Free Baxter by Ellen Miles

CHAPTER ONE
    “Doesn’t Buddy look adorable sitting there? He’s so good.” Lizzie clasped her hands and smiled at her puppy. “Good boy, Buddy!”
    Buddy cocked his head and thumped his tail. Then he jumped up and took a step toward Lizzie.
    Lizzie held up her hand. “No, Buddy. Stay. Wait until the photographer takes the picture!”
    Buddy started to sit again, but then he couldn’t seem to help himself. He bounded over to Lizzie, put his paws on her lap, and stretched up to lick her face. Lizzie couldn’t help herself, either. She giggled and hugged him tightly. “Buddy! You’re supposed to be getting your picture taken. That means you have to sit still.”
    Buddy squirmed and kept licking, and Lizzie laughed some more. Who could be mad at a puppy as cute as Buddy, with his soft brown fur and the white spot in the shape of a heart, right in the middle of his chest? How was he supposed to know that this portrait session was a very special treat? If Buddy would only let the photographer take his picture, Lizzie and the rest of her family would have a fantastic photo to keep forever. The Petersons all loved Buddy so much.
    Lizzie’s family fostered puppies, which meant that they took care of puppies who needed homes, just until they could find each one the perfect forever family. Buddy had started out as a foster puppy, but he had ended up becoming part of the Peterson family. Lizzie could not have been happier about that. Her younger brothers Charles and the Bean both loved Buddy, too.
    Now Lizzie had managed to get Buddy to sit still again. “Sorry,” she said as soon as shestopped laughing long enough to catch her breath.
    “It’s okay,” said the photographer, a pretty Japanese-American woman named Katana. She shook back her long black hair and smiled. “I’m used to it. I’m still setting up, anyway. I’ll let you know when I’m really ready.”
    Lizzie was at Bowser’s Backyard, her aunt Amanda’s doggy day-care center. Aunt Amanda was even crazier about dogs than Lizzie (if that was even possible), so the business was perfect for her. She took care of people’s dogs while their owners were at work or on vacation. Some days she had as many as thirty dogs! Thirty
lucky
dogs. Instead of lying around alone at home, these dogs got to spend each day playing, napping, eating homemade dog treats, and enjoying activities like doggy crafts, doggy games, and even doggy massages. The luckiest dogs of all got to spend weekends with Aunt Amanda and UncleJames up at their country place, Camp Bowser. There the dogs could swim, romp in the woods, play doggy Frisbee, or just nap on the porch.
    Lizzie loved to help out at Bowser’s Backyard, although lately she had not had the chance. Aunt Amanda had not needed any extra help for a few weeks — but she sure did today. Today was Picture Day. A professional photographer — Katana — had come to take pictures of Aunt Amanda’s regular customers. Most of the owners had been happy to sign up, even though these special portraits would cost extra.
    Katana had set up a plain white backdrop for the dogs to pose in front of. She had fancy lights and a big camera on a tripod and lots of dog treats and squeaky toys for getting the dogs’ attention. That was Lizzie’s job. When Katana raised her finger to show that she was all ready to snap a picture, Lizzie was supposed to squeeze a squeaky toy so that the dog would look up at the camera, hopefully with a cute, alert expression.
    Aunt Amanda’s job — not an easy one — was to get the dogs to sit still in the first place. If anybody could do it, Aunt Amanda could. She really had an almost magical way with animals. She could train any dog to do just about anything. Lizzie knew that if Aunt Amanda had been in the room, Buddy would have sat still for her. But Aunt Amanda was in the playroom, getting the other dogs ready for their pictures. Buddy was just a practice dog for Katana to experiment with before the real photo