After the coat incident Erin was more strict with following the trainers recommendations. She scheduled regular training sessions and made sure Jay attended with her. She wasn't about to let either of their sad puppy dog looks cost her the contents of her apartment.
Although if she was being fair, Jay was true to his word and didn't try and talk her out of any rules she'd put in place. Having Jay attend training worked out to be a blessing too. It wasn't long before Alfie was more at ease around Jay, listening to his commands and letting Jay pet him and walk him without hesitation. And he was slowly warming up to the other guys in the unit but she was sure it had more to do with them sneaking Alfie treats when she wasn't around rather than anything else.
Erin also had to admit Jay was a big help. He'd meant it when he said he would do this with her. She was grateful because Hank was right, this dog was a lot of work, but she wasn't going to admit that to him any time soon. And she definitely wasn't going to complain about the extra time she and Jay were spending together. Erin's tummy growled, interrupting her reflection and she remembered she'd promised to bring home dinner this evening. Jay had left earlier with the dog claiming to have some errands to run.
/
Ok so he wasn't exactly lying. He did have to grab a birthday gift for his brother, but he could have done that anytime between now and his actual birthday next week. Things had been dead at the district, surprisingly. It was a beautiful day and he couldn't stop thinking about how nice it would be to take Alfie out to the dog park and play. So he'd made the excuse of having errands to run, told Erin he'd take the dog with him, and now was happily playing catch in the sunshine with Alfie.
He was acting more and more like a normal pup each time they came out to play. He loved to run and jumped around with excitement when Jay pulled the ball from his pocket. Alfie still wasn't great at giving the ball up once he brought it back though. Jay tried to give him the 'drop it' command but Alfie just stared at him. When Jay reached down to take the ball Alfie playfully jumped away.
"Come back here you!" Jay laughed. Alfie dutifully came back and sat in front of Jay.
Again Jay reached for the ball and Alfie jumped around. Jay laughed. "You want to play keep away, do you?"
Jay playfully swiped at the ball and Alfie ran around him in a circle. They continued like this for several minutes until Jay tripped over Alfie and ended up on the ground. Alfie immediately came to Jay's side and dropped the ball.
"Why you little.." Jay laughed grabbing at Alfie and pulling him down beside him. Jay gruffly rubbed the dog's back and Alfie barked and playfully nudged Jay, licking his chin. They wrestled until they were both out of breath.
"Ok buddy, I call a truce... Let's go get some water." Jay clipped Alfie's leach back on, got up, brushed himself off and lead Alfie back to the car where he'd stored a drink for them both.
/
Jay took another long drink of water from his water bottle while he watched Alfie lap at the water in his bowl. He looked up when he heard three old Harley's pull into the parking lot. Jay was too busy admiring the bikes to notice Alfie's demeanour change. He stopped drinking his water, his ears pressed back, his tail dipped between his legs. The bikes shut down and one rider, a large scruffy looking man, came walking towards Jay. Alfie let out a low growl which caught Jay's attention. "Easy buddy." Jay soothed.
"Hey man, wondering if you can help me out." The scruffy looking man said when he's got near enough to speak.
"Sure, what's up?" Jay offered. Alfie moved to stand behind Jay, his head peaking around Jay's legs, and barked once at the stranger. The man stopped his approach. "He's nervous of strangers, especially guys." Jay apologized.
