“Sure.” Lyndsey disappeared into the house and when she returned with the leash, all the dogs rushed over to her with their tails wagging and a few excited barks.
Holden took the leash Lyndsey offered and set it on his lap, motioning for her to retake her seat. “They’re too excited. We’ll let them settle down.”
“Okay.” Nodding, she poured everyone a glass of lemonade and handed them out. “I bring her out here with them at least once a day. I think they relax her.”
He sipped his drink then set it on the table. “Yes, because they’re balanced. If they were unstable like her, the barking wouldn’t stop, and aggression would escalate.”
“So, she kind of mirrors emotions from dogs and humans,” Gabe said, more to himself than to them.
Lyndsey grinned and set her hand on her husband’s arm. “Aw, look at you, hon. The perfect example of teaching an old dog a new trick. I’m proud of you, Seadog.”
Holden huffed into his drink, enjoying the front row seat of the big, bad squid and the woman who’d tamed him.
Gabe grunted. “If you try to give me one of their biscuits, I might bite you.”
Her grin grew wicked. “Promise?”
“Only if you beg.” Now Gabe was grinning.
“You know I’m not above begging when there’s an incentive,” his wife stated with a raised brow.
During the exchange, Holden looped both ends of the leash and held it next to him beside the chair, allowing the dogs to sniff. Even Zena ventured over after she stopped barking.
“Do you two need me to leave?” he asked, fighting a grin.
Gabe chuckled. “No, this is our typical, everyday conversation.”
“And if you’d have told me yes, you’d get an elbow to the ribs.” Holden grinned.
“Affirmative.” Gabe nodded and received an elbow to his ribs anyway.
Smiling, he nonchalantly slipped one end of the leash around Zena then the other end around Buster. As he expected, the Chihuahua panicked and tried to run but couldn’t because Buster stood still.
“Good boy.” He petted the dog. “Let’s move around the yard and interact with the dogs, except for Zena. Ignore her. Busterwill bring her to us and by interacting with him, he is going to teach her that she can trust us.”
“That seems a little cruel,” Lyndsey said as they began to walk around. “Ignoring her, I mean.”
He nodded. “I know, but if you pity her, she’ill see it as a weakness and respond with aggression. She needs calm. And if you interact while she’s nervous or barking, you’re only encouraging that behavior.”
“You have to remember she isn’t human, Lyndsey. She’s a dog,” Gabe said, bending once in a while to pet Chief on the head as the pit bull walked by his side.
“I know and I need to remember that,” she said. “But it’s hard to push their past out of my head sometimes.”
Gabe slid an arm around his wife and kissed her head. “That’s because you have a big heart, hon.”
Buster came over to Holden. “Good boy,” he murmured, petting the mastiff’s head. And when the dog laid down and exposed his belly, Holden knelt down and rubbed him. “Good boy,” he repeated.
All the while he showered the dog with attention, he noticed Zena watching. She inched close enough to sniff his knee, and soon her tail began to wag. Holden took the opportunity to reach out and touch Zena, being careful to come at her from the side. From the front could seem aggressive to a dog and provoke an attack. “Good girl,” he crooned as he stroked. She wiggled closer, accepting the contact, and soon she was on her back, and he was rubbing her belly too. “Good girl, Zena.”
“That is amazing,” Lyndsey said, rubbing Wink’s ear. “Thanks for helping her.”
“My pleasure,” he said, and they spent the next five minutes taking turns petting Zena, including Gabe.
Holden removed the leash from the dogs, and he was pleased to see the Chihuahua no longer kept her distance fromthem. When they returned to the patio, she followed along with the rest of the pack.
“Emily told me you were able to put a leash on Queenie and pet her too,” Lyndsey said, sitting back down in her chair.
He nodded. “Yes. Just like Zena, it was important to forget about her past and treat her in the now. She responded well, considering her previous owner.”
