“Hey, you told me your owner’s father trains sled dogs, right?”

“Right. But he doesn’t really keep any of them. Not like me.”

“Well, he said with some training you could become an even greater sled dog than I am!”

“He said that?” Dingo’s eyes were wide with shock. He knew he was a good runner, but…he didn’t know it would get him a future like this.

“Yes. So, are you interested in that kind of training? I’m not going to lie, it will take some dedication. But since you’re my son and all, I think you can pull it off.” He said with a smile.

“I didn’t even know I was that good.” He was still in shock someone noticed his skills. “Am I really the fastest puppy he’s ever seen?”

“Of course, no puppy of your age can run half as fast as you. And I’m being completely honest.”

“Wow…”

“I know, it’s a lot to take in”-

“I’ll do it!” Dingo shouted, which startled Balto a bit.

“Woah, ok! Umm, I didn’t know you’d respond this quickly.” Balto panted for a second. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m positive! You said it yourself, no puppy even compares to me when it comes to running. And it sounds like fun, anyways. I get to be just like you now!” Dingo smiled his widest.

Balto couldn’t resist that statement. “My son…” he breathed as he nuzzled Dingo. He started giggling and both proceeded to wrestle a little bit, laughing the entire time.

Jenna sighed. “Welp, I know what Dingo’s going to be doing for the rest of his life. I just hope none of this backfires on us.” She said to herself as she trotted away.

For the next two weeks, Balto and Yago have been preparing Dingo for some real sled dog training, just by doing some strength and running exercises. Dingo loved every minute of it, while Jenna was still a little skeptical about the whole situation. Then, it was time to tell Dingo’s owner, Billy, to start training him officially.

Dingo was outside the house with his father and Yago.

“Are you sure this will work? I mean, what if he doesn’t understand me?” Dingo asked.

Balto lowered his head to Dingo’s level. “He will. Once he sees this in your mouth…” Yago pulled out a sled dog harness from behind him and gave it to Dingo. Balto smiled. “He’ll know exactly what you’re trying to say.”

“Boys? Are you out here?” A voice called not too far away. Balto instantly recognized it and sighed. Dingo, after about a second, noticed the voice was familiar as well.

“Mom?” Dingo yelled. Jenna immediately popped out from a nearby bush and walked over to them.

“Hello Balto, Dingo…Yago.” Jenna greeted.

“What are you doing here, Jenna?” Balto asked as politely as he could.

Jenna’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit. “Just checking to make sure you’re not going to overwork our son.”

“Of course we’re not. This is what he wants. I thought we were supposed to encourage our children, not prevent them from doing something they love.” Balto had to get that point out there. He knew about Jenna’s suspicions that they were pushing Dingo too hard, and quite frankly he was getting a little annoyed with it.

“I know that, and I know you want what’s best for him, but eventually he will become another one of Yago’s ‘perfect machines’, and do you think for a second I will let that happen?”

That’s when Yago stepped in. “Jenna, I’m sorry that you’re upset, but Dingo wants this. And I promise we will never go too far with him, even if he wants us to. I swear.”

“I’d sooner run away from my sweet owner Rosie than believe your garbage!” Jenna shouted at him suddenly. “I know what you do to sled dogs, Yago. They sleep, eat and breathe sledding, and they have no personal lives anymore. Heck, they barely even have personalities anymore. They’re just…robots! Robots you practically work to death!”

“Jenna, calm down!” Balto pleaded. He turned Jenna around to face him. “Look, I’m going to make sure nothing like that ever happens to Dingo. You’ll believe me, won’t you?” He said softly.

Jenna looked down, still worried, but thinking about the answer to his question.

“Mom?” Dingo squeaked, worried she might start yelling again. He sat at her feet. “I’ll be okay, mom. Ever since I took my first steps I’ve always wanted to run. And I’m really good at it, too! You saw me, didn’t you? I’m like a rocket out there! I really want to do this training. I really want to become a real sled dog, just like Dad. Please, mom? I want this more than anything else. I’ll always be Dingo. You’ll never have to see me like a machine, ever. I promise.” He nuzzled Jenna’s bandana as her eyes started to fill with tears. She looked at Balto, than at Yago. Her muscles started to tighten, but she looked back at the child at her feet, and it became clear this is exactly what he desired. And she had to let him go.

“Okay.” Jenna managed to squeak out. “You can train.” She put on a sad smile and turned away.

Words could not express the type of smile on Dingo’s face. He hugged his mother’s leg hard.

“Oh thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!” He shouted. “You will not regret this, mom, I swear!” He ran toward the harness that was lying on the snow and put it in his mouth.

“Let’s do this!” He muffled while his teeth gripped the leather harness.

While he was running toward his home, Balto walked up to Jenna and wiped her tears away with his paw.

“He’s going to be something great, Jenna. I can feel it. And you will too.”

Jenna put her head against his chest. “I just hope you’re right…” She breathed.

Yago smiled as he scratched the door to Billy’s home. In about 5 seconds, Billy opened the door, and there was Dingo sitting there with a harness in his mouth.

“Dingo, boy, where did you get that?” He giggled. Dingo dropped it in the snow and barked a few times. As Billy picked it up, he noticed Dingo did his begging face he usually did at the kitchen table when they ate.

“What’s wrong buddy?” He asked. Dingo nudged the harness closer to him.

“C’mon, Billy, get the picture…” Dingo said to himself.

A few seconds later, Billy smiled. “Aww, you wanna become a little sled dog don’t you, boy?”

Dingo wagged his tail and barked again.

Billy picked the harness up and looked at it, imagining it on Dingo, for fun. But then he gasped. He remembered his dad had a whole bunch of training equipment…He thought for a second. Then he said. “Dingo, do you wanna train to be a real sled dog just like my dad’s dogs?”

Dingo barked like crazy and jumped around, tackling his owner to the ground. Billy took it as a yes. He tussled the fur on Dingo’s head, laughing. “Alright boy, settle down. I’ll train you.” Dingo licked Billy’s cheek about 100 times. He picked Dingo up and stretched out his arms just to make him stop. “After we eat some dinner, ok? Then I can show you the training room in the shed behind the house and we can get started!”

Dingo smiled brightly as he was being carried into the house, looking at all the proud faces in his front yard. Then they closed the door and Dingo began eating out of his food bowl as fast as he could so he can get to training.

Jenna managed to smile as he went inside. She remembered what a good boy Billy was, and he would never do anything to harm Dingo.

“Are you going to be alright Jenna?” Balto asked.

Jenna nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. “I think I’ll be ok. Just make sure Yago doesn’t push Dingo too hard. All I want for Dingo is to be happy.”

“And he will be. You’ll see.” They nuzzled as the sun started to set and Yago was on his way home, thinking that Dingo will be the best sled dog the world has ever seen.

More weeks have passed and Dingo’s training could not have gone better, not just for him, but Jenna now seemed to accept Dingo’s choice of career. That made him even happier.

One very windy night, Balto decided to take Dingo on a walk around town while they discussed Dingo’s sledding skills.

The wind howled in both of their ears as they were about to head back home down an empty street, and they had to talk louder than usual just so the other dog would hear.

“Dingo, you did an amazing job today! I’m so proud of you for breaking your personal record.” Balto congratulated.

“Thanks dad! I’m pretty proud of myself, too!” Dingo beamed.

“You know, I was a little hesitant when I was going to put you through all this training, but I’m really glad I did it. You’ll surely make a difference on Nome’s team in a year or two.”

“You really think