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with his paws frantically, like he thought he could claw his way through the glass.
Kid
, the giant dog seemed to say,
you are seriously out of your league
.
    My spirits lifted, though, when we went inside. There were all kinds of dogs: big ones, small ones, fluffy ones, and smooth ones, and several of them turned out to be puppies—even the huge Great Dane. A yellow Lab puppy approached Ace and bowed down in Ace’s favorite
Wanna play?
position, chin between front paws, tail high and wagging. But before Ace could face off with him, the other puppy’s owner pulled him away from us, saying “Sorry! Sorry!” over her shoulder.
    Even though I had made sure Ace peed before bringing him inside, I chose a spot by the door so I could make a hasty exit if he started to squat. I looked across the room to verify that Ace-the-grandpa was still in the folding chair I had left him in—
    No Ace.
    No chair, for that matter.
    Just then, I noticed that about halfway across the roomAce was walking determinedly in my direction, dragging the chair, which he had not bothered to refold. This was creating a high-pitched metal
screeeeeeching
noise, so now every dog ear in the room was perked up high. I ran over to him, Ace at my heels.
    “Grandpa, what are you doing?”
    “I’M COMING OVER TO SIT WITH YOU.”
    “Grandpa, that’s not—” I lowered my voice and glanced around. “That’s not necessary. You can just sit and read your newspaper. Like Dad did.”
    “EXACTLY!” said Ace. “THAT’S WHY I’M OVER HERE.”
    I was about to tell him that my dad’s lack of participation wasn’t the reason Ace flunked out last time, but just then a short lady walked in carrying a clipboard. She had orange hair and glasses on the top of her head. I was hugely relieved to see that she was not the dog trainer who was in charge last time. If anyone needed a clean slate, it was Ace. Trotting next to the lady, matching her hair color almost perfectly, was a fluffy Pomeranian.
    “Rosie, go lie down,” the lady said. The little dog immediately obeyed. Ace cocked his head like this reaction made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever. Clearly, this little furry creature was from another planet entirely.
    “I’m Delores Wright,” said the lady, addressing the group. “I’d like to welcome all of you to Puppy Training 101! Many people call this puppy kindergarten, and while it will be fun, it is also a lot of work. For this reason, I take attendance everyweek, and I’ll need every participant to practice between classes and get here on time. At the end of the session, I will administer a training test. Any questions?”
    She looked around the room. I shot Ace a
No questions!
look, which earned me a raised eyebrow. “Good, let’s get started,” she continued. “When I call your name, please raise your hand. Kathy Keller and Georgie?”
    “Here!” The woman who had pulled her dog away from Ace raised her hand and waved. “Mark Johnson and Romeo?” continued Mrs. Wright, looking around the room. A large man with a very tiny black dog nodded and lifted his hand. Mrs. Wright kept going, and I almost thought she’d finished when she called out, “Zelda Fried and … Ace?”
    A rumble of amusement went around the room. I looked at Ace-the-grandpa. Both of us had our hands in the air. “Is one of you … Ace?” asked Mrs. Wright, wrinkling her forehead as she peered over her clipboard. She looked from me to Ace-the-grandpa. Ace-the-dog cocked his head to one side.
    “He’s Ace,” I said. “I’m Zelly. I’m the one who’s doing the class. It’s my dog.”
    “Okay, what’s your puppy’s name?”
    “Ace,” I said quietly.
    “Sorry, I can’t hear you,” said Mrs. Wright. “Can everyone please quiet their dogs? Now say that again.”
    I sighed. “Ace,” I said, louder.
    Mrs. Wright looked confused. “I thought you said he was Ace?” she said, pointing her pen at Ace.
    “He is. They both are,” I told her. “It’s a