The woman looked into his eyes as she stroked that special place behind the ears.
“You have become so important to me,” she said. “You make my life complete. I hope that we’re together for a long, long time.”
Waggit looked back at her. He didn’t understand her words, and even if he had, they wouldn’t have meant much to him. Dogs don’t think much about the future beyond the day ahead, or sometimes just the next meal. For them it is the moment that counts, and at that moment it seemed to Waggit that his life would be complete if the woman scratched his stomach. He rolled over onto his back and she willingly cooperated. As she watched him enjoy the sensation she could swear that he was smiling. And, you know, maybe he was.
Glossary
Bad water: Gasoline
Bigwater: The reservoir
The Cold White: Snow
Curlytails: Squirrels
Deepwater: The lake
Deepwoods End: The north end of the park
Eyes and ears: Sentry duty
Feeder: Restaurant
Flutters: Birds
Goldenside: The west side of the park
The Great Unknown: The dog pound
Hoppers: Rabbits
Loners: Dogs with no team
The Long Cold: Winter
Longlegs: Horses
Luggers: Carriages pulled by horses
Nibblers: Mice
Petulants: Pet dogs
Realm: Area of the park that is the domain of a team
Rising: Day
Risingside: The East side of the park
Rollers: Cars
Rollerway: Road going through the park
Ruzelas: Anyone in authority—rangers, police, etc.
Scurries: Rats
Silver claws: Knives
Skurdie: A homeless person in the park
Skyline End: The south end of the park
Stoners: Teenage boys
Uprights: Human beings
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
According to the dictionary, acknowledgments are “an author’s statement of indebtedness to others.” When the people who wrote the dictionary said others they probably meant the two-legged kind, and indeed there are many of them that I owe big-time. But leading the pack, if you’ll excuse the pun, are my four-footed friends—Molly, Bill, Roo, Bobby Blue, and Rocco—each of whom, in their own ways, introduced me to the wonderful lives of dogs and showed me that living life on life’s terms can be a lot of fun.
Of the many Uprights who made this book possible, gratitude should be showered on Susan Katz and Kate Jackson of HarperCollins, who took a risk on an author unknown in the world of children’s books, and also on my brilliant editor, Antonia Markiet, aka Toni, who beat my ramblings into acceptable prose. I suspect there may have been times when she wanted to beat the author as much as his prose.
Thanks should also be given to two talented dog trainers, Phyllis Couvares and Susi Nastasi, both of whom gave me a deeper understanding of canine behavior, and to Rachel McPherson of the Good Dog Foundation for providing a valuable outlet for that knowledge.
But most of all I want to thank my alpha wife, whose steady support has sustained me through all my strange endeavors, and who is probably the only person on the planet more dog-crazy than I.
Lastly thanks should always be given to those wonderful people who spend their lives rescuing dogs from the various Great Unknowns and without whom several of my dogs would not have survived long enough to give me the pleasure that they have.
PETER HOWE
Litchfield, Connecticut, 2007
About the Author
You can visit Peter and the pack at www.waggitstale.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
ALSO BY PETER HOWE
Waggit Again
Credits
Cover art © 2008 by Tristan Elwell
Cover design by Amy Ryan
Copyright
WAGGIT’S TALE. Text copyright © 2008 by Peter Howe. Interior illustrations copyright © 2008 by Omar Rayyan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition April 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-191093-7
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