Rescued and Rejuved (private)

[JodyJames]

Tommy listened to all that his new mother said. He was absolutely sure he could take care of a puppy. After all wasn't he older than Justin. Even his rejuve age was older than Justin's kindern age so he had it all over the other boy. "I cold do it, Mommy. I'm sure I could. Remember I'm not really a little kid, I'm just rejuved down."

He was feeling happy and calm so he was acting more like -- well if not his full age of 15 at least older than 6. "I'll take care of it and teach it just like you do for me. But I won't spank it. I promise."

[cyrusdamodred]

Hanna looked worried now since he had accepted her terms and still wanted to have a puppy. Seeing his determination was one thing but she knew he really might be younger than 6 due to how he lived. "Well a soft smack with a newspaper right after it did something wrong is okay. You will also have to praise it for things done right so it remembers them and knows how to make you happy."

She decided to admit defeat for now but she was sure that could prove to be a painful week for her rejuve child. "Being old doesn't mean you know how to teach someone something. You ahve nearly no experience dealing with others. Justin grew up having friends to play with...real ones that can touch you. Its different...very different from SAM and you need to learn that stuff fast. I don't like seeing you in trouble." sighing to herself she hoped to be the one who was wrong but she highly doubted that. "Lets go then...we take a look at the animal pound in town. We can at least try it for a week and if you really are up for the challenge I promise we keep it." she said crawling through his hair.

[JodyJames]

Tommy was very excited to hear this and he was positive that he could manage things. "Where is it? Are we going to walk? Are you going to drive? Will we see lots before we pick one? Do I get to pick? I mean you can help me." he added that last just barely managing to keep his excitement from running away. SAM showed me pictures and there are lots of different kinds."

Tommy was practically bouncing with excitement. "We won't have to bring a newspaper right away, right? Oh what do they eat? I bet they don't eat ice cream right? Do you know? We could ask Justin."

[cyrusdamodred]

What the hell had she thought by doing that? That was the question following Hanna when they drove to the animal pound. He didn't even know yet what kind of food dogs needed but accepted such a compromise. The woman held at the city pound with her aircar and took a deep breath. She had tried to answer most of his questions when they had been still at home but Tommy was just ways too full of vim.

Taking a deep breath before opening the door she watched Tommy aside her. "And you are sure this is a good Idea? I told you...if you mess this up I'm gonna spank you. A failure with a puppy will hurt the poor thing and just from watching pictures you don't learn how to handle it. You might be able to talk about stuff with Justin but he can't be there all the time! I will help if I can but it will be your duty to care for it." she reminded him of all she had said to him.

[JodyJames]

But Tommy was as overconfident as any teen-ager or little boy could be being a combination of both of them. "I can do it, Mommy." he assured her.

And then he heard them. All the dogs and puppies began barking as they heard people enter. He ran over to the row of cages and began to look. They were just wonderful. He couldn't decide which he wanted.

The attendant came to see them and spoke to Hanna. "I take it you're looking for a canine companion for the boy. At his age, I'd suggest a medium-sized dog. A big dog will be too big for him to control and a smaller dog is more apt to get hurt accidentally. Do you want a young puppy or would you prefer a somewhat older dog who has had some training. We do get some dogs who have to be returned to us. There's no problem with them, they just didn't fit with families."

[cyrusdamodred]

Hanna watched Tommys excitement looking for the dogs with a smile though she still had some worries how it might turn out for him. Listening to what the attendant said it was clear she would agree. first she introduced her self and thanked for the swift help before she tend to the guys words. "Yes, I too see it that way. He has a real liking to puppies due to a friend of him having one and now he wants to try himself to raise one. I'd say a medium sized one would be best in any way and it should be rather even-tempered in character. For starters I would like to test for a week if the dog fits to us and if Tommy can really tend to it the way he said. Lets see some nice ones and if my boy likes one of them we can take it with us...or maybe first take it out as a test." Looking back to the man she made herself ready to go and look for what they had in store. "Tommy...lets go. The attendant seems to know some who might be good for you." she called for her son.

[JodyJames]

The attendant said he'd bring out several puppies one at a time. He thought they ranged in age from about 8 weeks to 3 months. He said that all of them were old enough to be house broken, though the younger ones might learn faster as they hadn't picked up bad habits. Let's see how they work.

The first he thought was a beagle mix. "It had short legs and was white brown and tan in color with droopy ears. The puppy came over to Tommy and it licked his hand. Tommy held it up and said. "See, Mommy he likes me." The attendant told them. If I'm right this is a beagle, it won't be as smart as some of the others, but it will be affectionate, though that varies by individual dog.

"I like this one, Mommy." Tommy said. The attendant said, "Don't make up your mind too fast. They're all nice."

He next brought out what looked like a small collie. It has much longer hair black and white hair, and its ears stood up. It walked over to Hanna and Tommy and began sniffing both of them and around them. The attendant gave a small ball to Tommy. "Show this to him and throw it."

Tommy did so and the puppy ran after the ball and brought it back running in circles around the three people. The attendant laughed. "Well he knows how to fetch, but you'd have to teach him to drop the ball when he gets back." Tommy said, "He's real smart, Mommy."

The variety of the third dog was a mystery. "It might be some kind of retriever, maybe some poodle in there too given it's curly hair. This one might be less of s shedding problem. Tommy had been sitting petting the second dog and was still sitting. This one crawled right into his lap. "He likes me too, Mommy."

"I like them all."

[cyrusdamodred]

"Thank you sir, that would be very nice of you." she gave the attendant props and waited until he would come back. Even as an adult Hanna wasn't immune to the cutesy of little puppy's and gladly knelt down aside her son to see which one he would pick and also to toy a little with the possible new family member.

The beagle didn't seem so bad at all and when she heared affectionate that wouldn't be too bad either. "He likes to see something different from his cage, Tommy...and to see nice people. The way you treat him will determine if he keeps liking you." she tried to explain as she herself gave the beagle some comforts.

Since the attendant said it before her Hanna saw no need to interfere when Tommy said he liked that one. Just when the man disappeared to get the next dog she told Tommy "Don't act too rash...a puppy lives for a very long time. He will grow up with you until you are an adult at best so you have to think if you still will like him in all of these years."

When the collie came in Hanna moved her hands in front of her mouth. Sure it was cute but it seemed to be a little whirlwind as it ran around them. This was definetly no dog for Tommy who already had issues with his temper and surely this one would easily get him into trouble. "Uhm...maybe..." she answered Tommys saying that the dog seemed smart "...but Tommy, he will run around all of the house and bowl down any vases standing close to him...he seems a bit very lively...is there a way to calm that one for some time?" she asked the attendant.

The third one seemed the cutest of the three to Hanna even though she couldn't really see what kind of race it was. To her it seemed even more obvious this one could be it when the attendant told them that dog would make the least problems. Hearing her son being so joyful and also sadly so indecisive she giggled a bit worried to herself. "Well, I think the collie is more for a bigger family...as well as for someone who is used to training dogs. I would tend to the last one but the beagle also was okay. It will be your dog Tommy so you have to pick one of them. If you can't we might take them for a walk and see which one works better with you." she looked to the attendant to see if her assumption was allright.

[JodyJames]

The attendant caught Hanna's meaning though he didn't know exactly what her concern was. "I'm sure All of them will play fetch with you when the get a little older, Tommy. Since you have the mixed breed one right now, why don't you take it for a little walk first."

He helped Tommy slip a soft and thick cord already fastened into a loop around he puppy's neck. "Hold tight." he told Tommy handing him the leash. He held the door open for them. When the puppy saw the open door he made a dash, catching Tommy by surprise and yanking the leash right out of his hand. Tommy yelled "STOP." Fortunately the attendant was right there to block the doorway and grab the leash.

He held it back out to Tommy. "Ok are you ready this time?"

Tommy nodded and looked at his mother. "I'll hold tighter, Mommy, this time. He won't get away. I didn't know he was so fast." Tommy was a little concerned about what his mother thought about the incident, but he was too excited to be too worried.

This time he held the leash tighter and they got outside easily enough. The area was fenced so there wasn't really a problem even if teh puppy did escape from Tommy. The puppy wandered all over and sniffed around. Tommy had to keep turning around or stepping over the leash to keep from getting tangled but he let the puppy go wherever ti wanted to go just following along.

"I like him, Mommy." he said. "Do you want a turn?" he asked holding out the leash.

[cyrusdamodred]

She had seen it coming when the puppy made a dash for it. "Tommy...hold tight!" she tried to warn him but it was too late and the little bundle of energy rushed to the attendant. Crawling through her boys hair she smiled. "Just make sure you hold him tight so he doesn't run away or rush on the streets. They are tough to handle, I told you. You only played with one until now." Hanna didn't think too much of it since stuff like that could even happen to a careless adult and surely it wasn't worth to scold or punish the boy in any way.

Watching them go for a walk made it seem to Hanna as if Tommy was the puppy on the leash and she sighed with a little smirk on her lips. "Sure, just give him to me. Lets see if he can follow." she took the leash from the boy and showed him how it usually looked to go for a walk. her eyes were on the puppy but she avoided getting entangled by changing directions and keeping the puppy on her right side, shortly yanking on the leash or whistling when it went to a wrong direction...from her point of view. It wasn't perfect but at least she wasn't pulled by the dog everywhere it wanted to go. "See? You can't let it go wherever it wants...lead it. If you don't try to lead it I doubt it will listen to what you say. You want to try again? I try walking aside you and help a little if you like..." handing the leash to the boy again she wanted Tommy to get a picture of what he really had to do and how so Hanna would try to show him what she knew about it.