The Scruffy Puppy Read Online Free Page A

sick of Lara being horrid, and Megan sucking up to her. “Actually, Sid’s going to be in a show,too!” she snapped at Megan.
    Then Bella stomped away, wishing she hadn’t said anything. She could hear them all sniggering, and there was no way Sid was going to be in a dog show – after all, where would she ever find one to enter him in?

Chapter Four
    Sid prowled backwards and forwards in front of the door, stopping occasionally to sniff the faint breeze that came wafting in round the sides. Then he flopped down on the doormat with a huge sigh.
    When would they be back?
Bella and Tom had been away all day, and even though their mum had beenaround, she had been sitting quietly and not wanting to play. She would pet him if he whined at her, but then she went back to the pieces of paper she was working on. She had got up to let him out into the garden a couple of times, and she had taken him for a quick walk at lunch, but she hadn’t really played. And then she had gone out. He was bored.
    Then his ears pricked up. He could hear footsteps! He jumped to his feet and snuffled hopefully at the bottom of the door. Yes! It was Bella – he could hear her voice. Sid let out a delighted yap, and then he heard Bella, excited and running.
    “Listen, Tom! He heard us coming. Hi, Sid!”
    Sid barked madly, racing round the hallway so fast he nearly knocked over the basket of scarves and hats by the front door. When the door opened – carefully, because Bella’s mum suspected he was probably right behind it – he whirled and bounced around their feet, jumping up and squeaking with joy.

    “I don’t think he missed us,” Tom said in a pretend-sad voice, making Bella laugh.
    “It’s so nice to see you,” Bella murmured, crouching down and hugging Sid. “I can’t believe I let Megan and the others make me think you weren’t perfect.”

    It didn’t take long for Sid to get used to the pattern of living with a family. Even though there were boring parts when Bella and Tom were away for the whole day at school, he could usually doze through those, or chew his toys. The walks made up for the slow times.
    After the first couple of days, Bellaand Tom were allowed to take him out on their own after school. Mum and Dad said it was all right, as long as they stayed together and Tom took his phone – he had got one when he’d gone to secondary school. When they got back, Sid would have a snooze while Bella did her homework, and then they’d go out into the garden and practise training.
    Bella was determined that Sid was going to be the most beautifully trained dog ever. She had even bought a book on it with her pocket money, and in a couple of weeks they were going to start classes. Somehow, because he was a bit scruffy-looking , Bella felt that people who met Sid might think he was badly behaved. So she was determined to do her absolute best to make sure that he
wasn’t
.Luckily, Sid really seemed to like the training. Especially the delicious dog treats that Bella used as rewards. She was trying to teach him to sit and stay until she called him, and he was getting quite good at it. Or at least he was while Bella was looking at him. If she turned her back, he would start to creep very, very slowly towards her and then as soon as she turned round again, he would look all innocent.
    Bella was keen to teach Sid to come when he was called, so that she could safely let him off the lead in the park. But she had decided to wait until the training classes for that one. She didn’t quite trust herself to teach Sid on her own. What if he disappeared off to the other end of the park and wouldn’tcome back? Or – even worse – he ran out through the gates on to the road?
    As much as she loved the training sessions, it was their morning walks that were Bella’s favourite. She and Dad had to get up extra early to take Sid out before breakfast, but she didn’t mind. It was lovely – there weren’t many people around, and they could use