Dogtown

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal death and death.

Every Wednesday afternoon, the Dogtown humans play poker. When Chance first came to Dogtown, Mouse put playing cards in the wire of her cage, and Management decided that Chance was good luck. From this, Chance got privileges that include a home under the poker table. This is better than being on the List, and Chance concludes that it is “[l]ucky for them. Lucky for [her]” (72).

To thank Mouse for saving her, Chance makes it a point to hop “down the stairs to the basement with a mouthful of kibble for Mouse” every day (73).

As a dog, Chance instinctively understands both dog and human language. Mouse learned mouse, dog, and human, but since Mouse doesn’t speak, he uses sign language to communicate. This seems natural to Chance, but she is still confused about Metal Head learning dog language. As far as she knows, robot dogs don’t learn like organic dogs do, and she wonders, “[I]f metal dogs became more real, then where would that leave us?” (75).