“Two years in high school.”

“Bummer.”

The girls were heading down the steps toward me now. I thanked Sophie and disconnected. Holly and Noelle looked worn out. A plan was forming in my head, and the first step was to skip going home for a while.

“Is anybody in the mood for a milkshake?” I turned as I spoke, in case they’d relapsed to nonverbal responses. But “yes” was absolutely clear. We stopped at my favorite local drive-in, one of the few that had remained after an eruption of chains.

The girls still weren’t adventurous, but Noelle had graduated from vanilla to strawberry and now Holly asked for chocolate. I ordered pistachio for myself.

“How about if we swing by the house, get Biz, and then go see Teo?”

“Bismarck needs a milkshake.”

“We’ll let him lick our cups. Deal?”

Minutes later schoolbags were on the kitchen counters and everyone, including Bismarck, was back in the car heading toward Confidence K-9s.

“Does Teo know we’re coming?” Holly asked. “Is Fiona going to be there?”

“If she’s home from school, she probably will be.” I heard a loud rattle and figured that Bismarck was taking care of milkshake residue. “Tell me about school.”

They did, and I managed to eke out details to keep them busy until we pulled up in front of the kennel. “We’ll go inside and see if Teo’s here, then you can find Fiona.”

Teo’s SUV was parked to one side, so I was encouraged. One of the kennel techs let us in, and pointed toward a training yard. Janice was coming from that direction, and she volunteered to take the girls and Bismarck to her house to hang out with their new friend.

Teo was alone in the yard with a massive black dog who I guessed might be at least part rottweiler. The dog was leashed and didn’t look happy. I stayed back from the fence so as not to distract them. As I watched, Teo said something and the dog raised its head to stare suspiciously. Teo’s next word was “now.”

The dog stayed where it was.

Teo patiently repeated the sequence. This time I realized the first word was the dog’s name. “Bluff.” Again the dog stared at him, but this time when Teo said “now,” the dog moved toward him. Teo reached in his pocket for a treat and gave it to the dog along with a “good dog!”

They repeated the sequence four times. The fifth time when Teo said “Bluff,” he added “to me.” Bluff went to him immediately.

I watched for minutes as Teo lengthened the leash until he and the dog were a good distance apart. Sometimes Bluff came and sometimes he didn’t. But by the end, Bluff was coming nearly every time.

The young kennel tech who’d let us in went into the yard, and waited beside the door until Teo shortened the leash again and slowly walked Bluff toward him. The tech said his name and “to me.” Bluff went to him, and after the tech gave Bluff a treat, Teo gave the young man the leash.