Spotty the Fire Dog by Carla Gajewskey
1. Spotty is my name, and putting out fires is my game. I’m a full blooded, bad to the bone, scared of nothing, Dalmatian dog.
2. I have the best job a dog could ask for, I help Lucky County Fire Department not only put out fires but help out in disaster areas too.
3. Sometimes, I even have to assist a cat out of a tree. Cats will tell you that they are smarter than dogs, but have you ever seen a dog stuck in a tree? Case losed.
4. I work with the best and the bravest firefighters. They are real life heroes. Superman does not hold a candle to what they do. They risk their lives to save people from fires and disasters caused by hurricanes, floods, tornados and more.
5. WHOOOOOOO! That is the sirens on the big, red fire engine. It looks like we are off on another rescue mission.
6. Hop on and ride with me. My seat is on the back of the truck. The truck goes so fast that the wind almost blows the hair right off of my head.
7. We have to get there before anyone gets hurt. My keen nose can smell up to many miles which can help the fire fighters when they are searching for people or items lost in the rubble of a disaster.
8. I can smell smoke right now. It smells like we are going to East Fifth Street where my friend Dotty and her pups live. I hope that they are okay. I just met with them last week and gave a lesson on fire safety.
9. I see smoke pouring out of the windows of Dotty’s house, and three white and black spotted puppies with Dotty standing on the side of the street. Let’s go check on them.
10. “Spotty! We did what you said,” cried the three spotted pups. Pickles jumped around nervously and said, “We woke up to our smoke alarm going off in the kitchen.
11. “Patch was baking her famous peanut butter, chocolate chip dog bones and fell asleep. The smoke alarm went off and woke up all of us.
12. “The kitchen was filled with smoke and fire.
13. “We used our fire escape map, and we checked the door knobs to make sure they were safe. They were not hot so we knew that there was not a fire behind the door.
14. “Toby’s bat dog pajama top caught on fire and he stopped running, dropped to the ground, and rolled all around to put the fire out without getting burned.”
15. Dotty looked at Spotty and said, “My hero!”
16. There you go friends! All in a day’s work. Oh No! I have to go. Scat the cat is stuck in the big oak tree on Fortieth again. I told you cats are not smarter than dogs.
Fire Dog by Carla Gajewskey
1. Dalmatian dogs go with firefighters like peas and carrots.
2. What does this white and black spotted pup do? Once upon a time, people did not have cars. Instead, they had wagons that were pulled by horses.
3. Firefighters had a fire wagon. The wagon carried everything they needed to put out a fire.
4. The Dalmatians barked in the streets when the fire wagons approached. This warned people to move out of the way for the fire wagon.
5. Dalmatians had another job. They had to keep the horses calm. Horses were known to be afraid of fire. The horses needed to bring the wagons close to the fire because the water, used to put out the fires, was carried in the wagon. The Dalmatians helped the horses with this.
6. Dalmatians also watched out for the fire station. They made sure no one would take the horses, the things used to put out the fire, or the fire wagon. Most fire stations had two Dalmatians. One would stay at the fire station and the other would go help put out fires. This house and wagon alarm had a bite.
7. Dalmatians are known for their hunting skills. By using their good sense of smell they would hunt the rats at the fire station. This made the firefighters happy since the rats carried germs that made them sick.
8. Even though we do not use fire wagons today, you may see a Dalmatian running out of the fire house barking. He is letting everyone know that the fire truck is leaving. You may even see him on the back of the fire truck. They like watching the fire truck while the firefighters are putting out the fire. In some cases, Dalmatians have rescued firefighters and people from fires.
9. We have come a long way from horses and wagons. Many things have changed since that time. One thing that has not changed is the Dalmatians. Their fun loving nature lives on today. They are a loyal friend to their masters. It is safe to say that the fire dog’s role may be a little different, but he will always play a part in firefighting.
