| A Nose for America By Mary Lynn Bushong |  |
1 My name is Storm. I am a dog. I defend America, and I do it with my nose.
2 I have not always done this. When I was a puppy, I lived with a family. At first I stayed in the house. Then I grew tall and was put outside.
3 I was so happy when my family would come out to see me. I would jump all over them. They thought I was funny when I was small. They did not seem to like it when I was big. I was just glad to see them.
4 One day they took me to a strange place. It was full of barking dogs. Many of them were afraid. I was afraid, too. I was put in a cage.
5 A man came by to see us all. He bounced a ball as he walked.
6 I remembered playing with a ball. I could not help but bark, and then I bowed low. I wanted to play ball with him.
7 He smiled and came over to me. He opened the door and clipped on a lead. I wagged my tail as hard as I could.
8 I was put in a truck with five other dogs. Some barked. Some were afraid. I wondered where the man with the ball went. I hoped we would play soon.
9 My new home was a police training center. I do not know what that means, but I learned many things. I learned not to jump on people. I learned to do things that made them happy. When I did it right, I would get to play with the ball.
10 It did not take me long to learn to walk on a leash, to sit, and to lie down. Then I learned to use my nose. It was a big game.
11 Some of the other dogs would get tired of playing. I did not. I knew that I would get to play with the ball when I did things right. At the end of the day I would have a longer play time.
12 It was fun learning the new smells. I heard my man say they were explosives. We had a large room full of boxes that we walked around. I smelled everything. When I smelled something I had been trained to find, I sat. Then I barked. When I barked, I got to catch the ball.
13 My man is Ed. He is an officer for something called Homeland Security. He says we will help to keep America safe.
14 We spend a lot of time together. He talks to me a lot. He told me about a day called 9-11. He gets sad when he thinks about it. He says we will help stop it from happening again.
15 Tomorrow, we start our job together. I can hardly wait. I will use my nose to look for bombs. I want to make Ed happy. I want to play with the ball. I hope to do both.
2 I have not always done this. When I was a puppy, I lived with a family. At first I stayed in the house. Then I grew tall and was put outside.
3 I was so happy when my family would come out to see me. I would jump all over them. They thought I was funny when I was small. They did not seem to like it when I was big. I was just glad to see them.
4 One day they took me to a strange place. It was full of barking dogs. Many of them were afraid. I was afraid, too. I was put in a cage.
5 A man came by to see us all. He bounced a ball as he walked.
6 I remembered playing with a ball. I could not help but bark, and then I bowed low. I wanted to play ball with him.
7 He smiled and came over to me. He opened the door and clipped on a lead. I wagged my tail as hard as I could.
8 I was put in a truck with five other dogs. Some barked. Some were afraid. I wondered where the man with the ball went. I hoped we would play soon.
9 My new home was a police training center. I do not know what that means, but I learned many things. I learned not to jump on people. I learned to do things that made them happy. When I did it right, I would get to play with the ball.
10 It did not take me long to learn to walk on a leash, to sit, and to lie down. Then I learned to use my nose. It was a big game.
11 Some of the other dogs would get tired of playing. I did not. I knew that I would get to play with the ball when I did things right. At the end of the day I would have a longer play time.
12 It was fun learning the new smells. I heard my man say they were explosives. We had a large room full of boxes that we walked around. I smelled everything. When I smelled something I had been trained to find, I sat. Then I barked. When I barked, I got to catch the ball.
13 My man is Ed. He is an officer for something called Homeland Security. He says we will help to keep America safe.
14 We spend a lot of time together. He talks to me a lot. He told me about a day called 9-11. He gets sad when he thinks about it. He says we will help stop it from happening again.
15 Tomorrow, we start our job together. I can hardly wait. I will use my nose to look for bombs. I want to make Ed happy. I want to play with the ball. I hope to do both.