Zephaniah // z.m

Sixty four

Hannah

Adjusting the leash to the collar Cooper was wearing, I slowly walked over to a rather small building in front of me. For a moment I wondered if this was the right place, but when I noticed a 4 paws for ability logo, I knew I was.

Smiling, I pushed the door open, Cooper following close. I scrunched up my nose once I smelled nothing else but dogs. I had never liked the smell of them, so I made sure I washed Cooper so now and then to keep the scent limited.

Cooper's tail started wiggling instantly, other dogs curiously sniffing him as we walked past them. I simply smiled at the other dog owners, not really knowing what to say. When did I end up being so awkward?

Walking over to a man and woman, who wouldn't be any older than forty, I smiled at them once they noticed me. "Hi, I'm Hannah. I signed up for today with my dog Cooper."

"Oh, hi!" The woman smiled, shaking my hand, the man after that. "Ah, so this is Cooper." She petted my dog, itching behind his ears. "What a beautiful dog that is. Is it a mixed breed?"

"Yeah," I smiled, making Cooper sit down. "Golden Retriever and German Shepherd."

"That's amazing," The man mumbled, eyeing Cooper. "Perfect personality for something like this,"

"Hopefully," Giving them another smile, I simply walked over to the spot they eventually pointed at after the small talk, all of the dog and owners standing in line.

Cooper sniffed the dog next to us, which was a dark Labrador, who immediately barked at him, successfully startling me. "Oh, I'm so sorry." The guy that stood beside me said, giving me an apologetic look.

I shrugged, "They're still dogs," I chuckled, seeing how they were now happily wiggling their tails, starting to become playful.

"You're right. Is it your dog?" He questioned, his grey eyes boring into mine. He reminded me a bit of Noah, so I didn't feel like talking to him.

"Yeah," I simply answered, breathing out in relief when the man and woman started to talk.

"Good morning everyone! Welcome to 4 paws for ability. I believe this is going to be a beautiful day with beautiful and new experiences, and hopefully a successful training for your dogs." The man spoke enthusiastically, scanning the line, his eyes lingering on the dogs.

"At first we'd like for everyone to introduce themselves, who you are, why you're here and an introduction of the dog," the woman now said, pointing at the first in line, which meant I'd be the last one.

Sighing in relief, but also slight nerves as I hated introductions, I turned my body so I could see the woman that started a long speech about her dog.

There wouldn't be more than twenty people, so it luckily didn't take too long as I was getting a little impatient. I just wanted to train Cooper and leave.

"I'm Sophia, and what brought me here today is my daughter who suffers from bad anxiety attacks. I hope my dog, Snuff, will be able to calm her down when she's getting one of her attacks. It's a Labradoodle and she's three years old."

"Very interesting to see how many different reasons there are," the man smiled, pointing at the guy beside me.

"I'm Logan and I'm here because I only have one arm and leg due to bone cancer and can't do a lot of things myself, so.. I was hoping my Labrador, Chess, could help me out with some things,"

I glanced at the guy beside me, only now noticing he actually did have one arm, a prosthetic leg on the left. Gulping, I realised it was now my turn.

Trying to smile, I awkwardly petted Cooper's head as I didn't know what else to do. "Uhm, I'm Hannah and uhm.. well basically the young boy I take care of when his father is working brought me here. He has epilepsy and a very special bond with this dog, so I was hoping I could train Cooper to be a seizure alert dog as the father has tried several things to detect his seizures, but no option has been successful so far. Cooper is a Golden Retriever x German Shepherd,"