards and sideways, and he was looking a bit weary. But as soon as he saw the huge expanse of green grass, and the other dogs racing around, he brightened up immediately, his tail starting to whip from side to side. He sniffed busily at several clumps of grass, and then followed Ruby along one of the paths.

“Shall we see what he thinks of the ducks?” Dad suggested.

“Knowing Toby, he’ll think that they were put there for him to play with,” Mum sighed. But they headed through the park towards the ducks, with Anya running ahead – the ducks were her favourite thing.

“Oh, watch out, Anya!” Mum called, seeing a man coming down the path with a big German shepherd dog. Anya loved dogs, and she wanted to stroke all of them – even if they looked big, and possibly a bit fierce, like this one.

Toby spotted the German shepherd at the same moment as Anya did, and he darted forward, dragging his lead out of Ruby’s hand.

“Toby!” Ruby squeaked in horror, watching him galloping away. She looked down at her hand, as though she was still expecting the lead to be in it. Then she raced after him.

Toby ran up to the huge German shepherd, and barked loud, shrill barks at it. He could see Anya next to the bigger dog. She was his, even if she did keep sleeping in his basket. He wasn’t going to let some big strange dog scare her. He danced around the huge dog – barking and yapping until he ran out of breath and had to sit down, panting.

The poor German shepherd hadn’t even thought of hurting Anya, and was too well-trained to do anything to Toby either. She took a confused step backwards, towards her owner. She was worried she might be in trouble, and it was all very unfair.

But her owner patted her. “Good girl, Tara. Sit, there’s a good girl.” The man then reached down and picked up Toby in one hand – while Toby wriggled and yapped and fought.

Ruby came running up. Mum and Dad were chasing after them, too.

“Here you go.” The man handed the wriggling puppy to Ruby.

“I’m really sorry! It’s his first walk – he doesn’t really understand other dogs yet…” Ruby stammered, hoping the German shepherd’s owner wasn’t going to shout at her.

“Sorry!” Dad gasped, as he caught Anya up. “I hope he didn’t upset your dog.”

Toby was still yapping at the German shepherd, who was now sitting beautifully and looking rather smug, as though she knew she was well-behaved and the little yappy dog wasn’t.

“Just be careful. Not all dogs are as calm as Tara,” her owner told Ruby kindly, and he nodded at Dad.

“I won’t let him run off again,” Ruby promised.

“I’m so sorry about that!” Dad said, holding tight to Anya, who was reaching out hopefully as the big dog paced past. “No, Anya, you can’t stroke her. We shouldn’t have let you get so close.”

“Let’s get home before we get into any more trouble,” Mum said, looking around anxiously at all the other dogs in the park.

As the German shepherd and her owner headed off down the path, Ruby hugged Toby tight. He was still staring suspiciously after the bigger dog, his little body tense with anxiety as he pulled in her arms.

“Oh, Toby!” she whispered. “That dog could have eaten a puppy like you for breakfast!”

“And had room for a couple more,” Dad added grimly.