Sofia's Puppy Love Read online

  To the hardworking people at animal

  shelters and rescue organizations

  everywhere.

  –C.V.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: Hide-and-Seek

  Chapter 2: Runt of the Litter

  Chapter 3: A Dream Come True

  Chapter 4: A Change of Heart

  Chapter 5: Friendly Advice

  Chapter 6: One Big Mess

  Chapter 7: A Second Chance

  Chapter 8: Furry Inspiration

  Chapter 9: The Science Fair

  Chapter 10: Surprise Delivery

  Sneak Peak

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Sofia Davis marveled at the nest of cat hair at the bottom of the cage as she pulled on a pair of bright yellow gloves.

  “Wow … I had no idea cats shed so much,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Yuck!”

  Sofia’s friends Keiko Hayashi, Madison Rosen, and Jasmine Arroyo squeezed in next to her and peered into the cage. It was a Saturday, and, as usual, the four friends were volunteering at Rosa’s Refuge Animal Shelter along with Jasmine’s veterinarian mother, Dr. Arroyo.

  “Sorry, Nugget,” Sofia added as she glanced down at the orange tabby. “No offense.”

  “Come on, fur ball,” Madison cooed as she scooped up the cat. “Let’s get you settled in an empty cat carrier while we clean your cage.”

  Jasmine grinned at Sofia. “If you think a little cat hair is gross, how are you going to own a dog? Most dogs shed even more than cats. And you’ll have to pick up poop on walks at least twice a day.”

  “True!” added Keiko, nodding slowly. “I’m crazy about Sadie, but I’d love it if she learned to use a toilet.”

  Madison giggled. “That’s why I have cats—they use a litter box!”

  Sofia wished she could chime in with a pet story of her own. She wanted a dog more than anything, but her parents weren’t eager to add a furry member to their family. For now, Sofia had to be content spending time with the dogs at the shelter.

  “You know, comparing how much a dog sheds with how much a cat sheds would be a great science fair project!” Jasmine said. “Too bad I already decided to use a potato to make an electric circuit.”

  “I’m going to melt chocolate to figure out the exact temperature when it changes from a solid to a liquid,” Madison said as she gently scratched Nugget behind her ears. “I’m going to see if melting different kinds of chocolate makes a difference.”

  “Yum!” Keiko replied as she held open a trash bag for Jasmine. “Afterward, you can eat all the chocolate!”

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” Jasmine said, sighing.

  “Those are both great ideas,” Keiko said. “I’m going to build a parachute for an egg. Hopefully I can drop the egg without breaking it! What about you, Sofia? Are you going to enter the science fair?”

  “Yeah, you’re the best science student in class,” Jasmine added.

  “I want to,” Sofia replied. She twisted one of her reddish-brown braids around her finger thoughtfully. “I haven’t come up with any great ideas yet. I’m just waiting to be inspire—”

  Sofia was interrupted by two animal control officers hurrying through the door carrying a large dog crate. They were followed by Mrs. Wallace, the owner of the shelter.

  “You can put her right here,” Mrs. Wallace said, and the officers carefully set the crate down on the counter.

  “We just need you to fill out these forms.” The female officer held out a clipboard for Mrs. Wallace.

  Sofia was dying to know what was going on. She glanced at her friends, but they looked just as clueless as she was. The girls waited patiently as Mrs. Wallace finished the paperwork. By the time the animal control officers had left, Sofia was ready to burst.

  “Who’s in the crate?” she asked Mrs. Wallace.

  “This is a new resident,” Mrs. Wallace explained. “There were some reports that a dog had been abandoned in Greenlake Park. Those two officers responded to the call, and they found Penny and brought her here.”

  The girls inched closer. Penny sniffed Jasmine’s fingers and wagged her tail. Then she lowered her snout onto her paws. She seemed friendly but tired.

  “How do you know her name?” Jasmine asked.

  “We don’t,” Mrs. Wallace explained. “But the officers named her on the way over here. It makes it easier to fill out the paperwork.”

  She lifted the crate and carried it into the examination room.

  “Come on, girls,” she called over her shoulder. “It’s time for her medical exam. She seems very gentle, so it’s fine for you to watch.”

  Jasmine’s mom gently removed Penny from the crate, and the girls gathered around the metal exam table. Penny lay there, tiredly resting her head against Sofia’s hand. In this position, Sofia could see that the dog’s stomach looked puffy.

  “Is she sick?” Sofia asked with concern.

  “I don’t think so, but let’s find out,” Dr. Arroyo replied. First she examined the dog’s eyes and ears. Then she took Penny’s temperature.

  “Her temperature is a little low,” Dr. Arroyo said as she used her stethoscope to listen to the dog’s chest.

  “The heart and lungs sound good,” she announced as she moved to Penny’s stomach. She pressed the dog’s belly gently, using her stethoscope to listen as well.

  “Hmmm,” Dr. Arroyo murmured. “That explains the low temperature.”

  “What is it?” Sofia asked, her face worried. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s just fine,” Dr. Arroyo replied. “She’s also pregnant. And by the looks of things, she’s about two months along. She’ll be giving birth any day now.”

  Madison stroked Penny’s back and gave her a smile. “Hear that, girl? You’re going to be a mom!”

  “I’d like to do an X-ray so we can get an idea of how many puppies she’s having,” Dr. Arroyo told Mrs. Wallace. “The X-ray will also help me see how big the puppies are so I can determine whether Penny’s likely to have any difficulties with the birth. Why don’t you all wait in the other room and I’ll call for you when I’m done.”

  Mrs. Wallace ushered the excited girls out of the exam room.

  “Wow!” Sofia said. “We’re going to have puppies! That’s so exciting.”

  “We?” Jasmine teased her friend. “It seems like Penny’s the one having the puppies.”

  “But the puppies will be born here at the shelter,” Sofia replied, beaming. “And we all volunteer here. So yes, we’re having puppies!”

  A few minutes later, Dr. Arroyo poked her head out of the exam room.

  “Okay, you can come in now,” she said.

  As soon as the girls and Mrs. Wallace were back in the room, Dr. Arroyo flipped a switch above the exam table. A screen lit up and an image appeared.

  “Whoa!” Sofia cried, leaning closer. On the screen she could see the large curve of Penny’s belly, and inside it what looked like a bunch of tiny skeletons. “Are those … skulls?”

  “That’s right,” said Dr. Arroyo with a smile. “It’s crowded in there, so I can’t say for certain, but I think she’s going to have five puppies.” She pointed out each of the five skulls. She was about to turn off the screen when Sofia stopped her.

  “Wait, isn’t that another one?” she asked, pointing to a round object peeking out from beneath Penny’s spine.

  Dr. Arroyo peered closely at the screen. “Hmm … it’s hard to say. It might just be some food in her stomach. Or you might be right. That could be a sixth puppy playing hide-and-seek.”

  Sofia grinned at what she hoped was one more puppy. “Found you!” she whispered.

  It was Su
nday morning and Sofia had just finished breakfast. She was clearing the table, but her mind was far, far away. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Penny. How was she going to wait until her volunteer shift next weekend to find out how she was doing? Suddenly, Sofia had an idea.

  “Mom? Dad?” she asked. “I don’t have to be at soccer for a few hours. If we leave now, we could stop at the animal shelter on the way to my game to check on Penny. Pleeease?”

  Mr. Davis put down the newspaper and checked his watch.

  “It won’t take long,” Sofia said quickly. “I just can’t stop thinking about her and wondering when the puppies will be born!”

  “Okay,” her mother said. “Rosa’s Refuge is on the way to the field. Hurry up and get ready. But we won’t be able to stay too long. You don’t want to be late for your game.”

  “I know!” Sofia replied as she dashed upstairs to change into her uniform. “Thanks!”

  Sofia and her parents arrived at the shelter half an hour later. Mrs. Wallace greeted them at the door, and Sofia was surprised to see Dr. Arroyo standing behind her in light green scrubs. The veterinarian usually only came on Saturdays. If she’d been called in, did that mean something bad had happened? Sofia hoped not!

  “Hi, Mrs. Wallace, hi, Dr. Arroyo,” Sofia said brightly. “We just stopped by to visit Penny on the way to my soccer game. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Of course it is!” Mrs. Wallace smiled warmly. “In fact, you’re just in time for a special surprise. Why don’t you come see?”

  Sofia and her parents followed Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Arroyo past rows of cats and dogs in their crates to a quiet area at the end of the hall where families spent time with dogs they were hoping to adopt. But today there was only one dog in the room: Penny. She was lying on a pile of soft towels, facing the wall. Sofia could hear soft squeaking noises that were too high-pitched to be coming from Penny. As Sofia came closer, she saw where the squeaking sounds were coming from. The puppies had arrived!

  Sofia looked down at a row of hungry pups with pink noses and white, brown, and black fur latching onto their mother’s belly to nurse. Their eyes were closed, and they were so tiny that Sofia could have held each puppy cupped in her hands.

  “They were born just a few hours ago,” Mrs. Wallace said.

  Sofia beamed happily. “Nice to meet all one, two, three, four, five of you,” she said, quickly counting the small, squirmy bodies. But then she frowned. “I guess I was wrong about there being a sixth puppy.”

  “Actually, you were right,” Dr. Arroyo said. “Look there, at the very end.”

  Sofia followed Dr. Arroyo’s finger to Penny’s tail, where a very tiny puppy was snuggling into her fur.

  “Look, Dad!” Sofia exclaimed. “That’s the little hide-and-seek player I saw on the X-ray yesterday!”

  “Your daughter has a very good eye,” Dr. Arroyo told Mr. Davis. “We’ve named him Piper. The others are called Peaches, Poppy, Pickle, Peanut, and Princess.”

  “Phew!” Sofia exclaimed. “That sounds like a tongue twister!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “We hadn’t thought of that,” Mrs. Wallace admitted.

  Dr. Arroyo pulled on a pair of gloves and scooped up the littlest pup. “Piper here is the runt of the litter,” she explained. “They’re all small, of course, but look at him. He’s the tiniest.”

  “That’s okay—small dogs are cute,” Sofia said. “Besides, I used to be shorter than everyone else, but then I grew two whole inches over the summer. Now I’m one of the tallest girls in my class!”

  “It’s not that simple, Sofia,” Dr. Arroyo replied gently. “Watch.” She put Piper down right next to his siblings. The pup wiggled closer to his mother, but he was quickly pushed out by the bigger pups.

  “See?” Mrs. Wallace added. “His size makes it hard for him to compete at mealtime.”

  “Runts can have a hard time,” Dr. Arroyo explained, a serious look on her face. “We’ll need to make sure he gets enough to eat and stays close to his family for extra warmth since he’s so small. If he doesn’t gain weight fast enough, he’ll be vulnerable to infections and disease. Sometimes runts don’t make it.”

  Sofia’s eyes widened in surprise.

  “You mean Piper might not live?” she whispered, her face pale. “Does he have a chance?”

  Dr. Arroyo’s face softened. “We’ll do everything we can for him. If he puts on weight quickly, he should pull through.”

  Sofia’s mother took her hand and squeezed, smiling encouragingly. Feeling more hopeful, Sofia smiled back. “So what can we do to help him?” she asked eagerly.

  “First we’ll keep their crate heated,” Dr. Arroyo explained. “That way if Piper gets pushed away from his mother by his larger brothers and sisters, he won’t get chilled.”

  “Piper will need to be bottle-fed, too, at least for a few weeks,” Mrs. Wallace added.

  “I’ll help!” Sofia cried. “I bottle-fed the calves at Keiko’s aunt’s farm. I’d love to bottle-feed a puppy!”

  “That would be great when you volunteer on Saturdays,” Dr. Arroyo said. “But Piper has to eat every two to three hours. We’ll need to monitor how much he eats each day, along with his weight gain.”

  “Then I’ll come to the shelter every day after school to help,” Sofia said decisively.

  Her mother cleared her throat. “Don’t you have soccer practice two afternoons a week?” she asked. “And homework?”

  “Oh yeah,” said Sofia glumly.

  Seeing her disappointment, her mother rested a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe we can compromise.”

  Sofia glanced up hopefully.

  “You can come here two days during the week to look after Piper,” Sofia’s mother said, “but don’t forget that school comes first.”

  “I know,” Sofia said, nodding. “I’ll keep up with all my homework; I promise!”

  “Okay, then,” Sofia’s mother replied.

  “Yes!” Sofia said, hugging her mom gratefully. Then she turned to Mrs. Wallace. “What can I do for Piper right now?”

  “You can give him what every newborn needs: lots of love and attention,” Mrs. Wallace replied.

  Sofia grinned at the puppies. “That will be easy,” she said.

  Two weeks later, Sofia joined her friends at the animal shelter. Just as they had the previous weeks, the four girls headed straight for the puppies. Now that they were a little older, they’d started to look like miniature versions of Penny—an adorable mix of beagle and hound, with floppy ears, big clumsy paws, and short stubby legs.

  “Poppy is my favorite. She’s so curious!” Jasmine said as she watched the pup investigating every corner of the litter’s small pen.

  “And Pickle is doing his favorite thing: eating!” Madison said.

  Keiko laughed. “Is food all he thinks about?”

  “My mom told me newborn puppies spend most of their time eating and sleeping for the first two weeks,” Jasmine said.

  “Pickle has the eating part down, that’s for sure!” Keiko joked. She crouched in front of Peanut and Princess. “These two are so cute together!” she squealed.

  Sofia was in love with all the puppies. But if she had to pick her favorite, she’d choose Piper. During every visit to the shelter, she had been charting his weight and temperature. At that moment, he was cradled in her arms, drinking lazily from a bottle of formula. She loved the little patch of white fur on his snout that was shaped like a heart.

  “How’s he doing?” Jasmine asked Sofia.

  “He’s a little behind in weight gain,” Sofia explained. “Puppies should double their weight the first week. After that, they should gain 5 to 10 percent more each week. He eats, but he never quite finishes a bottle.”

  “Maybe that’s because he keeps falling asleep during mealtime,” Jasmine pointed out. Sofia looked down to find Piper’s mouth still on the bottle, though his eyes were closed.

  “Hey, you’re not done yet,” cooed Sofia,
but it was no use. Piper was fast asleep. Sofia held up the bottle and saw that Piper had finished nearly half. “Not bad,” she said. “That’s more formula than he used to drink.” She put the bottle down and reached for a small notepad on the table beside her.

  “What’s that?” asked Jasmine.

  “We’ve been keeping track of how much he eats and how much weight he’s gaining,” Sofia explained.

  Madison peered over Sofia’s shoulder at the chart she had created. “Wow. You even wrote down how much all the other puppies weigh and their temperatures, too. I never would have thought to do that.”

  “Yeah, you’ve been busy!” Jasmine agreed.

  Sofia looked down at Piper, now snoring adorably in her arms. Nothing else seemed to matter.

  “I know,” she replied, cuddling the tiny pup closer. “But Piper’s worth it. He really needs me right now.”

  When her parents arrived an hour later to pick her up, Sofia brought her mom and dad over to Piper’s crate right away to show off the puppy. He was sleeping beneath a heat lamp, his tiny paws twitching as he dreamed.

  “Isn’t he the cutest?” she asked softly.

  “He is pretty adorable,” her mom agreed, putting her arm around Sofia’s shoulders.

  “Sofia’s doing a wonderful job with him,” said Mrs. Wallace. “And I’ve needed all the help I can get! It will get even busier around here once I get the puppy webcam set up. We’re hoping a livestream video of the puppies will drive up interest in adopting them.”

  Sofia felt a sudden ache in her heart. She wanted the puppies to find forever homes, of course. Still, the thought of them leaving the shelter made her sad, too.

  Sofia knew there was only one way to cure her heartache. She turned to her parents.

  “Let’s adopt Piper and take him home with us right now!” she blurted out. “I know what he needs and how to take care of him.”

  Her mom turned to face Sofia. She sighed. “Sweetheart, puppies are a lot of work, as you know. And we have a lot going on at home already. Your dad and I are remodeling the spare room, you have school and soccer, and your father and I are at work all day, so we wouldn’t be home to walk and feed the puppy while you’re at school.”