A Dog and a Keyboard

Stories from a Crafty Canine

Page 4 of 5

Romance in the Dog Library

After the stories were created, mixed, and tested, Scout gave them to Margaret, head librarian for the Dog Library.

Scout liked Margaret. Sometimes he ran over to the Dog Library just so he could see her. He liked her curly poodle hair and her funny hats. Scout could tell she was a good librarian because dogs lined up to see her all the time.

Margaret liked Scout too. She liked watching him dash back and forth between the kitchen and the library, especially when he had a lot of stories.

One day Scout created a romance story just for Margaret. The story smelled like sweet flowers, chocolates, and sweaty skin.

Margaret sniffed it, sniffed it again, and then started panting. She ran over to the kitchen, found Scout, and licked all over his face.

Recipes for Smelly Stories

Scout, the head chef for the Dog Library kitchen, collected smells for each story. Then he created recipes so dogs could understand the stories just by sniffing them.

Scout especially liked adventure stories. One day he created a recipe about hiking. The smells included the bottom of hiking boots, a backpack, trail mix, a water bottle, and a rain poncho.

But Stanley, the library’s mischief dog loved causing trouble. He snuck into the kitchen and took out the hiking boot smell.

Charlie, the official story mixer, could tell some smells were missing. They didn’t follow Scout’s recipe, and the story couldn’t be mixed properly. It smelled only like a bare cement patio.

Marigold, the story tester, suggested more hiking boot smells, plus rotting leaves and maybe a lizard or two.

So Scout revised his recipe. Then Charlie mixed up the smells again and Marigold tested the story.

Afterward, Scout took a final sniff. If he thought the smells would make sense, he gave the story to Margaret, head librarian for the Dog Library. It was a good chance to see her anyway. He thought she was very pretty.

Faded Smells in the Dog Library

Most of the books in the Dog Library had strong smells. That’s how dogs could read and understand them. But after a lot of dogs sniffed the same book, it lost most of its smells. For example, hot sauce started to smell like applesauce.

Margaret the librarian always moved the used books into the Faded Smells Room. She also put the puppies and senior dogs in there.

The puppies

When puppies were in the library they usually drove the other dogs crazy. They raced around the room barking at all the books, especially books with smells they liked, such as roasted chicken or rotting banana peel.

But in the Faded Smells Room, where the books were dull, the puppies were quieter and took frequent naps. They didn’t care about sniffing any of the used books, not unless there are some good smells left.

For example, one book smelled like a dirty sock. It used to smell like a whole pile of dirty socks, but too many dogs sniffed the book and only the smell of one sock was left.

The senior dogs

The Faded Smells Room was also a good place for senior dogs. They didn’t like being startled by strong smells, such as orange soda or hot peppers. The dogs felt much safer with faded smells because they didn’t wake them up from long naps.

The senior dogs also liked to sniff the same books several times. There were less surprises that way.

A Party in the Dog Library

Arthur, the Saint Bernard who delivers books to the Dog Library, thought it was time to have a party. Lately some of the dogs were so busy sniffing books that they forgot to take a nap. They needed a distraction.

Margaret the Dog Librarian agreed. She needed a break from organizing all the books.

Party food and decorations

My mother brought food to the party. Cheese puffs with extra cheese, peanut butter cookies made with chicken gravy, and banana cake with salmon frosting.

I couldn’t wait to get over there.

She also helped decorate the room with balloons and party hats. The littlest dogs got a small scarf instead of a hat.

The Paw Print game

Arthur and Margaret planned a party game. It was called the Paw Print game. Dogs marked the books they liked best with two paw prints. If they didn’t understand a book by smelling it, they added only one paw print.

Margaret made up one rule. The dogs couldn’t put their paw prints on just any book. They had to do a thorough smell test first.  She also made Stanley the Mischief Dog promise to behave himself and leave the books alone.

There were three bowls the dogs could dip their paws into before marking a book. One bowl was full of slimy mud, and my mother brought red and blue paint for the other two bowls.

Dogs who marked the most books got a prize. First place was a basket full of rubber balls and stuffed toys. Second place was a bandanna made of old socks. Third place was a box of beef strip bookmarks. They didn’t last very long.

When the game was over

When the game was over, Margaret made the dogs wash off their paws in soapy water. But it was too late. There was mud and paint all over the library floor. Some paint even got on the walls. Margaret guessed it was because of Stanley.

A Book Group in the Dog Library

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.

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