Dog Tricks by Charles Hart Spencer
“Hey bitey bite bite.” It’s the girl.
Gerald looks up. The girl dangles a piece of toast. ‘Not this again’. His doggy sigh an old motor.
“Do a trick!”
‘Trick, my ass. You do a trick.’
The girl holds the big toast in her mouth.
‘That’s a start,’ but Gerald stares straight ahead.
She curls her left leg up behind her right, hooking her knee.
‘Now you’re talking.’ Gerald is the reigning canine in Battle of the Wills. Patience…
The boy laughs. “He isn’t doing it.”
“Push him, Billy!” But the boy leans on his hand, looks away. She takes both pieces and dances them a little lower.
‘Bingo.’ Gerald snaps one piece, then the other, barely grazing her fingertips. The girl wails.
Billy laughs. “See what happens when you’re mean”