The Case of the Mixed-Up Mutts by Dori Hillestad Butler, Jeremy Tugeau Page B

isn’t my human!’ But no one helped.”
    “You and Muffin should have bitten your human,” Rosie says. “That would have stopped him.”
    “It’s not okay to bite humans,” I tell Rosie.
    “It is if the human tries to dognap you,” Rosie argues.
    “No,” I growl at her. “It’s never okay.”
    Rosie backs away from me. “Well, what about Muffin’s human?” she asks Jazzy. “Why didn’t she stop Owen?”
    “Kathy wasn’t at the dog park,” Jazzy says. “She was sick that day, so she paid a neighbor boy to take Muffin for a walk. She didn’t even know that the boy took Muffin to the dog park.”
    “Why didn’t that boy stop Owen?” Ike asks.
    Jazzy sadly shakes her head. “He didn’t see Owen. He was talking to a female human.”
    Ah. We all know what happens when male and female humans start talking to each other. They don’t pay any attention to the dog.
    “And you know humans,” Jazzy goes on. “Unless they actually know you, they think all pugs look the same. When it was time to go, the boy thought I was Muffin .”
    “Well, Kathy must have known you weren’t her dog,” Shadow says.

    “Oh, yes,” Jazzy says. “She told the boy to take me back to the dog park and bring Muffin home. But he said I was Muffin. And then he left.”
    “What did Kathy do?” Shadow asks.
    “She tried to find Muffin. She went to the dog park, but Muffin wasn’t there. She put up signs, but no one called. She checked the P-O-U-N-D . She even called the police. But they talked to the neighbor boy and they looked at pictures of Muffin, and finally they told Kathy they thought I was Muffin .”
    What a sad story! It’s just as sad as Kayla and Dad not coming back for me.
    “Well, you know where Muffin is,” I say. “She’s at your house. Why don’t you take Kathy there?”
    Jazzy looks at me. “Why would I do that?” she asks.
    “Because Kathy isn’t your human,” I say. “You can’t keep a human who isn’t yours. Besides, Kathy misses Muffin. And Muffin probably misses her. They should be together.”
    “Yes, but then what will happen to me?” Jazzy asks. “Owen doesn’t want me anymore.”
    “Well ... ” I think about that for a little bit. Then all of a sudden an idea explodes inside my head. “You can come live with me and Connor and Mom!”
    “I can?” Jazzy asks.
    “Sure,” I say.
    I tell Jazzy all about Kayla and Dad and how they went missing. I tell her that I need to go look for them. And I probably need to look for them outside of Four Lakes. But it’s hard to do that when I have these new humans to take care of.
    “ You can be Connor and Mom’s dog!” I tell Jazzy. “You can take care of them. Then I can go look for Kayla and Dad. And when I find them I can stay with them. I won’t have to worry about Connor and Mom.”
    It’s the perfect plan!
    “Are Connor and his mom good humans?” Jazzy asks.
    “They’re great,” I say. In fact, they’re so great that there’s a little voice inside my head asking, Are you sure you want to leave such nice humans? But I have to find my other family. I’ll do whatever it takes to find them.
    “Let me introduce you.” I lead Jazzy over to Connor and Mom.
    “Hey, guys. This is Jazzy,” I say.
    “Hi, Buddy. Hi, Jazzy,” Connor says.
    Jazzy is impressed. “These humans speak Dog?” she asks.
    “Not exactly,” I say. “But sometimes, like right now, they’ll surprise you, and you’ll think maybe they do.”
    “Just like any humans, I guess,” Jazzy says, wagging her tail.
    Connor reaches into his treat bag and tosses Jazzy and me two liver treats. Like I said: I LOVE liver treats. They’re my favorite food!
    I think Jazzy likes them, too. “Okay,” she says as she gobbles up her treat. “I could live with these humans.”
    “First we have to get Muffin back to Kathy,” I say.
    I can tell Kathy misses her dog a lot. Her eyes are all watery, and she’s talking in a funny voice.
    “I don’t know if I’ll ever