Baxter by Ellen Miles Page A

session started. Lizzie’s mom had brought him along when she dropped Lizzie off, and now she was waiting patiently to take Buddy home.
    “Okay,” said Katana, straightening up from her camera. “I think I’m all set. Can you get Buddy to sit and stay, right there where I’ve taped a big X to the floor?”
    Lizzie brought Buddy over to the spot and told him to sit. Buddy sat, gazing up at her hopefully.
    Am I going to get a cookie for this?
    “Good boy.” Lizzie wished she had remembered to tuck a few of his favorite biscuits into her pocket. She smiled at Buddy and petted his head. He thumped his tail.
    Pats are almost as good as cookies!
    “Buddy, stay!” said Lizzie. She held up her hand, palm toward Buddy. With Aunt Amanda’s help, Lizzie was just starting to teach her puppy some hand signals. Still holding up her palm, she took a few steps backward. “Good boy,” she said encouragingly. “Good stay.” A few more steps, and Lizzie found herself standing next to Katana. Buddy sat very, very still, but Lizzie could see that it wasn’t easy for him. He was trembling a little, and his tail made tiny
thump-thump-thumps
on the floor.
    Katana waved a finger. Quickly, Lizzie reachedinto the toy basket and grabbed a red plastic fire hydrant. She held it up right next to the camera and gave it a big squeeze. When the toy let out a loud squeak, Buddy cocked his head and stared at the camera.
Snap.
    “Got it!” said Katana just as Buddy bolted toward Lizzie, wagging his tail wildly and giving her that special doggy grin of his. Lizzie laughed and gave him the fire hydrant to chew on.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak-squeak-squeak!
Buddy danced around the room, tossing the toy into the air and pouncing on it over and over again.
    “Perfect,” said Katana. “He looked adorable. That’s just how we’ll do it with all of the other dogs.”
    Lizzie called Buddy over. “Good boy,” she told him one more time, when he brought her the fire hydrant.
    “I can’t wait to see how the picture turns out,” said Lizzie’s mom as she clipped on Buddy’s leash.
    “Here’s a peek right now,” said Katana. She showed Lizzie and Mrs. Peterson the screen on her camera. There was Buddy looking his absolute cutest, with his head tilted to one side and his ears perked to perfection.
    “Aww,” said Mrs. Peterson.
    “You’re really good,” Lizzie told Katana.
    Katana smiled modestly. “I’ve taken pictures of a
lot
of dogs,” she said. “It’s my main business.”
    After her mom left to take Buddy home, Lizzie’s job started for real. Aunt Amanda brought the dogs in one at a time: Hoss, a dignified Great Dane; Crackers, a cocker spaniel; Pugsley, the wild and wacky little pug Lizzie’s family had fostered; and of course Bowser, Aunt Amanda’s golden retriever.
    Aunt Amanda got the dogs to sit. Katana adjusted her lights, focused her camera, and gave Lizzie the signal. Lizzie squeezed the squeaky toy.
    Some dogs stayed put and posed for the camera.
    One dog — namely, Pugsley — got up and zoomed around the room, dodging everyone who tried to catch him and nearly knocking over Katana’s fancy lights.
    And a few dogs lay down and went to sleep while Katana pointed her camera at them.
    Lizzie laughed through it all. “This is so much fun,” she told Katana. “If you ever need an assistant on your jobs, let me know.”
    Finally, Aunt Amanda brought in the very last dog. “This is Baxter,” she said as she led an energetic brown puppy into the room. “After we take his picture, we’ll try for a group shot. That should be interesting.”
    Lizzie had never met Baxter. He was a beautiful puppy, with a curly chestnut coat, a white chest and paws, floppy ears, and a friendly face. His shiny brown eyes peeked through a curtain of wavy hair, making him look like a funny littleman with extra-bushy eyebrows. He bounded happily over to greet Lizzie, pulling Aunt Amanda along behind him. “Hello there, Baxter!” Lizzie squatted