Rachel Alexander 03 - A Hell of a Dog

bowl of fresh fruit. “I’ll have the same,” she said. “And some yogurt as well.”
    “Me, too,” Tracy added.
    “Then two soft-boiled eggs, sausage, ham and toast, with a pot of tea, and let it steep, young man. I can’t drink that watery brew you Americans call tea, not one more morning.”
    I looked to see if Tracy was going to me-too the rest of the breakfast, but she was busy feeding Jeff a buttered roll. The waiter waited, but when Tracy looked up, she merely shook her head. Maybe she was one of those secret eaters, eating delicately when with other people and snacking on tons of junk food when she was alone.
    Martyn managed to get the puppets back into his attaché case before Sam walked in.
    “I see some of us survived the night,” she announced.
    My heart flipped over, but when she took the seat next to Beryl’s, she was smiling.
    “Does anyone need an aspirin?” she asked, opening her purse and looking around. “Or Visine?” She took out a giant-sized bottle of aspirin, shook two into her palm, and put the bottle in the middle of the table.
    “Are you using any shelter dogs for the testing this morning?” Tracy asked Martyn.
    “No, not any. I’d rather not pull a dog out of such a stressful situation for a test such as this one. I’d rather see a version of the test Cathy uses for puppies used on the shelter dogs, basically just seeing how biddable they are, assessing activity level, and finding out if they’re gentle enough. This test judges soundness for work. I don’t think that’s often an issue in shelter adoptions.”
    “But it might encourage—”
    “We’re supposed to be training professionals here.” He spoke as if he were teaching a five-year-old. For a moment I thought he was going to put the puppets back on his hands to help explain things. “It’s not going to be a very productive week if we have to censor ourselves and see if we’re being politically correct every minute.”
    “Some of the service dog programs do use shelter dogs.” She picked up another roll and buttered it, this time for herself.
    “Then why don’t you use one or two for your little talk, love? Operant conditioning phaseout timing, isn’t it?”
    Tracy’s mouth opened and closed as if she were biting the air. The door opened, and Betty charged in ahead of Angelo, proving a point that was already a given. I could hear Chip and Bucky from out in the hall where they remained, too busy arguing to come in for breakfast.
    “There is validity in that part of the test,” Chip was saying. “You have to know how a dog will react under pressure.”
    “Gentlemen,” Martyn said, sliding his chair back and standing. He motioned them in with a wave of his arm. “It seems my talk has inspired argument even before I deliver it. I’m flattered.“
    „Don’t be,” Chip said. “This one’s going to fight you every step of the way. Thinks we ought to mollycoddle the dogs instead of testing them.”
    “Indeed? It should be a stimulating morning.” He picked up his unfinished letter to his children, slipped it into his pocket, picked up the notebook and attaché case, and headed for the doors.
    Sam knocked another aspirin into her hand. “What happened to all the good feeling we generated last night?” She shook her head and took the pill.
    “Gone with the dawn,” Beryl said. She looked at her watch. “Oh, dear, no time to eat all that lovely food. Just barely time for a phone call before Martyn’s speech.” She made a sandwich of ham and toast to take with her and, with Cecilia following at her heels, left the breakfast room.
    Chip sat next to Sam. Bucky took the chair next to mine.
    “I used to think he knew what he was talking about,” he said, staring at Chip and shaking his head. “Not anymore.” He lifted a hand for the waiter and pointed to the empty cup in front of him. “Do you have those nice blueberry pancakes this morning?” he asked.
    “What exactly were you arguing about?”
    “The umbrella test. I think it’s excessive. I prefer being all positive with the dogs. You can find out everything you need to know without scaring the hell out of them. Chip thinks it separates the men from the boys, that it’s necessary, but really, Rachel, this kind of thing doesn’t give the public a very good—”
    “I’d like to reserve judgment until 1 hear what Martyn has to say. Why did we all come here, if we’re going to be so closed to each other’s ideas?”
    Feeling die