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The little brown dog looked up eagerly as the door of the animal shelter opened and a man, a woman, a boy and a girl came in. "They look nice," thought the little brown dog wagging his tail. But the man pointed to Don, the collie. "We'll take him."

"I should have known," thought the little brown dog sadly. When people came to adopt a dog they wanted Trixie, the snow white poodle, or Hans, the German Shepherd. The little brown dog was no special breed and didn't even have a name. Nobody wanted him.

He didn't really mind the animal shelter. The animal shelter wasn't bad. The workers there were kind and took good care of him. Almost every day nice people came in and took him and the other dogs outside to run and play, things that the men and women who worked at the shelter didn't have time to do. But the nice people went home when they finished playing. And then it was lonely.

All the dogs were kept in cages and when they were all barking it was so noisy, just like now. So the little brown dog lay on the floor of his cage, put his paws over his ears, closed his eyes and thought. He thought what it would be like to have a home and a family to love. Oh what he could do for them! If their house caught on fire he could lead them to safety! If they lost something valuable, he could find it for them! If robbers tried to steal the neighbor's dog he would corner them until the police came. And he would make his family's neighborhood the friendliest place in town. Oh what wonderful things he could do if he only had a home! But he didn't. All he had was a cage in the animal shelter.

Then one day the door opened and into the shelter came a man, a woman and a little boy. "Now Benji," said the man. "We're here to adopt a dog. Let's look at them all carefully."