Page 26 of Bodybuilders for the BBW

We went down the dog food aisle and I talked him through the range, giving him good options at the cheap, middle and expensive ends of the market. He shouldered a massive bag of primo dog food and placed it in the cart like it was no big thing. I just stared in wonder at how nonchalant he was being. Well, at that and the fact his biceps threatened to pop the seams of his shirt,

“Dog toys are really hit or miss.” I picked up a chunky silicone cone. “Kongs can be good as you stuff treats in here.” I showed him to the hole on one end. “For dogs who need a lot of stimulation, these can be amazing and stop them from digging up your garden…”

A high-pitched giggle had me turning around to see a little girl had come wandering over. She tugged at my pants and beamed at me with a gummy smile.

“Looks like you’ve found a friend.” Rhett smiled as he stepped forward, then crouched down to her level. “OK, sweetheart, where’s your mum and dad?”

“Mum mum!” the girl cried, pointing wildly across the floor to where a harried looking woman was scanning the store.

“Let’s get you to Mum Mum then,” he said. With one hand on the trolley and the other holding the girl’s hand, he walked over to the woman, who looked relieved when we arrived.

“Abigail!” She took the child from Rhett and held her close. “Naughty girl, running off like that.” Abigail started to squirm, making clear how this had happened in the first place. The little girl wanted to run around and explore, not be carried by her mum. Instead, her mother put her in the trolley and then handed her a well-worn doll to play with. “Thank you for bringing her over. I turned around for a minute?—”

“And she was off?” I said.

Abigail had climbed up and over the trolley and landed on her feet expertly before running off again.

“Abby!” Mum looked harried. “Abby!”

She went after her daughter, leaving her trolley behind, but she wasn’t fast enough. The glass doors of the shop slid open and in came a teenage boy and his dog. One look at him and I could see exactly what would happen. The dog was a big mastiff, and the kid had him on one of those bloody extendable leads. They were perfectly fine with dogs with excellent recall and in a space where you didn’t need complete control over your dog and I was fairly sure neither of those things were true.

“Doggy!” Abigail cried and then went running towards the kid and his pup.

“Oh my god…” I hissed, ready to go sprinting across the floor, but Rhett was one step ahead of me. With a few long strides of his powerful legs, he was there the moment the dog saw the little girl.

Looks were deceiving with dogs. Plenty of big scary looking pups were gentle as lambs, but you couldn’t assume that when first meeting them. Abigail was too little to know that.

“Abby!” Mum shouted, running towards her daughter, but the dog had the exact same impulse. His whole body quivered with barely concealed power, the teenager finally aware of what was happening.

“Dozer!” he shouted, hauling back on the lead, but even when he mashed his thumb down on the button, the dog kept coming.

I took off at a sprint. We were always taught to anticipate and ensure situations like this didn’t happen rather than react, because you couldn’t always guarantee a positive result. Frantically, I racked my brain, trying to work out what to do, when a sharp command rang through the air.

“Stop!”

Rhett stood between the dog and the child, and both of them looked up at him in surprise. The child stumbled to a halt, the dog’s haunches planting themselves on the ground. Rhett didn’t take his eyes off the dog for a second, not being aggressive, but rather perfectly in control. He knew exactly what he was doing, and that was clear to the dog.

“Doggy!” Abigail cried as her mother swept her into her arms. “Doggy!”

“Abby, we don’t know if that dog is friendly.” You could hear the war being fought between fear and relief in the woman’s voice. “I’ve told you we can’t go rushing up to strange dogs.”

“And you need to keep yours under control in a store.”

The teenage boy’s mouth fell open as he looked up at Rhett.

“Um, yeah?—”

“And you need a shorter lead.” I barrelled up, not feeling calm or centred, but right now that wasn’t what was important. “You can’t use a long lead like that in a pet store.”

“But he pulls if I don’t,” the kid said with a frown.

“Then you need to lead train him before you can bring him into a space where there are people or other animals.” I pulled out my wallet and flicked through the contents, pulling out a card. “This is a really good trainer. He offers classes to the public at little cost.”

Rhett smiled as I handed the card over, a familiar mulish expression on the teenager’s face. I saw this all the damn time at the vets I worked at, even more at the shelter. Whatever the kid had to say about it was cut off as a staff member approached.

“We’re happy for customers to bring their pets into the store as long as they are well controlled…” they said, emphasising the last bit, as we turned around to check on Abigail.

“Oh my god, your brother was amazing!” the mother gushed.

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