Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to School
Permissions and Copyrights, Harcourt, Inc., 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-
6777. Fax: 407-345-2418.

HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt, Inc., registered in the United
States of America and/or other jurisdictions.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-15-323260-9

Ordering Options
ISBN 0-15-325519-6 (Grade 4 On-Level Collection)
ISBN 0-15-327301-1 (package of 5)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 026 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
 by Debra P. Hershkowitz
illustrated by Tom Herzberg

Orlando Boston Dallas Chicago San Diego

Visit The Learning Site!
www.harcourtschool.com
 Dear Diary, January 9
Mom and Dad are acting really funny. They talk in
Portuguese to each other. I understand Spanish and
English, but I don’t understand Portuguese. They
don’t want me to know what they’re talking about.
Whenever I ask, “What’s going on?” they get really
quiet. Today I caught them trying to hide papers they
were filling out.

Dear Diary, January 12

When the mail came today, Mom and Dad
opened one envelope in a hurry. They both grinned
and said, “Carmen, we have some great news.”
Then the doorbell rang. Our neighbor needed
help. Their basement was flooding. I took care of
their baby while my mom and dad helped them mop
up. Their “great news” had to wait.

2
 Dear Diary, January 13
Guess what! Here’s the “great news.” We’re
getting a puppy — well, sort of! We’re going to be
“puppy raisers.” A puppy raiser is a person who
takes care of a puppy for about a year. Why? It’s to
prepare the puppy to become a guide dog for a
blind person.
Remember Dad’s sister, Aunt Jane? Well, she’s
blind, and she has a guide dog named Max. Max
goes everywhere with her, making sure she doesn’t
get hurt. Aunt Jane once told me her life became a
hundred percent better when she got Max. They’re
a real team! They’re so close, I think Max can even
read Aunt Jane’s mind!

3
 Dear Diary, January 14
A little puppy is too young for guide dog
school. It needs to learn how to behave, though.
That’s where we come in. We’ll teach the puppy
many useful things. While living with us, our puppy
will learn to obey rules. It will get lots of love and
learn to get along well with people and other
animals.
There are lessons we’ll practice at home. There
are lessons we’ll practice outside, in public. Dad
wants me to be ready for hard work. He says I have
to be dedicated. I am. Mom wants me to
remember we can’t keep the dog. I know. I’m still
very excited. I think it’ll be a great adventure.

4
 Dear Diary, January 21
We got our puppy yesterday! He’s a cute, cuddly
ball of fur! He’s three months old and his name is
Bravo. Bravo means “brave” in Spanish.
We get to keep him for a little more than a year.
Dad already knows a lot about training puppies, and I
will learn soon. We’ll also be in touch with other
puppy raisers who will help teach us.
I smuggled Bravo into bed with me last night. He’s
really supposed to sleep on the floor. He has to learn
to sleep next to the bed. I promised not to do it
again.

5
 Dear Diary, January 24
I have a very important job. I feed Bravo every
day. I make sure he has plenty of fresh water. I spend
a lot of time with him after school.
A good guide dog has to be manageable in all
kinds of situations. It has to be calm and polite. It has
to be very focused, pay close attention, and obey. It
even has to know when to disobey! If following a
command will harm its owner, the dog is not
supposed to do it. In that way, it keeps its owner from
being endangered. The dog even has to make
decisions.
My family and I will take Bravo to many places and
give him many challenges. I think it’ll be fun.

6
 Dear Diary, January 28
I hardly slept at all last night! I was too excited.
Today was our first training class. There were
people and puppies everywhere! We learned some
basic rules:
Be honest and don’t tease—Bravo must trust
me. Bravo will learn to trust only if I do what I say
I’m going to do.
Use short commands—if Bravo does the wrong
thing, I say “no” to show displeasure. When he
does the right thing, I say “yes” or “good boy.”
Give rewards right away—as soon as Bravo does
the right thing, I praise him. That way, he
understands and learns.

7
 Dear Diary, February 4
Part of our job is to stop bad habits.
Biting is a bad habit. When Bravo nips my hand,
I pull back gently on the scruff of his neck. I look
him in the eye and tell him “no.” Then I put my
hand near his mouth again. If he doesn’t nip, I
praise him. We practice this over and over.
Chewing on things is a bad habit, but puppies
need to chew a lot. We want Bravo to chew only on
his own toys. He has one that looks like a bone.
Mom was smart. She took peanut butter and put it
in the cracks of the bone. He loves it! Still, he must
stop chewing my slippers!

8
 Jumping up on people is another bad habit. When
Bravo does jump up, I gently push him off. I kneel
down to pet him only when he doesn’t jump. When I’m
down there, he can see my facial expression. He knows
I am pleased with him.
Bravo is afraid of the stairs. We practiced going
down them this morning. I sat on the floor. I put Bravo
on the first step. I patted the floor and told him to
come down. As soon as he did, I hugged him and said
“good boy.” Then we did it again. Soon, he did two
steps. Then he did three. He rolled down a few times,
but he finally got it. It took a lot of coordination
because his legs are so short!
Tomorrow, we’ll try climbing up.

9
 Dear Diary, February 18
In class today, we learned the commands
“forward,” “sit,” and “come.” Bravo and I learned
how to walk together!
A guide dog always walks to the left of its
owner. To start walking, I say “forward.” If Bravo is
pulling too hard on his leash, I stop and make him
sit for a few seconds. Then I say “forward” and start
to walk again. It will take a while to learn because
Bravo’s a very playful puppy. He’s curious and has
lots of energy. I’m not worried, though. He really
wants to please us.
A guide dog must learn to come as soon as it’s
called. This is how I’m teaching Bravo to come.

10
 I get down on the floor and open my arms wide.
I say “come.” As soon as he does, I pet and praise
him. If he doesn’t come right away, it’s OK. I just
pick him up and bring him to me. Then I praise him
as if he came on his own.
Another important skill is to take and bring
things. Later, Bravo will be taught very specific
words. Right now, we’re just playing. I roll a ball and
tell him to bring it back to me. When he does, I say
“let go” or “thank you.” If he doesn’t let it go, I
touch the sides of his tongue. This makes him open
his mouth. When the ball drops, he gets praised.
Then I hold the ball out to him and say “take it.”
When he takes it gently, he gets praised.

11
 Dear Diary, February 25
Today all five of us went for a walk. I held Bravo’s
leash, while Mom and Dad pushed José’s stroller. We
crossed busy streets. Bravo has to be comfortable in
traffic. He did very well!
There were lots of dogs in the park. Some were
small. Some were really big. Bravo was brave and
friendly. He played with all the dogs. In puppy class,
they said that’s called socialization. This big word
means learning to get along with others. It’s very
important for a guide dog.
Soon, Bravo will be ready to go places where
dogs don’t usually go. He’ll wear a special jacket. It
will tell people he has a special job to do.

12
 Dear Diary, March 3
Today Bravo and I went to the public library. I
called first to make sure they would let us in. They
were happy to see us. It was story hour. The little
children were all over Bravo. He was very good with
them. He didn’t bark or growl. He is so gentle!
Last night, we all went to my favorite restaurant.
We called ahead to make sure it was OK with the
owner. It was. Bravo was a perfect gentleman! He
didn’t get in anyone’s way. He didn’t even whine or
beg for food. The owner told us we could bring him
again any time!

13
 Dear Diary, January 1
We have had Bravo for about a year now. He is
ready for more challenges. We went on our biggest
outing ever. We took a trip with the other puppy
raisers from class. Can you believe it? We took
twenty-five older puppies to the county fair! We
went by bus. What an adventure!
The first challenge was getting on the bus. The
steps were very steep. Some of the smaller puppies
had trouble. Bravo hopped up the steps with no
problem at all. He was great when the bus was
moving, too. He rested at my side the whole time.
He didn’t even get sick.

14
 The park was something else! There was a lot of
noise and bright lights from all the rides. Different
food smells came from the stands. There were
other animals, too! Bravo’s first meeting with a cow
was so funny. I took a lot of pictures for my
scrapbook.
This outing was a good chance for Bravo to be
with other puppies and other people. After a few
hours at the fair, we did a “puppy swap.” We
traded dogs with each other. I worked with Sarah’s
dog, Molly. She took Bravo. That way the puppies
get used to working with other people.

15
 Dear Diary, March 12
I’m very sad today. It’s time to say good-bye to
Bravo. A little more than a year has passed. He’s
ready to start his formal training.
He’ll stay at The Seeing Eye Institute for four
months. He’ll learn even more. Then he will meet
his real owner. I’m kind of jealous. Mom and Dad
understand exactly how I feel. We’re all going to
miss him.
One thought helps. I know we did a really
important thing. Someone’s life will be better
because of Bravo. I’m so proud of him. I’m also
proud of my family and me. The great thing is that
we can do it again!

16
Think and Respond
1 How does the writer present the story? How does
this presentation affect what you know about the
characters?
2 Summarize what happens on page 7.
3 What is the main idea of this story?
4 How do you think the author feels about the training
of guide dogs? How can you tell?
5 How is Bravo different at the end of the story than
he was at the beginning? How is he the same?
6 What do you think is the most important training
rule Carmen learns? Why?

Research Seeing Eye Dogs Do research

on Seeing Eye dogs. Write a paragraph about
your findings. Share the paragraph with
classmates.

School-Home Connection Share with a family

member what you have learned about training
guide dogs. Tell about the puppy training in
someone’s home and about the training a dog
receives at The Seeing Eye Institute.