Duke was an extraordinary dog. What special qualities did he exhibit to justify this? Discuss.

A model answer has been provided for students' reference. However, any other point of view supported by an argument or an explanation would also solve the purpose.

It is strongly recommended that students prepare the answer on their own.

Duke was a rough playing Doberman Pinscher. When Chuck met with the accident and was brought back home Duke also was brought back from the kennel. When the dog saw his master “he was a 23-killo missile of joy”. He jumped on Chuck above the belt in excitement. Chuck couldn’t balance, so fought to maintain it. That was it, Duke knew what had happened. From then on he never did the same. He took a post beside his master’s bed and never jumped on him again. He sensed the delicate condition of his master and later he was the main agent in the improvement of Chuck’s condition.

From the story, it seems that Duke knew what had happened to Hooper, he would come up and poke Chuck’s left arm and try to lift it up. One evening while the dog was cajoling his master Hooper casually hooked leash in Duke’s collar with his good hand and that charged the dog. The first time, it was just couple of steps till the wheel chair. However, Duke was dogged to make Chuck walk. They were a team now. Hooper’s neighbourhood people say that the Dog knew what his responsibility was. They had a tremendous coordination. The dog would “pull his leash taut then stand and wait. The man would drag himself abreast of the dog and then the dog would surge out to the end of the leash and wait again”.

Gradually Hooper became totally dependent on Duke and didn’t need physiotherapy further. It was Duke alone who could do what he did. The only thing that the narrator says he was unsure of was whether Duke knew what he was doing, but then the narrator says that he believed that Duke knew.