The One and Only Bob

Bob learns important lessons about forgiveness and trust. Trusting others not to let you down can feel vulnerable and scary, especially when you’ve been hurt in the past. This is the situation in which Bob finds himself; he finally has a loving family, but he retains a deep-rooted skepticism about humans’ capacity to love and care for dogs. He admits that Julia is “pretty fun to hang out with” and that he’s “grateful […] that her family took me in” (89), but he maintains that he doesn’t “need them.” He explains that when you need someone, “eventually they let you down and you end up feeling like a real doofus” (89). This admission reveals that his aloofness comes from a place of hurt and mistrust.

Bob’s trauma came from his own abandonment but also from his experience with other dogs, such as Droolius. His unresolved trauma leads him to dwell on whether dogs should love and trust humans unconditionally, and this leads him to act out disobediently. Even when Bob understands what Julia wants from him, he is reluctant to fully comply, especially when it involves getting into the car. He admits that “the real reason for the training stuff isn’t my bad manners” and that “bad stuff can happen after you climb into a car” (62).