Belle sighed when the dog spat out the cheese.
"Bruno, come on. Cut me some slack here," she said but the German Shepard just cocked his head at her.
"You have to take your heart worm medicine," Belle insisted. "I'm serious now."
His response was a yawn.
Belle put her hands on her hips. Alright, so she wasn't the most intimidating person around. "Oh you big palooka," she sighed. He put his paw on her knee, wagging his tail. Belle laughed and hugged the large dog. "The puppy act is not going to work on me this time."
He proceeded to lay his head on her knee and wag his tail.
Okay, so the puppy act worked on her every time. Belle spent the next fifteen minutes petting and loving on the large dog before finally getting the cheese into his mouth and holding his jaws shut. She massaged his neck until he finally swallowed.

That was the last of her rounds for now. Belle put everything away and went back to her desk. There was a list of phone calls she had to make, but she decided to take a little break and get back to the world of her book. 
The door chimed. "Belle? You're already here? Good God girl we need to get you a life."
Belle looked up at Cynthia, her co-worker. "I have a life," she protested with a smile. "A very full one."
"Let me rephrase that : we need to get you a man."
Belle only laughed and brushed her hair back. "Don't need one of those. They're nothing but trouble. Besides, do you see any man getting passed my father?"
"Forget your father. The guy would have to worship the ground you walk on to get passed your mother," Cynthia pointed out.

They shared a laugh when the door opened. A man came stomping in, dragging a dog on a leash behind him. It was obvious the dog had been hit multiple times. It was whimpering and having a hard time walking. "Someone come here and take this damn mutt!"
Belle put her book down and stood. "What can I help you with sir?" she asked.
"You can take this useless mutt!" he snapped, jerking the dog forward. "Bitch got herself pregnant. I don't need this shit!"
Belle tried to maintain her hold on her temper. "That is why we encourage people to spay and neuter their animals."
The man scoffed. "Like I'm gonna pay so some greedy doctor can get a Ferrari."
"Well then you should have kept her penned up, [i]sir[/i]," she added, a warning in her voice.
"I don't need some bitch to mouth off to me," the man snapped and jerked on the leash again. "Take this damn bitch or I'm gonna put her down myself."
Belle reached over and snatched the leash from him. "We'll take her. Now get out of here before I call the cops and have them arrest you for animal cruelty."
The man's eyes narrowed. "Don't threaten me toots."
"That wasn't a threat, it was a fact," she replied, her own eyes narrowing. "And don't call me 'toots', jerk."
She could tell the man wanted to come over the counter at her, but he just tightened his fists and stomped out. Without a word Cynthia went to the window and got his tag number. "Now, to call the cops or call my boyfriend the repo-man..." she mused.
Belle knelt to examine the dog. She was thin and terrified. Belle stroked her soothingly. "It's okay little one. It's okay. Cyn, can you get Doc Sherman on the phone? We need to get her pups checked and make sure that idiot didn't hurt them."
"Got it," she replied and reached for the phone while Belle carried the dog to the back. She talked to her gently as she cleaned her up and placed her in a pen with a thick warm blanket.