How the heck had he managed that?
“Hi,” she replied, feeling shy for some stupid reason. She pushed it aside and straightened her shoulders, knowing it was best to remove any sign of weakness before he brought the dogs closer.
“Smart girl,” Holden said, admiration flickering through his gaze.
Of course, he would pick up on her transition. He would need to be super observant to train dogs, and no doubt, to work with one in a hostile area.
“Feel like helping me walk them?” he asked, and when she nodded, he handed her the leash of one of the pit bulls.
“This is the quietest these three have ever been,” she said, keeping her gaze straight ahead, not on the dogs.
All three dogs walked calmly, and Emily was happy she hadn’t ruined their strides.
“Just treating them like dogs and not like humans.” He shrugged. “So many people never get that right.”
She nodded. “Mostly because they don’t know. I’ve talked to Kade about offering a free Doggy 101 course with every adoption.”
“That’s brilliant,” he said, his expression alive with interest. “If people knew how to walk a dog, feed a dog, exercise a dog, play with a dog, all using dog psychology, there wouldn’t be nearly as many animals in the shelters.”
“Exactly,” she gushed, then immediately dialed it down when two of the dogs glanced at her. “That had been my argument.”
Holden glanced sideways at her as they continued to make their way around the perimeter of the area. “What did Kade say?”
“He loved the idea.” She grinned, pride and happiness warming her already warm insides. “He’s working out the logistics and timing, and said he needs to find the right teacher. Can I throw your hat in the ring? I think you’d be perfect.”
Emily knew she was right. He understood dogs and that people were the ones who needed the be trained in order to handle them correctly.
He raised a brow and that brilliant smile returned to light his face. “I’d like that. And thank you for the vote of confidence, especially since I almost triggered Queenie the other day.”
She wasn’t sure about Queenie, but he’d definitely triggered something in her. “No worries. She’s very sensitive. I’m working on it, but it’s slow going.”
“Would you be offended if I asked if I could help?” His sideways gaze was on her again.
“I would absolutely love that,” she told him earnestly. “And of course, I’m not offended. Queenie’s welfare is what matters, not my pride. I’d never put it before an animal. And even though I’ve worked with them for years now, doesn’t mean I don’t have more to learn. I welcome it. So, whenever you can find time to come over and help her, just let me know.”
“Is tonight okay?” he asked. “I realize it’s short notice, but it seems like our schedules actually lined up today, unlike the past few days.”
So, he was bothered by that too…
“Tonight would be great,” she replied, her voice sounding a bit more eager than she’d intended.
“Great.” He smiled, stopping outside the Doberman’s kennel. “I still have another hour here yet. I hope that’s okay. There are a lot of dogs that need walking.”
The dog entered his kennel quietly, and even allowed Holden to remove his leash without protest. She watched him repeat the process two more times with the pit bulls and marveled at how he got them to sit calmly in front of their open kennels before telling them to go inside.
Yeah, this guy definitely had an affinity with dogs.
It was beautiful. And even though she chipped in and walked a few dogs too, her attention kept straying to him and the way he managed to get the dogs to stop barking and jumping without saying a word.
He told her they could feel him through the leash and there was no need to talk.
It was a pleasure to watch him, for several reasons, and all of them brought a tingling warmth to her body.
By the time the hour was through, Emily was excited that she was going to get to watch the guy work his magic on her dog. Granted, Queenie wasn’t full of pent-up energy or anger, or was even territorial. No, she was fearful, and Emily knew that was the worst type of aggression. The kind that was very easy to escalate into the red zone and then the dog would bite.
That hadn’t happened with her yet, and she wanted to keep it that way.
She discussed this on the way to their cars. “I’m hoping you can give me some pointers on how to help Queenie move past her fear.”
