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Peterson, leading the way. “You can each climb up into the driver’s seat of the ladder truck and see how it feels to sit there. Chief will help you down on the other side when you’re done.”
    It happened when Lizzie was waiting for her turn.
    A loud bell started clanging and a voice cameover the loudspeaker. “Possible heart attack at Thirty-two Elm Street. All units respond.”
    All the firefighters were also emergency medical technicians. They rode the ambulance whenever and wherever they were needed. Three guys and a woman came sliding down the pole, one after another, dressed in their blue EMT coveralls. They ran to the ambulance that was parked next to the fire truck and jumped in.
    “Gunnar, out of the way!” yelled Chief Olson. Lizzie saw that Gunnar was sitting right in front of the ambulance, facing the other direction.
    “Gunnar!” yelled the chief again.
    The big rig’s engine started to rumble and the giant garage door began to rise.
    But Gunnar did not move.

CHAPTER SIX
    “So then what happened?” Ms. Dobbins asked. It was a few days after the firehouse visit and Lizzie was at Caring Paws. She hated to leave Cody, but she didn’t want to miss another Saturday of volunteering at the animal shelter.
    Now Lizzie was telling Ms. Dobbins about what had happened with Gunnar, while they cleaned out a cage in the dog room. Ozzie, a beagle who had been staying at Caring Paws, had just been adopted. It was time to get his cage ready for the next dog who might need it. The other dogs in the room had barked like crazy when Ms. Dobbins and Lizzie first came in, but by now they had calmed down.
    “It was so weird, because Gunnar
always
behaves. But this time it seemed like he was not listening. He just sat there, staring into space! Finally, Chief Olson went over and grabbed him by the collar. He had to pull Gunnar out of the way so the ambulance could go.” Lizzie frowned, remembering.
    “Was the chief angry?” asked Ms. Dobbins.
    “No.” It made Lizzie sad to think about it. “He wasn’t mad at all. He just kept shaking his head. And then he told me that Gunnar is going deaf.”
    “Oh, dear,” said Ms. Dobbins. She handed Lizzie a squeaky toy, a red water dish, and a green fleecy blanket. They would all have to be washed for the next dog. “That’s too bad. But lots of dogs lose at least some of their hearing as they age. It’s not too hard to teach them hand signals for things like ‘sit’ and ‘come.’”
    “That’s cool,” Lizzie said. “And Gunnar’s so smart! I bet he could learn those really fast.”
    Now Ms. Dobbins was sloshing soapy water from a bucket onto the cage’s cement floor.“Although,” she said thoughtfully, “I suppose that might not be enough for a firehouse dog.”
    Lizzie sighed. “You’re right. That’s the problem. Chief Olson said that it just wasn’t safe anymore for Gunnar to roam all over the firehouse. He’s going to have to stay in the office from now on, or at home.” She knew her dad and the other firefighters would really miss having Gunnar around. They liked to brush him, or play tug with him, or slip him treats from the fridge.
    “Did you know that some Dalmatians are
born
deaf?” Ms. Dobbins asked. She reached out a hand for the mop that Lizzie was holding.
    Lizzie handed it over. “Really?” This was an interesting new dog fact!
    Ms. Dobbins nodded. “Some people think it has something to do with their white coloring. White animals often have hearing problems, especially those with blue eyes. Remember that white cat we had in here for a long time? Daisy? She was a little deaf.”
    Lizzie could picture Daisy, a big cat with a rumbly purr and a long white coat. She’d had one blue eye and one green one. “So do you think Gunnar is deaf because he is a Dalmatian?”
    Ms. Dobbins shook her head. “No, in his case it’s probably just that he is getting older.” She finished mopping the floor and handed the mop back to Lizzie. “There.