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Oogy_ The Dog Only a Family Could Love - Larry Levin [66]

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the boys’ scents so that he would have something to remember them by. Then it occurred to me that maybe Oogy might instead be leaving his scent to tell other dogs that the humans wearing these clothes were his. That they were already spoken for. He was imprinting their clothing as he had imprinted himself upon our lives.

During one visit to the first park Oogy and I frequented, we emerged from the trees into the parking lot by the creek to see two young men seated on the flatbed of a truck from which a small bulldozer had been off-loaded to clean up the busted glass, old tires, pieces of masonry, and other debris strewn about. They were wearing jeans, work boots, and orange T-shirts of the company they worked for. The one in charge was built like a fireplug. He had the sleeves of his T-shirt cut off; his arms were fully covered with multi-colored tattoos. A black bandana held back his long, dark hair and he sported thick hoop earrings a thick layer of stubble on his jaw. In another time he could have been a pirate.

He said, “Hello, pup. What’s your name?” I told him and, as there was no threat, unclipped the leash so that Oogy could wander. The tattooed man asked what had happened, and when I told him the story, which included what Oogy had been bred for, he remarked, “Oh, he’s Dogo.”

I told him that he was one of fewer than a half-dozen people I had met who had recognized the breed. We talked a few minutes longer, and then I told him Oogy and I had to leave, as I needed to get home to start dinner and to help with homework. At that, the man jumped off the flatbed where he had been sitting and walked over to Oogy. He went down on his knees and took Oogy’s face in his hands. He ran his hands over Oogy’s face and smoothed back his ear. He rubbed his right thumb over the scar.

Then he nodded slowly, looked into Oogy’s eyes, and said, “You made it, dude.”

And he had.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to:

My family and friends, who always knew I could do this and without whose loving support I couldn’t have;

Those encountered along the way who contributed to the marvelous adventures in which I have been lucky enough to participate;

Those who shared their wisdom so that I had at least a fighting chance to understand how and why my life has unfolded as it has;

Dr. James Bianco and Diane Klein and the staff at Ardmore Animal Hospital, who made this possible and were never too busy to answer my questions;

Kent Wolf, my agent, who believed in this story even when he had no idea if I could tell it; and,

Emily Griffin, my editor, who challenged me and taught me and helped me say what I wanted to say and, in so doing, made me a better writer.

This book would not have been possible without any of you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRONT COVER IMAGE

WELCOME

DEDICATION

CHAPTER 1 Morning

CHAPTER 2 The Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes

CHAPTER 3 The Stork

CHAPTER 4 Doors

CHAPTER 5 The Arrival

CHAPTER 6 The Third Twin

CHAPTER 7 Surprises

CHAPTER 8 A Special One

CHAPTER 9 Signs

CHAPTER 10 The Rescuer

EPILOGUE The Journey Boats

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

oogy

the only a family could love

LARRY LEVIN

New York Boston

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Grand Central Publishing

Hachette Book Group

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New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

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First eBook Edition: October 2010

Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-446-57487-7

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Table of Contents