Most of the dogs in the Dog Library were serious about studying book smells. That’s why they were there – to understand the books. So Margaret the dog librarian started the Serious About Smells Book Group.
The dogs gathered in her office every afternoon and sniffed the books together. One book was called Washing by Splashing. The dogs thought the book was about a dog bath – or maybe a baby bath. They were almost the same. Wet hair, yes. Rubber ducky, yes. No-tears baby shampoo, yes.
But what about the bath water before the soap? What did that smell like? After more studying and comparing notes, the dogs agreed. The water smelled like mud and garbage, not spit-up and a dirty diaper. So that settled it. The book was about a dog bath rather than a baby bath.
More social dogs
Not every dog wanted to be in the book group. They went to the library mainly to see their friends and play games.
Some of the more restless dogs waited by the library door to see if they could get a ride in Arthur’s wagon. He called it the Smells on Wheels wagon because of all the smelly books he delivered to the library.
Arthur also put the loudest and rowdiest dogs in his wagon and wheeled them out of the library. Otherwise, Margaret growled and snarled at them. She liked the library to be as orderly as possible.
The Faded Smells Room
The dogs who had puppies sometimes brought them to the library while they studied book smells. Margaret always put them in the Faded Smells Room where she kept the used books. It was normally the quietest place in the library, but with the puppies in there it was noisy and messy and filled with toys. There were also plenty of beds and pee pads.
Margaret checked on the puppies a couple of times a day. She wanted to see what the room looked like with all the running, tumbling, and biting.
Stanley also visited the puppies sometimes. He taught them the toy blocks game. First he stacked the books and then the puppies knocked them down. But some puppies weren’t that patient and jumped on all the books instead.
Stanley liked those puppies. They didn’t always follow the rules either.
