Read Online Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Tags: Fiction, General, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, Children: Grades 4-6, Dogs, Animals - Dogs, Children's Audio - 9-12, Children's audiobooks, Social Issues - General, Audio: Juvenile, Kindness
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"Crawling around inside 'em!" She's looking more horrified every minute. Then she looks over at me. "Maybe Shiloh's got 'em."
"I suppose he could have."
"How would they know?" she asks me.
I lean over and whisper: "You have to look in his poop." "EEeeuu!" Dara Lynn cries, and claps her hands over her mouth.
Only thing I like better than teasing Dara Lynn is making her sick.
Now it's our turn to take Shiloh into an examining room. I get up and tug on the leash, and Shiloh follows, looking about as mournful as a dog can look.
The vet is a tall man-must be six feet four, I'll bet, and he's got on a blue shirt, too. Got a big head, big ears, and a big smile.
"Well, well, so this is Shiloh!" he says in a friendly, calm kind of voice as Dad lifts our dog up and puts him on the examining table. "This the one Doc Murphy told me about?"
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"He's the one," says Dad.
The first five minutes all John Collins does is pet Shiloh and talk real soft. Runs his hands behind his ears, smooths his head, and pretty soon Shiloh's feeling like maybe this isn't going to be so bad. Starts frisking up a little, tail begins to wag, and then he's lickin' John Collins all over his hands and chin. The vet laughs.
He asks us questions about Shiloh, about how many shots he's had, and of course we don't know the answers because we don't know who had him before Judd. Wants to know what we feed him, and I can tell he don't like the idea of table scraps.
"You've been taking real good care of him, but he'd be even healthier if he had more protein in his diet," John Collins says, and tells us what kind of dog food we should be buying and where we can get it cheapest.
Then he gives Shiloh a couple of shots-Shiloh's right good about it, just flinches a little-and tells us never to give him bones, make sure he has fresh water, clean his food dish every day, what to do for fleas....
When Dad and Dara Lynn take Shiloh out to the desk to pay the bill, I say to John Collins, "Something I've been thinking on: Chaining dogs makes 'em mean, don't it?"
"It makes them scared, so they act mean," the vet says. "When you chain a dog, he feels trapped. If other dogs or people come over and he thinks he might be attacked, he tries to pretend he's big and fierce in order to scare them off.
"And these dogs just stay mean for life?" I ask.
John Collins shakes his head. "They don't have to. Once you unchain a dog, he doesn't feel so threatened. Knows he can get away if he has to. He may not settle down
70
right then, but if he learns to trust you, knows you'll treat him right, he can become a loyal, gentle dog."
We go home and I sit at the kitchen table and write all that down for my report. We got a vet now; I can call him and ask questions, and I'm thinking how maybe some day I'll have an animal clinic-my name there on the door. Folks will bring their pets in with all kinds of problems, and I'll know just what to do. But two days later, something happened and I sure didn't know what to do then.
It's after school on Wednesday-a common kind of school day. Couple kids give their reports for their "Imagine the Future" project.
Sarah Peters stands up and reads how she is going to be a swimmer and swim the English Channel. Miss Talbot says that's an interesting goal, but what about the rest of her life? She has to be thinking about what else she could do with swimming even after she becomes a champion.
Sarah turns her paper in, and Fred Niles reads the report he's written. He wants to be a policeman, and if he can't get on the police force, then he'll settle for rescue squad.
Miss Talbot says this is a good example of how you can use your desire to help and protect people in several different ways. The boys all give Sarah our smart look, but then Laura Herndon gets up and says she wants to own a restaurant. If she can't own her own restaurant, she says, she'd like to be a cook. If she can't be a cook, she'll be a waitress. And if she can't get a waitress job,
"I suppose he could have."
"How would they know?" she asks me.
I lean over and whisper: "You have to look in his poop." "EEeeuu!" Dara Lynn cries, and claps her hands over her mouth.
Only thing I like better than teasing Dara Lynn is making her sick.
Now it's our turn to take Shiloh into an examining room. I get up and tug on the leash, and Shiloh follows, looking about as mournful as a dog can look.
The vet is a tall man-must be six feet four, I'll bet, and he's got on a blue shirt, too. Got a big head, big ears, and a big smile.
"Well, well, so this is Shiloh!" he says in a friendly, calm kind of voice as Dad lifts our dog up and puts him on the examining table. "This the one Doc Murphy told me about?"
68
U
69
"He's the one," says Dad.
The first five minutes all John Collins does is pet Shiloh and talk real soft. Runs his hands behind his ears, smooths his head, and pretty soon Shiloh's feeling like maybe this isn't going to be so bad. Starts frisking up a little, tail begins to wag, and then he's lickin' John Collins all over his hands and chin. The vet laughs.
He asks us questions about Shiloh, about how many shots he's had, and of course we don't know the answers because we don't know who had him before Judd. Wants to know what we feed him, and I can tell he don't like the idea of table scraps.
"You've been taking real good care of him, but he'd be even healthier if he had more protein in his diet," John Collins says, and tells us what kind of dog food we should be buying and where we can get it cheapest.
Then he gives Shiloh a couple of shots-Shiloh's right good about it, just flinches a little-and tells us never to give him bones, make sure he has fresh water, clean his food dish every day, what to do for fleas....
When Dad and Dara Lynn take Shiloh out to the desk to pay the bill, I say to John Collins, "Something I've been thinking on: Chaining dogs makes 'em mean, don't it?"
"It makes them scared, so they act mean," the vet says. "When you chain a dog, he feels trapped. If other dogs or people come over and he thinks he might be attacked, he tries to pretend he's big and fierce in order to scare them off.
"And these dogs just stay mean for life?" I ask.
John Collins shakes his head. "They don't have to. Once you unchain a dog, he doesn't feel so threatened. Knows he can get away if he has to. He may not settle down
70
right then, but if he learns to trust you, knows you'll treat him right, he can become a loyal, gentle dog."
We go home and I sit at the kitchen table and write all that down for my report. We got a vet now; I can call him and ask questions, and I'm thinking how maybe some day I'll have an animal clinic-my name there on the door. Folks will bring their pets in with all kinds of problems, and I'll know just what to do. But two days later, something happened and I sure didn't know what to do then.
It's after school on Wednesday-a common kind of school day. Couple kids give their reports for their "Imagine the Future" project.
Sarah Peters stands up and reads how she is going to be a swimmer and swim the English Channel. Miss Talbot says that's an interesting goal, but what about the rest of her life? She has to be thinking about what else she could do with swimming even after she becomes a champion.
Sarah turns her paper in, and Fred Niles reads the report he's written. He wants to be a policeman, and if he can't get on the police force, then he'll settle for rescue squad.
Miss Talbot says this is a good example of how you can use your desire to help and protect people in several different ways. The boys all give Sarah our smart look, but then Laura Herndon gets up and says she wants to own a restaurant. If she can't own her own restaurant, she says, she'd like to be a cook. If she can't be a cook, she'll be a waitress. And if she can't get a waitress job,
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