He came running over to her. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s so handsome? Who’s going to learn this trick for his handler? You are. Yes, you. You, handsome boy.”
Yardley’s voice, often pitched at drill-sergeant level, became soft and high and girlish when she interacted with her dogs. She rubbed him and chucked him under the chin until he just fell apart, lying down and rolling over on his back like a puppy.
Yardley looked up at Cole, a grin in her face. “Why are you training him in German for Agility?”
“He knows I mean business when I give commands in German. That improves his concentration.”
“Smart. But now you need to up the ante.” Yardley reached into a pocket of her windbreaker and tossed Cole a hard rubber object that looked a lot like a bright orange snowman.
“It smells like peanut butter.”
“That’s because I put peanut butter in it.”
Cole smiled. “Hugo’s a peanut butter maniac.”
As if to prove it, Hugo rolled to his feet and leaped straight up in the air and barked.
“Continue using other rewards for other obstacles. This reward is only for the Weave. Once that’s mastered, he should only get it after a successful completion of the entire Agility circuit.”
Cole eyed Hugo closely as she wagged the new toy before him. “How much do you want it?”
Hugo’s little stump of a tail worked back and forth while his breath accelerated as he sniffed the object. He began salivating and repeatedly licking his chops with his pink flag of a tongue. Finally, he barked.
“Well, big boy, you’re going to have to earn this puppy.”
Cole moved back toward the Weave poles, wagging the toy behind her. Hugo bounded after her. “Come on. Come on. Show me what you’ve learned.”
She made the motion with her hand for him to go in between the first poles. He darted between them, rounded the second and swept through the opening of the third then back through the fourth. And paused.
Cole shook her head and made the hand motion for him to continue.
Hugo huffed but launched his big body between poles four and five, hesitating only a second before entering the slot between five and six. He paused longer but did not look at Cole for encouragement before angling back between six and seven then weaving right back between seven and eight. After that, he stopped, sneezed twice, and craned his head back toward his handler.
Cole waited several seconds while her canine partner gazed at her in stubborn resistance. And then she moved ahead of him, calling out, “Hier, Hugo!” Running, she wove her way through the remaining poles with Hugo in close pursuit.
When they had completed the obstacle together, he barked loudly and triumphantly.
Cole paused and ordered him down. “Platz.”
He had dropped to the prone position at her feet.
“Blieb.” After giving the command to stay, she moved a few feet away and put the orange snowman on the ground at the end of the Weave obstacle. She pointed. “Lass es.”
Leaving it alone was the last thing Hugo wanted. He stretched up his front paws and groaned in frustration but remained prone.
Cole began walking back to the beginning of the obstacle. “Hier.” Hugo fell quickly into step behind her. Only then did she glance over at Yardley, who had been watching them near the first pole with a fist propped on each hip.
Yardley waited until Cole reached her. “Teamwork between the dog and handler is the main objective of canine competition. Hugo adores you. Will do anything for you. Make him earn your approval.” She cocked her head to one side. “While you’re at it, take a second and feel nice about yourself. You’re doing better than you think. Then get the hell back to work.”
Cole watched Yardley walk away. “She likes me. She really likes me.”
She looked down, expecting Hugo to be staring at her in all his doggy admiration. Instead, he was intently staring down the poles at the orange Pillsbury Doughboy. So much for handler adoration.
Right. Back to work.
*
Cole ate dinner alone. She had carried her plate back from the general mess hall to the bunkhouse she shared with Scott, though he wasn’t here. He was working late with the Harmonie Kennels drug detection team to bring Izzy up to speed on the latest detection-avoidance techniques and how to get around them.
Hugo was so tired from their own efforts of the afternoon that he lay sprawled on his back at her feet snoring like it was 2 A.M. He hadn’t won the orange beehive—she really did need to settle on a name for his new toy—but he certainly knew now what the goal was, and the prize that lay at the end of it.
She reached for her iced tea and walked out to the porch to watch as the last of the gold of the setting sun slipped down behind the western hills. For the moment, she didn’t think about anything. She couldn’t afford to think about what the night would bring. Couldn’t afford to recall the night before or anything related to the past.