The back yard was nice and big and there were a few trees and a fence around the perimeter. It took a second to see where the dogs were. I guess this is what their natural camouflage is like, thought Jillian, noticing how the chocolate labs blended into the shaded dirt under the trees and how the yellow labs blended into the wood on the fence. A few white and brown spotted dogs, that Jillian thought looked like English hunting dogs, walked around with toys in their mouths. “Oh, those look like Fancy Pants,” she said.

“Yeah,” said Emily. “Which one do you want to meet?”

“Adam?”

“Choco,” said Adam. He pointed to the brown labs under the tree.

“I guess we want to meet those chocolate labs,” said Jillian. Emily led them back to the tree and explained that, at least during the good weather seasons, it was better for the dogs to stay in a house with a yard.

“You know, better for them mentally. My house doesn’t always look like this. I usually have nice hostas along that fence,” she said, pointing to a dug-up spot along the fence.

“This is a really great thing you do,” said Jillian.

Adam crouched in the shade by the labs, who were initially indifferent to him.

“They don’t bite, do they?”

“Not as far as I know. I think they’re pretty kid-friendly.”

“Hi, Choco,” said Adam. Choco raised her head. Adam crouch-walked closer to the dogs while the women talked about the rescue center.

“You’re Choco and you’re Crispy. Hi, Crispy. Hi, Choco the dog,” he said. Crispy got up, wagged her tail, and walked up to Adam and began to sniff his crotch. “Hi Crispy,” he whispered.

“That dog’s name is Peanut,” Emily corrected. Adam didn’t pay attention to her. “I named all the dogs,” she said to Jillian. “That dog responds well to Peanut. It’s best to pick two syllable names.”

Crispy licked the donut sugar off of Adam’s hands. Jillian gave Emily the money order, and then Jillian, Adam, and Crispy loaded themselves into the car.

“Hey, maybe we can talk about other names,” said Jillian.

“Why?” said Adam.

“Choco’s a cute name, what about Choco?”

“But, the other one was Choco,” said Adam. “This is Crispy.”

He was so delightful and strange. Her hands were still wet, maybe even wetter. She had enough cash, she’d made sure, to pick up dog food and a dog bowl and a leash at the Petco. The dog started trembling in the back seat and Adam unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the back and sat between his car seat and the dog and whispered “doggie” while he pet Crispy and Crispy began to hyperventilate.

“WHERE ARE YOUR COLLARS and leashes?” asked Jillian. She was bent over, holding Crispy by the shoulders and waddling towards the cashier.