Doggone It! Read Online Free

chew.
    This is so gross, Katie thought, as bits of sidewalk sand and dirt scratched against her tongue. But she didn’t spit the bagel out. It tasted too good.
    Katie’s stubby little tail wagged happily back and forth as she ate. “I wonder if I can catch that?” she barked to herself as she swallowed the last bit of dirty bagel.
    Katie turned toward her tail and stretched her neck back. Her tail was still very far away. She reached farther back. She began turning around and around in a circle, as she tried to grab her tail.
    Whooaa, I’m getting dizzy, Katie thought as she spun.
    Still, she didn’t stop. She was determined to chase her tail—although she wasn’t quite sure what she would do with it if she caught it.
    Boy, dogs sure do weird things, she thought.
    Just then, Katie heard a squeaky chattering noise. She sat still and quietly.
    The noise seemed to be coming from a nearby oak tree. Katie put her nose to the ground and sniffed. Her tail began to wag wildly.

    Oh boy! SQUIRREL!
    Katie darted off toward the oak tree. But the squirrel was quicker. He scrambled up the tree trunk.
    The squirrel was high in the tree—too high for Katie to ever reach him. But that didn’t stop her from trying. She leaped up and down at the base of the tree, barking wildly.
    The squirrel sat on its high branch, chattering away. That rotten rodent was laughing at Katie.
    Plink. An acorn landed on Katie’s nose. The squirrel laughed harder.
    Now Katie was really mad. She jumped higher. She barked louder.
    The squirrel just kept on laughing.
    Finally, Katie gave up. She wasn’t going to catch the squirrel ... at least not now.
    I’ll be back! Katie gave one last bark and started for home.
    Just as Katie reached her front porch, she heard a loud, high-pitched dog yelp. It was coming from Mrs. Derkman’s yard.
    From the sound of the bark, Katie could tell this was a really small dog. But that didn’t mean anything. Even small dogs could be mean. They had sharp teeth, and they weren’t afraid to use them—especially if they thought a bigger dog was in their territory.
    Katie sat still, watching.

Chapter 9
    Katie’s brown-and-white doggie eyes grew large as she watched with surprise at what happened next.
    The little white dog took a big bite of one Mrs. Derkman’s cucumbers! The white dog was the mysterious fruit and vegetable thief!
    Unfortunately, Mrs. Derkman didn’t know about the white dog. She was sure to blame the missing cucumber on Pepper. She was going to say he’d been running loose again.
    Which he was ... sort of. But it wasn’t Katie’s fault. It was the magic wind’s fault.
    There was no way Katie could explain that to Mrs. Derkman. The teacher would never believe that Katie had actually turned into her own dog!
    “Grrrr!” Katie let out a loud, frustrated growl.
    The scraggly pup looked up in fear. Her ears stood straight up on her head. She sniffed around nervously. Then she began to whimper.
    Oh no! Katie had made the puppy cry.
    “Calm down, little puppy,” Katie whispered softly.
    But the puppy kept crying.

    Katie had to let the white dog know that she wanted to be friends. She padded over and gave the pup a real doggie greeting: she sniffed at the dog’s rear end. That was the way dogs said “hello.”
    The puppy’s tail began to wag happily. Katie sniffed again. Pew. The dog’s bottom smelled awful.
    “I’m glad people don’t say hello this way,” Katie told herself as she sniffed even harder. “It’s gross!”
    The puppy was so happy to have a friend. She jumped up and let out a little squeal of joy. Then she turned around and nipped at Katie’s nose. Lucky for Katie, the dog still had her puppy teeth.
    Katie wondered where this scraggly white dog had come from. She didn’t have a collar or tags. She was very skinny, and she smelled like she’d never had a bath in her whole life.
    Katie didn’t have a lot of time to feel bad for the puppy. Suddenly, she heard chattering noises