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Authors: Norah McClintock
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Weller looked at me for a moment. Then he nodded and held out a hand, a signal to me that I should go right on in.
There were three rows of chairs set up, each row with eight chairs in it. But when I counted, there were only fourteen people in the room, including Mr. Weller. Only one was a girl. She went right overto Mr. Weller the minute he came into the room, so I figured she was a helper. She was kind of cute.
Scott went up to her and said something. She laughed. Scott could be so charming. At least, thatâs the impression he liked to give. But I wasnât buying it. Then Scott looked at the back of the room where I was standing. He grinned at me again. I gave him my frozen look, the one that said,
I donât care
. But inside I knew I did care. I was going to get even with him if it was the last thing I did.
Chapter Two
Mr. Weller told everyone to take a seat. Twelve of us did. I expected the girl to stay up front with Mr. Weller, and Scott to sit down with the rest of the guys. I was going to tell him to get lost if he tried to sit anywhere near me. But he didnât. Scott stayed up front with Mr. Weller. The girl sat down with the rest of us. Another person had come into the roomâamiddle-aged woman. She looked like a teacher or a librarian.
âYou all know me,â Mr. Weller said. He told usâagainâthat we could just call him Brian. He told us that learning to train dogs would teach us a lot about ourselves. He said that dogs are like little kidsâthey respond well to patience and kindness, and they donât respond well to anger. Then he introduced us to the woman. Her name was MaggieââJust Maggie will do,â she said. She was the dog trainer. I still couldnât figure out what Scott was doing up there.
Then Maggie said, âAnd this is Scott. Heâs my assistant.â
I stared at Scott. He was standing up there, beaming at us all as if being an assistant dog trainer made him someone special. Maybe some of the guys in the room thought so too. But thatâs because they didnât know Scott like I did. They didnât know what he had done.
âIn a few minutes,â Maggie said, âyou will be introduced to your animals. Butbefore we bring them in, you need to understand your responsibility.â
A couple of guys groaned when they heard that word. Sometimes it seemed like the only word that adults knew. Andrew used it a lot. âI have responsibilities now, Josh,â heâd say. Or âOne day youâll be responsible for someone besides yourself. Then youâll see what itâs like, Josh.â He made it sound like responsibility was a cranky old gorilla that you had to carry on your back forever.
According to Maggie, it was up to us what happened to the dogs that were in the program with us. She said they all had serious behavior problems. She said that because of their problems, the animal shelter wasnât able to put them up for adoption. We were going to work with them to help them overcome their problems. If we were successful, the dogs would be able to find real homes. If we failed ⦠She shrugged and then she smiled and said she knew if we were patient and worked hard, we wouldnât fail.
After Maggie finished talking, she asked if there were any questions.
No one put up a hand. No one said anything.
If Maggie was disappointed that no one asked anything, she didnât show it. She told us that the dogs in the program werenât vicious. She said we shouldnât be afraid of them. She told us how to greet a strange dogâdonât look them straight in the eyes the first time you met them (dogs see this as threatening), donât smile at them (a dog sees this as baring your teeth, which, to dogs, is threatening), donât rush directly to the dog (also threatening), donât pat the dog on the head ⦠I began to wish I was in a regular program. I understood guys with anger management
There were three rows of chairs set up, each row with eight chairs in it. But when I counted, there were only fourteen people in the room, including Mr. Weller. Only one was a girl. She went right overto Mr. Weller the minute he came into the room, so I figured she was a helper. She was kind of cute.
Scott went up to her and said something. She laughed. Scott could be so charming. At least, thatâs the impression he liked to give. But I wasnât buying it. Then Scott looked at the back of the room where I was standing. He grinned at me again. I gave him my frozen look, the one that said,
I donât care
. But inside I knew I did care. I was going to get even with him if it was the last thing I did.
Chapter Two
Mr. Weller told everyone to take a seat. Twelve of us did. I expected the girl to stay up front with Mr. Weller, and Scott to sit down with the rest of the guys. I was going to tell him to get lost if he tried to sit anywhere near me. But he didnât. Scott stayed up front with Mr. Weller. The girl sat down with the rest of us. Another person had come into the roomâamiddle-aged woman. She looked like a teacher or a librarian.
âYou all know me,â Mr. Weller said. He told usâagainâthat we could just call him Brian. He told us that learning to train dogs would teach us a lot about ourselves. He said that dogs are like little kidsâthey respond well to patience and kindness, and they donât respond well to anger. Then he introduced us to the woman. Her name was MaggieââJust Maggie will do,â she said. She was the dog trainer. I still couldnât figure out what Scott was doing up there.
Then Maggie said, âAnd this is Scott. Heâs my assistant.â
I stared at Scott. He was standing up there, beaming at us all as if being an assistant dog trainer made him someone special. Maybe some of the guys in the room thought so too. But thatâs because they didnât know Scott like I did. They didnât know what he had done.
âIn a few minutes,â Maggie said, âyou will be introduced to your animals. Butbefore we bring them in, you need to understand your responsibility.â
A couple of guys groaned when they heard that word. Sometimes it seemed like the only word that adults knew. Andrew used it a lot. âI have responsibilities now, Josh,â heâd say. Or âOne day youâll be responsible for someone besides yourself. Then youâll see what itâs like, Josh.â He made it sound like responsibility was a cranky old gorilla that you had to carry on your back forever.
According to Maggie, it was up to us what happened to the dogs that were in the program with us. She said they all had serious behavior problems. She said that because of their problems, the animal shelter wasnât able to put them up for adoption. We were going to work with them to help them overcome their problems. If we were successful, the dogs would be able to find real homes. If we failed ⦠She shrugged and then she smiled and said she knew if we were patient and worked hard, we wouldnât fail.
After Maggie finished talking, she asked if there were any questions.
No one put up a hand. No one said anything.
If Maggie was disappointed that no one asked anything, she didnât show it. She told us that the dogs in the program werenât vicious. She said we shouldnât be afraid of them. She told us how to greet a strange dogâdonât look them straight in the eyes the first time you met them (dogs see this as threatening), donât smile at them (a dog sees this as baring your teeth, which, to dogs, is threatening), donât rush directly to the dog (also threatening), donât pat the dog on the head ⦠I began to wish I was in a regular program. I understood guys with anger management
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