What the Dog Knows

What the Dog knows

What the Dog knows

SYLVIA McNICOLL

Copyright © Sylvia McNicoll, 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Publisher: Scott Fraser | Acquiring editor: Kathryn Lane | Editor: Susan Fitzgerald

Cover design and illustration: Laura Boyle

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: What the dog knows / Sylvia McNicoll.

Names: McNicoll, Sylvia, 1954- author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2021039708X | Canadiana (ebook) 20210397101 | ISBN 9781459749894 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459749900 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459749917 (EPUB)

Classification: LCC PS8575.N52 W53 2022 | DDC jC813/.54—dc23

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

The publisher is not responsible for websites or their content unless they are owned by the publisher.

Dundurn Press
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 1C9
dundurn.com, @dundurnpress

High paws to all the dogs who walked through my head as I wrote this story. Mortie the Jackapoo, Worf the Australian cattle dog–boxer cross, Soji the Australian golden retriever, Piper the Bascottie, and Rosie the Bernedoodle. And to my grandchildren who walk them: William, Jadzia, Violet, Desmond, Scarlett, Hunter, Fletcher, Finley, and Ophelia.

Contents

1 – Thursday, July 1: Waiting for Relief

2 – Thursday, July 1: The Accident

3 – Friday, June 25: Waking Up Last Week

4 – Friday, June 25: The Here and Now

5 – Friday, June 25: Playing It Safe

6 – Friday, June 25: The Secret

7 – Friday, June 25: Waiting for the Accident to Happen

8 – Friday, June 25: Training Failure

9 – Saturday, June 26: The First Swimming Lesson

10 – Saturday, June 26: Gathering New Pack Members

11 – Saturday, June 26: Dad’s Weekend

12 – Sunday, June 27: Bleach Bath

13 – Monday, June 28: Morgan’s Scheme

14 – Monday, June 28: Bikini Shopping

15 – Monday, June 28: With Strings Attached

16 – Monday, June 28: Life Counter