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    Elmer and the Talent Show
    Elmer and the Talent Show
    Elmer and the Talent Show
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    Elmer and the Talent Show

    By Danny Robertshaw, Ron Danta, Laura Catrinella and Crystal Velasquez

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    About this ebook

    Inspired by a real dog from Danny & Ron’s Rescue from the popular documentary, Life in the Doghouse, this first book in a sweet chapter book series follows an old dachshund who forms an unlikely friendship with the boy in his new family—a great fit for fans of Bruce Cameron’s Puppy Tales series

    Elmer is a small dog with a big personality living at Danny and Ron’s rescue. He wants nothing more than for someone to become his forever family. But as an older dog with a floppy tongue that doesn’t stay in his mouth, it seems like he never fits the families’ idea of the perfect pet.

    Benny’s family just moved (again), and what he wants are friends. So, when his parents announce they are getting a dog, he’s so excited to show it off—until they come home with a funny-looking older dachshund. To make matters worse, his parents have signed them up for a pet training course that will end with a big talent show in front of a crowd of strangers.

    Thrown together, Elmer and Benny learn that the perfect best friend might be different than they imagined—but even better than they’d hoped.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAladdin
    Release dateFeb 1, 2022
    ISBN9781534482623
    Elmer and the Talent Show
    Author

    Danny Robertshaw

    Danny Robertshaw is a horse trainer and animal lover who began helping dogs way before 2005. But when Hurricane Katrina hit, he and Ron Danta began their rescue in earnest as they saved over six hundred dogs from that national disaster. For their work during Katrina, they were 2008 ASPCA Honorees of the Year. Since then, Danny and Ron have used their personal home for Danny & Ron’s Rescue, formed as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that has saved over thirteen thousand dogs, all placed in loving homes. Danny, Ron, and their rescue were the subjects of the award-winning documentary Life in the Doghouse. They have also been featured on the Today show, CBS Evening News, the Hallmark Channel, and Pickler & Ben, as well as several other TV shows. Their mission is a lifetime promise of love and care to every dog they take in. Visit them @DannyRonsRescue and DannyRonsRescue.org, and learn more at LifeintheDoghouseMovie.com.

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      Book preview

      Elmer and the Talent Show - Danny Robertshaw

      Chapter 1

      ELMER LOVED LOTS of things—belly rubs, ear scratches, squishy toys that squeaked when he chewed on them. But his favorite was definitely hearing the scoop, scoop sound that meant Danny and Ron, the humans who ran the dog rescue where he lived, were awake and making breakfast.

      Good morning, Elmer! Danny unlatched Elmer’s crate and put a silver bowl filled with food inside. Elmer gave Danny’s hand a quick lick and wagged his tail before he started eating. Aw, I love you, too, Danny said.

      Buster, the brown-and-white basset hound with the droopy eyes, was still snoring away in a bed by the fireplace. But most of the others stirred the moment the light in the kitchen blinked on. Elmer could hear Lucy’s high-pitched yip from the crate above his and Momo’s satisfied snuffles and grunts from the end of the hallway. Elmer wasn’t the only one who loved digging in to the feast every morning, but he was one of the few who had to have special food that was soft and easy to chew.

      After breakfast Danny opened the dogs’ crates and led them to the backyard.

      All right, go play! he said, his grin crinkling the corners of his blue eyes.

      Elmer didn’t hesitate. He liked showing Danny and Ron how good he was at running across the fresh green grass, with his long hair blowing in the wind. On his little dachshund legs, he could run even faster than Joey, the Jack Russell terrier.

      Elmer trotted around the large yard, stopping only long enough to sniff Charlie the Chihuahua and bat a lime-green tennis ball with his paws. All the playing made him thirsty. Most days were pretty sunny and hot in South Carolina, but Danny and Ron made sure the dogs had lots of shady spots to rest and plenty to drink. Elmer padded over to one of the bowls of water that were tucked against the side of the redbrick house. After lapping up a few sips, he peered down into the bowl. When the ripples stilled, he could see his own reflection in the water. He had been born with a misshapen mouth that made it hard to eat, and not long ago, he could barely see out of his right eye. It took six surgeries and weeks of wearing a cone around his neck, but the doctors had fixed his jaw and saved his eye. His lips no longer closed, he was missing teeth, and his long tongue hung from the side of his mouth. But he had survived.

      Ron and Danny told Elmer all the time that he was a good boy, a beautiful dog who would find his forever home any day now. But when he looked at himself, he wasn’t so sure. After all, why would anyone adopt him when they could take home Lady, the adorable gold-colored corgi, or the litter of five-month-old German shepherds—Huey, Dewey, and Louie—who were so tiny when they first got to the rescue that they had to be fed with a baby bottle? People usually wanted the puppies—or at least cute dogs who didn’t need surgery just to straighten their snout.

      But Elmer tried not to let that get him down. He knew he was lucky to be with Danny and Ron. After all, not many horse trainers would turn their own home into a dog rescue, but years ago, that’s just what they did. When they weren’t teaching riders how to lead horses through a series of jumps during competitions, they started helping dogs who needed them. At first they saved just a few pups who had lost their homes in a hurricane and were all alone in the world. Danny and Ron set aside space for the dogs in their horse stables, then nursed them back to health, and found them loving families. But soon the numbers grew and grew, and the horse stables weren’t enough. So their dining room table became rows of crates. Instead of stacking logs in their fireplace, they filled it with dog beds, and stocked their pantry with kibble. Eventually, their house had more dogs than people. They often said that they were only guests now in the dogs’ house.

      Elmer loved life at the rescue. There were always lots of pups—and sometimes cats—to play with, nobody minded if he jumped up on the sofa in the living room, and when it rained outside and he got scared, Danny would sit beside him and stroke his long soft ears until he fell asleep. Like most of the animals in the house, Elmer remembered what it was like to live in a place where he wasn’t safe. Here, Elmer knew he would be taken care of, no matter what. Still, that didn’t change the fact that his dearest wish in the world was for some nice people to take him home and make him part of their family.

      He lay on his back, cushioned by the soft grass, imagining what that would be like. As he looked up at the fluffy white clouds drifting across the sky,

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