Lady and the Tramp II - Buster's story

Chapter V: Scamp

The following morning, Buster and his owner walked up to the house where Tramp and his family lived. Saskia knocked on the door with a smile, and Elizabeth opened the door with Junior in her arms. "Oh, hey Saskia! Here to take Scamp out for an extra walk?" Buster's owner chuckled. "Yes, Buster and I are going out for an hour or so, I thought he might like to come with us." Elizabeth smiled. "Great! Come in, come in. I'll go get him for you."

Saskia and Buster walked inside and almost immediately a whole bunch of puppies came running towards them. Buster's owner laughed and knelt down to pet them. Lady and Tramp came to check on them too and Buster chuckled softly when he saw them. "Your owners must have their hands full with so many dogs." Tramp laughed softly. "We're trying to get them to behave, and the girls do well, but Scamp and Angel are still misbehaving." Angel pouted and looked up at them. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to remember the rules. But sometimes I get distracted." Tramp chuckled softly. "It's alright, dear. You can take your time."

Then, another puppy ran towards them, away from Elizabeth. It was Scamp, who definetly didn't want to be chained. Saskia calmly let go of Buster's leash, told him to stay and stepped in front of the wild pup, blocking his path. "Sit," she said in a calm and assertive voice. Almost immediately, Scamp stopped and sat down. "Woah, she means business..." he muttered and Buster laughed. "Exactly, that's my girl."

Elizabeth bent down and clipped Scamp's leash to his collar. "Pff, finally! He's always trying to get away from me," she said and handed Saskia the leash. Buster's owner chuckled. "Well, dogs like to play chase. So when we run after them, they think it's a game. But they don't really care who's chasing who, so if you run away from him, he'll come to you." Elizabeth smiled. "I didn't know that! Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out later. Have fun walking!"

Saskia walked out with the two dogs by her side. Buster walked beautifully, right beside his owner in a perfect heel. Scamp less so. He wanted to sniff at every flower and every pebble, and he even tried to go in front of Saskia a couple of times. He recieved a gentle, but assertive correction each time though, and quickly learned it was no use trying to disobey. He was allowed to sniff on Saskia's terms, not on his own. She did give the two dogs plenty of time to do so, but only after they had been obedient. Buster had a good chuckle watching Scamp trying to figure out how to walk properly.

"Ah, Buster! Don't laugh at me!" Scamp huffed. "Sorry kiddo, you're just hopelessly hilarious. It's not that difficult, just copy what I do." Scamp tried his best, and Saskia acknowledged that. "What a good pup. You're trying so hard! I'm proud of you," she praised him and gave him a treat. Scamp shook himself and smiled.

"You're doing better, kid. Still not as good as me, but you'll get there," Buster chuckled as they continued their walk. Scamp looked up at him. "Hey, I've thought about what you said about the pound and all, but I'm still... Confused, I guess. I never thought you would become a housedog." Buster shook himself. "Well, neither did I... Look, I was a real jerk and I'm sorry for everything that I did. I was insecure and frustrated. And so jealous. But I tried to suppress my feelings so I didn't have to deal with them. All of that just made me feel worse, and I took it out on everything around me. That doesn't excuse my behaviour, but that is why I did that." Scamp nodded. "Well, you know, I'm glad you turned around," he said. Buster looked down at him. "Thanks, kiddo.."

Once the trio got back to Scamp's house, Saskia gave the lead back to Elizabeth. "We had fun," she said, and Buster panted happily. "You should come over for tea this afternoon," said Elizabeth. Saskia seemed happy with the invitation. "We'll definetly be there. Thank you!"

With that, Buster and his owner went back home. The large doberman noticed how good his owner felt, and he was happy she was doing better.