Dogtown

Unlike other dogs, Chance evaluates before she acts because “when you hop everywhere you go, each trip takes time” (2). Chance also thinks that three is a lucky number, though she doesn’t like to think about how she lost her leg.

Chance lives in Dogtown, a shelter for dogs without homes, as well as unwanted robot dogs. Chance doesn’t understand why anyone would want a robot dog because they aren’t cuddly or fun, wondering, “[W]hy were metal dogs at Dogtown in the first place?” (5).

The original Dogtown was a media experiment, set up so that onlookers could watch organic and robot dogs interact. Chance doesn’t understand it, but the stunt worked because “people came to Dogtown in droves” (6).

The people who came to the original Dogtown took robot dogs home as pets, which led to Dogtown becoming a shelter for organic and robot dogs. As a result, hostility grew between these two groups. According to the boss (known as Management), adoptions of organic dogs increased alongside that of robotic dogs, which Chance believes because Management said it, and “she’s the boss, right?” (9).

Robot dogs are known by their breed, such as RoboRover, and most of them are in poor shape when they come to Dogtown. Setting aside their wires and broken parts, Chance doesn’t think robot dogs are real dogs because “even in her finest hour, no e-dog has a heart” (11).

One day, a robot dog named Metal Head is donated to Dogtown. Though all robot dogs look strange, Metal Head is stranger than most, looking like “another dog’s rear end [i]s attached to his front end” (12). Unlike other robot dogs, Metal Head doesn’t obey every command he’s given.

Instead of being sent to the waste pile, Metal Head is put in First Cage—the first kennel that humans see when they come to Dogtown. The dog in First Cage has the greatest chance of being adopted, and the organic dogs are mad that “a hunk of steel with the personality of a paperweight ha[s] been given that premier piece of real estate” (15). The organic dogs protest, but since the humans don’t understand barking, nothing changes.

Boohoos are dogs who are brokenhearted when they get to Dogtown and hopeful that their humans will realize they’re missing and bring them home. Metal Head is the first robot dog who’s a boohoo, and Chance wonders if he had “a power outage at an important stage in his development” (21).

Metal Head spends most of his time looking through his manual but never seems to find what he wants, as if “he [is] looking for something that [isn’t] there” (22). He doesn’t even pay attention when families with adorable children whom any dog would love try to get his attention.

Chance thinks that Metal Head not caring about children shows that “he [is] as heartless as the next hunk of steel” (25).

Chance is sure that Metal Head will get sent to the basement—the place where dogs are least likely to be found and adopted. The organic dogs do their best to stay cute and relevant so that they will remain upstairs. Each has a routine they do to show off for human families. When it works, the dogs get hopeful but are then let down when families “adopt a mound of metal with an on-off switch” (29).

Still, Chance understands why humans prefer robot dogs. Robots don’t get hairballs, bark too loud, or need to go to the vet; really, they are “no hassles at all” (31).

Eventually, Metal Head is moved to the basement, and an older dog named Geraldine is demoted to a worse cage placement for barking too much. This makes Chance mad because “[the dogs] bark to tell humans how [they] feel, and they punish [the dogs]” (32).

Chance fears that Geraldine will never be adopted because she’s “too big, too old, and too set in her ways” (34).

Buster, a golden retriever, is the most loyal dog in Dogtown. He’s the maddest about Geraldine’s move and organizes a group howl to protest. It doesn’t change anything, but the howling makes the dogs feel better.

Buster gets moved to the basement for starting the group howl. Since Chance has three legs, she is “a pity party in a dog suit” to most humans (41). Nevertheless, she is allowed to do whatever she wants because she’s Management’s lucky charm.

Chance plays ball with Buster in the basement, which helps Buster calm down about Geraldine a little. Chance also notices Metal Head’s smell—like silverware fresh out of the dishwasher—which Chance likes because “it remind[s] [her] of home” (44).

Chance is shocked when Metal Head asks how to get out of Dogtown in dog-speak because humans who don’t speak dog program robot dogs. Metal Head learned the language from paying attention. He’s heard every uncomplimentary thing Chance has said about him, and Chance learns a valuable lesson: “Never say something about a dog that you wouldn’t want him to hear” (47).

Doggy amnesia is when dogs say they want to go home, even though their humans kicked them out. The dogs forget their behavior that the humans hated, like chewing on objects and going to the bathroom indoors. Chance shrugs off Metal Head’s questions, figuring that he “w[ill] wake up and smell the dog biscuits” like every other boohoo in Dogtown (50).

Chance spent her first night at Dogtown in the basement. Chance was so cold and miserable that she barked nonstop, “but all [she] got for [her] trouble was a sore throat” (53).

As a low-priority dog at Dogtown, Chance was all but ignored in the early days. She’s never been a good speller, but she tried to write a message using her kibble. Before anyone could read it, the wind blew away the words “I nid to b petd” (56).

Compared to other shelters Chance has heard about, Dogtown isn’t bad. She truly appreciates the volunteers because they don’t have to be there. Chance also understands that there are a lot fewer people than dogs at Dogtown. The humans do the best they can, but “there are a whole lot of unwanted dogs in the world, it seems” (58).

In those early days, suppertime was the worst because it most reminded Chance of her family. One night, a mouse came to her cage, and Chance wanted company so badly that she let the mouse have some of her food.

Chance named the mouse “Mouse” and realized that Mouse had a whole bunch of mice to feed in his little home near the basement ceiling. Chance normally doesn’t like the kibble, but she ate what was left that night because “another creature’s interest in [her] dinner made [her] hungry” (63).

Puppies come to Dogtown in the spring, but since they can’t be adopted until they’re a certain age, they all live in the basement. One day, Buster tells Chance about the List—what happens to dogs who aren’t adopted. Chance doesn’t understand until Buster plays dead, and “that’s when [she] [begins] to put the pieces of the Milk-Bone together” (67).