It all started when I went to Dawn's house with my dog, Mia. Mia is black with a white belly, and she's a friendly little puppy. Mia is my best friend. We went to visit Dawn at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon on a warm summer day.

I played tag, chase and hide and seek with Dawn. Mia played with us. We played all day. We had a very good time. Mia always found me. I like to hide behind the sofa. She sniffed me out and pulled on my long pants with her teeth. She was just playing with me. I also like to hide behind big trees. I dropped a trail of dog treats and she ate them until she found me. It's lots of fun to play with Mia.

Supper time came and I had to go home.

"Mia!" I said. "We have to home. We can't stay here forever. Please get up."

But Mia just sat still on the floor. Mia didn't want to come home with me. She was afraid to go outside because she saw another dog, Maria. Maria is a big dog and Mia is afraid of big dogs. I gave Mia a treat to get her attention away from the other dog. Her favorite treat is dog snappers. They are big and juicy. They are meat and they look like sausages. They have a good taste. I tried to give her other ones but she would not eat them.

I had to hook a leash to her while she was eating. Then she came home with me. The other dog's family moved to a farm the next day and then Mia was not afraid to go outside anymore. When she saw the moving van I thought I could almost see a smile on Mia's face.

Patti Weeg
patti@globalclassroom.org

April 23, 2002