1. Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog
Mother says they smell,
And never sit when you say “Sit!”
Or even when you yell.
And when you come home late at night
And there is ice and snow,
You have to go back out
Because the dumb dog has to go.

2. Mother doesn’t want a dog.
Mother says they shed,
And always let the strangers in
And bark at friends instead,
And do disgraceful things on rugs
And track mud on the floor,
And flop upon your bed at night
And snore their doggy snore.

3. Mother doesn’t want a dog.
She’s making a mistake.
Because, more than a dog, I think
She will not want this snake!

4. Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog
Give 4 reasons why mother doesn’t want to have a
dog.
…………………………………………………………
They smell.
They shed.
They let strangers in.
They bark at friends.
They track mud on the floor.
They snore. They flop upon bed.

5. 1. Mother mentions a lot of bad things about keeping a dog
1. Mother mentions a lot of bad things about keeping a dog. Can you match phrases in the poem to the adjectives describing dogs?
Phrase in poem
Adjective 1.
Mother says they smell
noisy 2.
…never sit when you say “Sit!”
dirty 3.
Mother says they shed
disobedient 4.
…always let the strangers in
smelly 5.
…track mud on the floor
stupid 6.
…snore their doggy snore
hairy

6. 3. In the poem, the word smell rhymes with
yell. Can you find words to rhyme with the
following?
snow ……………………………
shed ……………………………
floor …………………………….
mistake ………………………… go
instead
snore
snake

7. A Guessing Game Parts of Poem Animal She’s happy when I pet her
And stroke her fluffy fur
She smiles and very softly
Says, “Purr, purr, purr”. a.
She doesn’t mew
She doesn’t bark
Just bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. b.
Bites everything in sight
Including the cat’s tail
Eats the morning newspaper……. c.
See him hop, hop, hop about
On legs so very strong
He eats lots of carrots…….. d.
I can spread his yellow wings
Like feather fans…… e.