Ike is a Good Dog!

The book “Dear Mrs. LaRue” by Mark Teague is about a dog named Ike sent to obedience school by her owner Mrs. LaRue, and he wrote several letters explaining his behaviors. In the beginning, Ike was accused of stealing the chicken pie that was for dinner; chasing the neighbor’s cats; howling which distracted the neighbors; and pulling Mrs. LaRue down, also ripping her coat. In Ike’s letters, he described how bad obedience school is, gave explanations to his behaviors, and begged Mrs. LaRue to bring him back home. Unfortunately, Mrs. LaRue refused Ike’s requests, causing him to escape. At last, Ike saved Mrs. LaRue on the street and was welcomed back home. Even though it seems like Ike deserves going to obedience school, those things cannot judge him wrong because he didn’t receive reminders before the event; the incident was not his true intention; he was purposely nitpicked by someone; and some of his actions are just accidents. Some people may really be wrong, but some people are actually innocent.

Consequences that are caused by doing things without reminders isn’t wrong, and that is a reason why Ike is a good dog. When people do things and don't receive warnings or reminders, they don’t even know if the thing is right or wrong, and will absolutely cause consequences. In the book, since Mrs. LaRue didn’t warn Ike that the pie is for dinner, Ike ate the pie, and that became a reason why Ike should be sent to obedience school! If Mrs. LaRue reminded Ike, then maybe this event won’t have the chance to happen. Even though Ike did eat the pie, he did in the situation of not know the whole thing. In all, Ike isn’t wrong in eating the pie for he didn’t know the whole thing and didn’t receive warnings.

People sometimes have a good intention in doing things, but they are misunderstood. When people are just solving a problem, no doubt that there will be some accidents, but it doesn't mean that they are wrong, same as Ike. According to the book, Ike chased the neighbors’ cats, but he didn’t mean to. Because the cats were blocking the fire escape, causing a great issue, Ike was just clearing that out, and was misunderstood as chasing, so he was sent to obedience school. In another prediction, if the cats weren’t blocking the fire escape, Ike won’t go find them, and everything will be normal. People’s actions don’t always absolutely reflect one’s true purpose, and Ike is an example of this, helping others, but being thought of as chasing. Overall, Ike is a good dog because he was doing good things, yet was misunderstood as having a bad purpose.

In chances, people didn’t do wrong, but they were purposely nitpicked by someone, causing others to think they did wrong. Nitpicking is when someone cares about every small thing, turning it bigger and bigger, and that is also a reason why Ike isn’t wrong. Putting this into the book, Ike really didn’t howl very often and loud, but the neighbors can’t understand him, complaining and exaggerating how annoying Ike’s howl is. Also, the neighbors had woke up Ike many times with the sound of the vacuum cleaner, and they could have both understood each other, yet the neighbors chose to pick on Ike and make a small problem big. Doing inappropriate things like howling is wrong, but purposely complaining when it’s not a big problem is why Ike is a good dog. To conclude, Ike is a good dog since the neighbors were nitpicking on him, and turning a small problem to a big one.

Accidents will absolutely happen when doing a thing frequently, but it doesn’t mean that all you did before is wasted, and it doesn’t mean you are wrong, just like Ike. Accidents are unpredictable, it may cause consequences, but isn’t things done on purpose. Combining this with the book, Ike always helps Mrs. LaRue cross the road, and he saves her many times, but just because of one small accident, Mrs. LaRue is sending him to obedience school! That time, Ike accidently pulled Mrs. LaRue down, and made a tiny rip on her ratty old coat, yet he doesn’t deserve that much punishment. This event is only a small mistake, so it doesn’t deserve to have many consequences. In short, Ike is a good dog for he just made some small accidents, not deserving much punishment.

In conclusion, the book “Dear Mrs. LaRue” by Mark Teague is about Ike writing several letters explaining his bad behaviors, like stealing the chicken pie that was for dinner; chasing the neighbor’s cats; howling which distracted the neighbors; and pulling Mrs. LaRue down, also ripping her coat, and though he did some inappropriate actions, he doesn’t deserve to be sent to obedience school.  Ike is a good dog because he didn’t receive reminders before the event; the incident was not his true intention; he was purposely nitpicked by someone; and some of his actions are just accidents. First, Mrs. LaRue didn’t remind Ike that the pie was for dinner, causing him to eat it. Second, chasing the cats wasn't Ike’s true purpose, since he didn’t know what the cats were doing. Third, even though Ike didn’t howl often, the neighbors still picked on him, causing this to turn into a big problem. At last, Ike didn’t mean to pull Mrs. LaHue down and rip her coat. These factors can all show that Ike is a good dog, and he is innocent.