“What's the matter with Alex, today?” said the girl.

“Long story,” I said and followed her to a small exam room outfitted with lots of surgical steel. The disinfectant smell reminded me of traumas gone by, but the dog stayed calm.

The vet arrived soon after—a young, crewcut, Asian man in a blue smock, smiling and drying his hands with a paper towel.

“Hi, I'm Dr. Uno—ah, a Frenchie, don't see too many of those.”

“A what?”

He one-handed the towel into a waste bin. “A French bulldog.”

“Oh.”

He looked at me. “You don't know what he is?”

“I found him.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, that's a pretty rare dog you've got there—someone'll claim him.” He petted the dog. “These little guys are pretty expensive, and this one looks like a good specimen.” He lifted his flews. “Well cared for, too—these teeth have been scaled pretty recently and his ears are clean—these upright ears can be receptacles for all kinds of stuff . . . anyway, what seems to be your problem with him?”

“Apart from a fear of water, nothing,” I said. “I just wanted him checked out.”

“Fear of water? How so?”

I recounted the dog's avoidance of the pond.

“Interesting,” said the vet. “Probably means he's been perimeter trained for his own safety. Bulldog pups can drown pretty easily—real heavy boned, so they sink like rocks. On top of that, they have no nose to speak of, so they have trouble getting their head clear. Another patient of mine lost a couple of English bull babies that way. So this guy's actually being smart by shying away.”

“He's housebroken and he heels, too,” I said.

The vet smiled and I realized something very close to owner's pride had crept into my voice.

“Why don't you put him up here on the table and let's see what else he can do.”

The dog was probed, vaccinated, and given a clean bill of health.

“Someone definitely took good care of him,” said Uno. “The basic thing to watch out for is heatstroke, specially now, when the temperature is rising. These brachycephalic dogs are really prone to it, so keep him out of the heat.”

He handed me some brochures on basic dog care, reiterated the heat danger, and said, “That's about it. Good luck finding the owner.”

“Any suggestions along those lines?”

“Put an ad in the paper, or if there's a local Frenchie club, you could try getting in touch with them.”

“Do you have a list of club addresses?”

“Nope, sorry, we do mostly ER work. Maybe the AKC—American Kennel Club—could help. They register most of the purebreds.”

“Where are they?”

“New York.”

He walked me to the door.

“These dogs generally have good temperament?” I said.

He looked down at the dog, who was staring up at us and wagging his stub.

“From the little I've heard and read, what you're seeing right now is pretty much it.”