"It's 'Plotz,'" he says, and Bopp drops into a lie-down immediately, looking up at Caleb with almost mournful eyes — as if to say 'why?? I want to walk!' "It's kind of a funny word, right? But it's really important, because it doesn't sound like words we usually say, so she pays really close attention to them."

He reaches into a pocket and finds a stray crumb of bacon, the size of his thumbnail, and offers it to Bopp so she knows she did good.