“He won’t go in the yard, Doc,” Mr. Harlow said, his voice thin with worry. “Not since the storm. He’ll hold it for eighteen hours. Then, when I finally coax him out, he just… freezes. Shakes.”
Dr. Lena sighed, tapping her pen against the chart. “Eight weeks. No progress.”
Gus just watched them. His body was still, but not rigid. His ears were forward. Interested.
It took another month. But one morning, Mr. Harlow opened the sliding door to let the morning air in. Without looking back, without a single tremble, Gus trotted down the steps, sniffed the base of the new fence, lifted his leg on a fire hydrant-shaped sprinkler, and then simply lay down in a patch of warm, morning sunlight. He rolled onto his back, legs in the air, and wiggled.