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Lizzie.”
    Meg smiled at Lizzie and Charles. “Thanks for your help,” she said. Lizzie gave Casey one more pat before she and Charles headed back to their class groups.
    “I have a great idea,” Lizzie whispered to Maria when she was standing next to her friend again.
    But before Lizzie could say more, Meg turned to Officer Frost. “Your turn!”
    “Okay,” said the policeman. “Hi, everybody!” He looked down at Thor, who was sitting alertly at his side. “Thor, can you wave hello?” Thor picked up his right front paw and waved. Everybody cheered.
    “I wanted to add something to what Meg said about meeting dogs you don’t know,” said Officer Frost. “Another thing to remember is that some dogs don’t like it if you look right into their eyes. They think you are challenging them to fight withyou, since that’s one way that dogs challenge each other.” He asked Meg to demonstrate by looking right at Thor’s eyes.
    Thor started to growl and bark! Lizzie suddenly understood why some people might be afraid of German shepherds — or of any big dog. But Officer Frost held Thor’s leash tightly. As soon as Meg stepped back and looked away, Thor stopped barking.
    “Thor is my partner,” said Officer Frost. “Just like a human partner, he keeps me company, helps me prevent and solve crimes, and protects me if I’m in trouble.”
    Lizzie could just imagine how Thor would act if someone tried to hurt Officer Frost! Yikes.
    Officer Frost told a story about how Thor had caught a bad guy who was running away after robbing a store. Then he talked some more about how Thor rode around with him in his patrol car all day, and what a typical day was like for the two partners. “He’s my best friend,” said OfficerFrost, reaching down to pet Thor. “And Thor has some very good friends right here in the community. Don’t you, Thor? A class at the high school sponsors him. They spoil Thor rotten with treats and toys.”
    When Lizzie heard that, her eyes lit up. Maria smiled. Lizzie knew her best friend could already tell what she was thinking. Lizzie was getting
another
great idea!

CHAPTER SIX
    “Come on, Scout! Come on, Buddy! Chase me!” Lizzie ran to the end of the yard, looking over her shoulder to see if the puppies were behind her. Sure enough, Scout was bounding along, right on Lizzie’s heels! Buddy ambled a little farther behind, stopping now and then to sniff the ground or pick up a stick in his mouth.
    As soon as school was over, Lizzie and Maria had headed to Lizzie’s house. They could hardly wait to see if Scout had what it took to become a search-and-rescue dog someday. That was the first great idea Lizzie had come up with that day during the assembly. Now that they knew how Casey had been trained, they could try it themselves.
    Lizzie and Maria had decided to start with puppy runaways, the training game Meg had talked about. Meg had explained that a good search-and-rescue dog really enjoys following and finding people. “They think it’s fun,” she had said.
    Scout sure seemed to feel that way. She dashed after Lizzie. She followed Maria when Maria ran the other way. And when Sammy and Charles and the Bean came outside, she followed them, too. She followed whoever was running — from end to end of the yard, up onto the deck, back down and around the side of the house, back up onto the deck, and out to the end of the yard again.
    Scout thought this was the best game ever! It was so much fun to follow people. Nobody could get away from her! Scout loved the way the children laughed and patted her and kissed her when she ran after them.
    Buddy liked the game, too, but not as much as Scout did. He seemed just as happy to chase his own tail as to chase one of the kids.
    After they’d run around for a while, Lizzie flopped down on the deck to catch her breath. The others joined her. Scout climbed up in her lap, and Buddy curled up next to Charles.
    “Well, I think Scout really has aptitude,”