The Dog I Never Thought I Wanted

On a day in October a little over three years ago, I drove to Orphans of the Storm Animal Shelter. I parked in their tiny gravel lot and walked in, armed with the name and cage number of the dog I wanted. The place hadn’t changed since the first time I’d been there. Eight years before, my mom had taken my sister Ellie and me to pick Sammy. I remembered walking in all those years ago and the building smelling like dog and cleaning supplies. It still had the same smell.

That first time, when we went to get Sammy, there was no barking until my mom filled out some paperwork and we were ushered through a set of large, cold grey doors. Barking exploded in our ears. I don’t know about my mom or Ellie, who was twelve at the time, but I was surprised and a little scared and I was fifteen then. Although the building hadn’t changed in eight years, I had. Orphans of the storm didn’t seem as daunting anymore. Maybe it was just because I was older, but I think it might also have been because I was already a dog owner. I was here for my second dog. I had real life experience owning a dog and that made the building and rows of kennels filled with hopeful dogs seem smaller and not at all scary.

I walked up to the front desk and told the volunteer the dog I was looking for.

“Do you already have a dog?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Male or female?”

“Male, sixteen year old Yorkie-poo.”

“Oh,” he said, “Then you can’t have a male. You need a female if you want a second dog.”

“Oh,” all of my confidence slipped out with that one little word. A female! I didn’t want a female. What’s so wrong with having two males? I wondered. Apparently my experience as a single dog owner didn’t hold a candle to the experience you get as a multiple dog owner. I know now that you don’t always need to have opposite sex dogs, that it mostly depends on the dogs’ personalities, but three years ago, I didn’t. “I really want a Pit Bull,” I said.

The volunteer looked at me, “Well how about Mika? She’s trained and good with dogs.”

“Mika?” I asked, slightly curious.

The volunteer had me fill out some paperwork and told me her cage number. I walked into the kennel area and followed the numbers to Mika’s kennel. There she was: a glimmering chestnut Pit Bull with big expressive eyes that matched her coat, intact ears, and a pinkish nose. A tiny sliver of white on her chest was the only marking she had, like the painter forgot to finish painting her.

Mika was not what I wanted. She was not brindle or blue or any number of different markings Pit Bulls can have. She was a boring brown she dog. Still, she was pretty. She sat slightly away from the fence just watching me. She didn’t bark or lunge at me. She didn’t growl or cower or whine. Her ears were held normally and her tail was wagging. She was exhibiting all the right signs.

I went back to the front desk and asked if I could take her out on a leash. Another volunteer obliged and a minute later Mika was busting through those big grey doors pulling the volunteer after her. This dog was supposed to be trained?

I took the leash from the volunteer and Mika immediately lunged. I pulled the leash in and pulled her collar all the way up so it rested just behind her ears. When she tried to lead me forward again, I gave a quick tug on the leash. Mika stopped and looked at me like she wasn’t used to someone else being in charge.

It took us a while to make it outside. Every time she lunged, I gave a tug and made her come back to my side and sit down. She knew the “sit” command at least. We repeated this process until she stopped pulling. If I was going to have fifty five pounds of rippling muscle as a pet, she was absolutely not going to drag me.

Once outside, I took Mika around the compound. We met a few barking dogs through their fences and walked past the cats lounging on the other side of a screen. She had no reaction to any of it. She just walked and sniffed and peed. We ended up at an enclosed pen.

Once inside, I locked the gate and let the leash drop. Mika looked at me for a minute, then walked around sniffing and peed again. Everything she did was bigger than when Sammy did it, even her sniffing. She sort of gargle snorted and pulled hard at the scents.

After a while I called her back to me. On the second try she pranced over and looked up at me, large pink tongue lolling. I patted her huge head and ran my hand down along her back. She gave no reaction. Trying only to emit confidence, I moved my hand down her hind leg and lifted up her back paw. Mika sniffed the air. Setting down her paw, I ran my hand across her belly to her chest and down one of her front legs. I picked up a front paw. She tried to lick me. Next I patted her tail and her ears then put my fingers gently over her eyes with no reaction. I took a deep breath.

So far she was great. She didn’t react to dogs or cats and she let a total stranger touch her everywhere, something a dog has to do if they’re going to pass a test to be a therapy dog. Now I had one last test. I had to open her mouth and look at her teeth. Calm, I thought. I knelt and put one hand on her muzzle. With my other hand I lifted up one side of her lip. A pristine row of sharp teeth sat in pink gums. The dog stood there and let me do it, no fuss. I let Mika’s muzzle go, picked up the end of the leash, and stood. She wasn’t a senior or a male, but she seemed like a good dog. And even if her markings weren’t fancy, she was pretty. I walked her back to the front desk. This time she only tried to pull once.

“What do you think?” the volunteer asked.

I handed Mika’s leash to the other volunteer and he took her back to her kennel. “She seems like a good dog,” I said.

“Do you want to adopt her? She’s such a good girl. She’s a favorite around here.”

I wasn’t sure. I didn’t say anything.

“You said you live with your parents and you have another dog right?” the volunteer said.

“Yes,” I said.

“Well, your parents will have to come meet her and she has to meet your other dog before you can take her home.”

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to take her home. “Ok,” I said, “I’ll have them come meet her. Thanks.” I walked out of the building and sat in my car thinking about Mika.

I thought about her during the drive home and for a while longer on my bed upstairs. I picked up Sammy from his bed on the floor and asked him what he thought. I couldn’t discern his opinion through his bushy grandpa-brows. The more I thought about Mika, the more I wanted her. Finally I went downstairs to talk to my parents.

Two days later, after a lot of crying on my part and all of us arguing, Sammy and I were in the car on the way to meet Mika. Sammy froze when we got to the doors and tied to tuck his stubby tail between his legs. I had to scoot him through the glass doors. “You’re coming home with me,” I told him, “Don’t worry.” It was more likely that he was reacting to the strangeness of a new place rather than that he remembered his one and a half days at the shelter before we adopted him, but reassuring him wouldn’t hurt.

I half pulled, half scooted Sammy through the doors and then picked him up. Ten pounds of apprehensive fluff is easier to just carry. “We’re here to meet Mika,” I told the volunteer at the desk.

“Have you filled out the paperwork?” She asked.

I told her the volunteer my name. She looked through her pile of papers and took one out. “All right,” she said looking up at me, “Let me go get her.” She walked around the desk and disappeared through the double doors.

I put Sammy down and tried to tame my nerves. It will all be fine, I thought.

The doors opened and Mika flew toward us, dragging the volunteer. The big dog made a beeline for Sammy. A moment of sheer panic gripped me. This was NOT how I wanted them to meet. The volunteer had no control. It was happening too fast. Sammy was half blind and sometimes reacted to other dogs…

They sniffed each other face to face and then both of them turned their attention elsewhere. I let out the breath I was holding. Indifference was good. It was a far cry from snarling and biting. A grin spread across my face. I was bringing home this sleek female dog. She was going to be mine. Sammy was fine with her. She was fine with Sammy. Now the only ones left to meet her were my parents.

The next day my parents called me from the shelter. They had met Mika and my dad was in love. My mom wasn’t quite as taken, but she didn’t dislike the dog either. My mom finished signing the paperwork and she made a plan with the shelter for me to pick Mika up the next day.

I don’t remember what the weather was like on October twenty third 2010. Nor do I remember if the air smelled like fall or if winter was on its way. What I do remember is how nervous and excited I was as I walked into the shelter. I remember an ecstatic dog bursting through grey doors for the last time in her life and the leash being placed in my hand.

We walked to my car and I opened the door for her. She jumped in right away and watched me as I got in. Her whole body was smiling. My dog. My three year old female dog, the one I never thought I wanted.

Mika curled up in the back seat and slept the whole ride to her new forever home. The first thing she did when we were through the door was to run upstairs to my bedroom and jump on my bed. As I called Ellie to tell her the big news, I had two sleeping dogs in my room. One little old man snuggled in his bed on the floor and one young big girl snoring on my pillow.

Mika was home, for good.

The Human Who Took Me Home

I could smell her as soon as she walked into the compound through the big double doors I rarely got to see the other side of. Nervousness, excitement, and a little fear reached my nose. She was trying to mask it all with some fresh flowery scent, but she wasn’t fooling any of us.

Barking erupted from the corner kennel as she walked by. Then another voice from across the compound joined in, then another, and another until about half of the inhabitants were announcing her. I refrained from adding my voice, and instead sat in the middle of my cage, waiting for her to choose her new best friend and move on. Just like all the others did. Hardly anyone ever wanted a dog like me. Most people dismissed me and others that looked like me, when our caretakers told them we were Pit Bulls. I’m not sure what that means or why it’s bad. But to many humans, hearing that word or seeing one of us makes them run in the other direction.

I did have a family once. A wonderful family with Mom and Dad and two human pups. They came to my compound when I was one year old, in human years, and took me home with them. I loved them, especially Dad. He took me to a school where I learned a lot of tricks. For some reason, humans love it when we do tricks, which is fine me, because I get treats or praise or pats every time I do something they like. I learned very quickly that something humans do not like is when we relieve ourselves in the house.

I lived with that family for an amazing year, and then they brought me back to the shelter. Dad was very upset when he dropped me off. “It’s not your fault Mika,” he told me, “We have to move, and we just can’t take you with.” Then he left me there. Just like that, I was back in a cage surrounded by others in similar situations with minimal human contact or exercise.

Another year had gone by since Dad dropped me off, and I had long since stopped trying to announce myself to perspective families. So I sat and listened to the crunch of shoes on the gravel path and waited for her to make her choice and leave. Then the gym shoes stopped in front of my cage. I looked up to see a girl belonging to the age in humans where they are done with school but don’t yet have a complete life plan or full human pack. She looked more like the type to choose a little fluffy dog rather than me. She had long hair that had probably started in a tail at the back of her neck but was now falling loose. Her eyes were soft, and I guessed she only weighed about sixty pounds more than me. My weigh was all muscle, unlike hers. I’m not a huge dog, but my head still came up to her hip.

She stood there, just looking at me. Her expression was blank, but I could tell she was assessing me. I looked back at her. We watched each other for a few minutes before I opened my mouth and let my tongue roll out.

I caught a slight twitch at the corner of the girl’s mouth. Good, I thought, I’m doing something right. This girl was definitely different than most of the other humans I had seen. It was going to take something different to get her to take me home, but if she was already looking at me, I had a chance. I let my tongue loll to the side and relaxed my body a little. The scent of fear was so faint now, I could barely catch it, and her nervousness had decreased slightly.

Now if I can get her to take me for a walk… I wagged my tail across the floor.

She watched me a few more seconds, shrugged, and walked back the way she’d come. Wait! What does that mean? Are you going to take me for a walk? Please take me! Let me show you how great I am! I wanted to call after her, but the bark caught in my throat. What had I done? Had I lost my chance? Who knows how long I would have to wait for another one.

Barking from the dogs on the corner kennel announced another human in the compound.

Could it be?! Was she back? No. The scent was different. It was one of the care takers. He was walking towards me with a leash! Stop here, stop here, I thought.

When he go to my kennel he smiled, “Hi pretty girl. Ready to show off?”

I stood up and wagged my tail so hard it shook my whole body. The man laughed, unlocked my cage, and clipped the leash to my collar. I could barely contain myself. As soon as he had the leash on, I pushed past him and pulled him all the way to the doors.

“Hey,” he said, running after me, “Mika, slow down!”

I didn’t listen until I was at the doors. I sat and waited for the man to catch up and open them. Then I tore ahead of him again. I saw the girl standing in the waiting room and ran straight to her. I looked up at her and gave her my biggest open mouth grin.

She looked down at me and frowned.

What? I wondered, was it something I did? My ears drooped a little. The girl reached out and took my leash from the man. Immediately I lunged toward the doors that lead to the grass area. The leash went taut, and I was jerked slightly. I stopped, shook myself to get my bearings, and then looked back at the girl. She hadn’t moved. I turned back to the outside doors and tried again. Come on, I want to go out there!

The leash went taught again. I stopped and looked at the girl confused. No one had ever done this to me before. Especially someone who was supposed to have a small fluffy dog. Without saying a word, the girl pulled the leash back to her. I was obliged to follow. When she had me close enough, she took my collar and pulled it up so it was right behind my ears. More control for her, less use of power for me. This girl was definitely different.

She looped the leash so it was much shorter and directed me to her side. She tugged the leash up slightly and said, “Sit.”

It was not a question or suggestion. I sat.

We waited like that for a moment. Then she took a step forward. Excited, I started to run ahead of her. The leash went taut, and before I knew what was going on, she was pulling me back and repeating the process we had just gone through. This happened a few more times, until I decided to just let her lead us out the door. Otherwise, I was never going to get there.

Since it had taken so long to even get outside, I decided not to show off how I find an issue with pretty much every other dog I see, especially when I’m on a leash. I’m not what humans call “dog aggressive” I’m just selective in my canine friends, and I like to make it clear that I’m the boss. However, I knew that if I wanted this girl to be my ticket out, I needed to act like the dog she thought she wanted.

We walked past a number of dogs in kennels whose attempts to start a conversation I ignored. Next we walked past the cats lounging on their screened in porch. I would have loved to tell the cats a thing or two, but I refrained. When she was satisfied with my behavior towards other animals, the girl took me to a fenced off area. I let her go through the gate first.

She closed the gate after me and dropped the leash. I looked up at her for a minute, then ran a perimeter check and marked my territory.

“Mika, come,” the girl said.

I waited until she called me again, then came over to her. She patted my head. Her touch was gentle, but firm. I got the impression that although I had fooled her with a few things today, if she took me home, I might have to actually change my ways. She’d probably make me.

The girl ran her hand down my back and proceeded to check me all over. It’s not too late. I can still get out of this. But even as I thought it, I let her inspect every inch of me, including my mouth. Really, I didn’t mind. She’s growing on me, I thought, It might be interesting to have her as my human.

When she was done checking me, the girl picked up the leash and took me back to the care giver. “Good Girl,” she told me and gave me a real smile and handed over my leash. I hope I get to see her again, I thought as I was led back to my kennel.

A few days later I was brought out. As soon as the double doors were opened, I caught a whiff of the girl. She’s here! She’s came back for me! I rushed toward her and stopped short. She already held a leash. I followed the line down to the dog attached to it. It was a small, fluffy dog. I knew it! I knew she’d want one of those instead. Humans like her usually do. No one wants us bigger, “scary” dogs. I’m not a scary dog. I’m a friendly, sweet-natured dog. Hadn’t I proved that? My tail began to droop.

Then I realized something, I was out of my kennel for a reason. Maybe she’s going to take us both, I thought. I looked down at the dog on the leash. He was old; I could smell it on him. He pushed against the girl’s leg, his stump of a tail between his legs. Why is he so scared? I wondered.

The girl was already his human, I could see that now. If I wanted her to be mine too, I was going to have to share her. I walked up to the dog and sniffed him all over. He smelled like outside and the girl. He barely bothered to sniff me.

“I’m Sammy,” he said in a yappy voice, “Her name is Ilana. She’s been mine for eight human years. I’ll share her as long as you leave me alone and take care of her. It’s getting hard for me to do that. I wasn’t exactly a young pup when she picked me in the first place and now…” He trailed off.

I shrugged, “Okay, I can do that,” I said. I can handle living with an old dog who wants his space. He’s not going to get in the way with Ilana, so what do I care? I thought.

“Good dogs!” Ilana said. She turned to the helper behind the desk and started talking to her. I was brought back to my kennel.

Confused, I sat in my kennel for a few more days, wondering why I still wasn’t with Ilana and Sammy in a real home. Then I was brought out again, but this time Ilana wasn’t waiting for me.

A man and woman older than Dad and Mom from my first family were there instead. The man was slightly heavy set, and was leaning on sticks to help him walk. I could smell the break in his leg that was healing. The woman was slight like Ilana. Both of them had something of her in their features. They were smiling at me. They must be Ilana’s Mom and Dad, I realized. If they’re part of her pack, I have to impress them too. Ilana better be an amazing human to have, if I have to jump through all these hoops for her, I thought.

Ilana’s parents took me outside, and I showed off for them. I won the new Dad’s heart faster than the new Mom’s. But it must have been enough because the next day was the last day a helper ever put a leash on me and led me through the double doors.

Ilana was waiting. She smelled happy and excited mixed with a little nervousness. She patted my head and took my leash. Grinning, she led me through the glass entrance doors and across the gravel parking lot to her car. I don’t remember how the gravel felt or what anything smelled like as she opened the door for me and I jumped in. I was brimming with so much joy and relief that I just curled up and slept the whole way to my new home.

As soon as Ilana led me into her house, I made a beeline for the room that smelled the most like her. I noticed Sammy curled in his little bed as I sailed over him onto the big comfy bed taking up most of Ilana’s little room. As I drifted off to sleep on her pillow, I heard her tell someone named Ellie about me, and I knew I had finally found my forever home and my forever human. Flaws and all, this girl was definitely worth it.

Mika Bobika vs. Lake Michigan

Pack vacation! Everyone piles into the car and Dad drives for a long time. I stretch out in the back seat across my girls and snore until I can smell the air change. Then I sit up and clamber over Ilana to look out the window.

“Mika! Get off!” Ilana says, rearranging herself so I can’t use her legs as boosters. “You’re too heavy.” She shoves me closer to Ellie. So I turn around and stand on Ellie who doesn’t complain. I make sure to whack Ilana in the face with my wagging tail.

It’s getting dark, but I can still make out our surroundings. Instead of lots of houses squished together with tiny yards, there are a few houses, stretched out from one another. And in between, there are trees. So many trees and none of them are marked! And the smells. There’s the usual squirrel and rabbit, and then a deeper, larger smell. I’ve seen the animal it belongs to once. It’s bigger than any dog. It has long skinny legs, large rounded ears and a tiny tail that looks like a flag when the animal runs.

We pull onto a gravel road and pass a few tiny houses. Then Dad turns the car onto a small grass lot tucked into the trees. A sandy path leads up from the grass to a little house hugged by forest. My pack refers to this house as The Cabin. Everyone gets out of the car and starts unpacking. I mark my territory before Ilana brings me into The Cabin.

I run around the few rooms sniffing while my pack brings in the luggage. Mom and Dad go to bed in the bed room while Ilana and Ellie set up their little folding beds in the main room. I get the couch in the room with the girls. In the middle of the night though, I sneak onto Ellie’s bed and take it over.

After breakfast the next morning, Ilana and Ellie put on their swim suits and get towels. “Come on Miki,” Ilana says, grabbing my harness. The harness usually means I’m going for a car ride, but at The Cabin it generally means a fight with the monster.

Alright, I think, this time I’m going to win! I get up and pad over to Ilana, my collar jangling. She slides my harness on, then clips on my extra-long leash. Next she fits my floatie on my back, then straps it in around my chest and waist.

She stands up, hands on hips, and grins at me. “Ready Miki?”

“Yes!” I tell her. All she hears is, “Woof!”

Ilana slips her sunglasses on, slings her towel over her shoulder, and then takes up the coils of my leash. “Ready?” she calls to Ellie.

“Yeah,” Ellie says, snatching her beach bag. She puts on her sunglasses and then leads the way out the door.

We walk down the gravel path for a little while, cross an actual road, and continue down another gravel path. The girls talk but I’m too busy sniffing everything to bother listening. Then the gravel under my feet begins to mix with sand. I lift my nose to the breeze. The scent of fish and water fill my nostrils. I can hear birds calling in the distance. I prick my ears up and that’s when I hear the crashing of the monster.

I pull at my leash now, scrambling in the sand. I strain to get closer. Ilana tightens her grip on my leash and digs her heels into the sand. “Hold on, will you?”

We all mount the boardwalk. I’m straining forward, my muscles ripple under my floatie. Haltingly we move down the boardwalk to the top of the hill. I stop for a moment. The monster is down at the bottom, past the people lying on the sand and the other dogs fetching balls. The monster roars and crashes into the sand, foaming.

“Hey you guys!” I bark to everyone on the sand, “What are you doing? Don’t you see the monster?” Both the humans and the dogs ignore me. If they’re not going to do something, it’s up to me. I plunge forward. Ilana almost loses her footing as she stumbles after me. Ellie runs to catch up. In between breaths, the two girls are laughing. I don’t understand why.

Ilana drops her towel on the sand and lets go of the coils of leash. I bolt into the monster. We hit each other with a crash. The monster grumbles and rises high above me, foam at the top. I leap up to meet it, mouth open. With a defining boom, it rolls down towards me and I bite it hard.

The monster slides over me, and envelops me for a moment. When I surface, it’s in front of me. I shake myself and spit the water that somehow ended up in my mouth. The monster is coming at me. It writhes and sways, rumbling toward me. “Stay away!” I warn it, but my usual deep bark comes out high pitched.

Behind me I hear giggles. I turn briefly and see Ellie holding up her phone. “Mika Bobika vs. Lake Michigan round 3,” she says into it.

“Get away from the monster!” I warn her. “Ap, ap, ap!” she hears. Smiling, she keeps her phone trained on me.

It’s no use. I turn back to the monster just in time to be bowled over. I tumble into the sand kicking and barking. The monster recedes and I scramble to my feet. I run along the sand yelling taunts and curses at it. It rises and bellows back at me.

More giggles come from behind me but this time I don’t turn around.

The monster rushes at me again. I gather myself and launch into it. I bite and claw at it. It escapes me, leaping over me and turning me upside down. I land back on the sand.

Breathing hard, I lay there for a moment. I cough up water. My whole body is shaking. This monster is tough. I can’t find its weakness.

Slowly I rise to my feet. The monster is thundering at me, taunting me. My girls come up behind me. Ellie isn’t holding her phone anymore. The monster is charging us. “Get back!” I shout at the girls. They don’t listen. Panic is beginning to creep in. I’m exhausted. I haven’t even wounded this monster, and it’s coming for my pack!

I shake myself. Sand and water fly everywhere. I start my final attack. I get a few steps in before the girls grab me. “Stop! I have to protect you. Don’t you see it’s coming?” I cry at them.

“I think you’ve had enough for today Miss Mika,” Ilana grins at me. “It’s great to watch, but we don’t want you to drown yourself.”

“But I’m not done!” I protest. I squirm and push against them. I can’t leave. I won’t quit. The girls are strong together. They force me back up the sand, away from the monster. I try to turn around and face it.

Ilana swings a leg over me so she’s straddling me. She adjusts her grip on my collar. “Okay, I’ve got her,” she says. Ellie lets go and I wriggle but Ilana holds me tight. With one hand she coils my leash up. “I’ll be back,” Ilana calls to Ellie, then she leads me up the sand hill to the board walk.

The farther away from the monster I get, the more I relax. Ilana swings her leg back around and loosens her grip on my collar. We walk a little. She watches me. The sounds of the monster are fading and smells of forest start to take over once more. I cough up more water and shake myself. I let the songs of the trees fill my senses and relax me.

Ilana lets go of my collar and I fall into place beside her. We stroll back down the gravel road in happy silence. I didn’t defeat the monster, but I protected my girls. I’m sure I’ll have another chance to fight, but for now I’m happy to take a break.

We stop at the street crossing and I sit like I’m supposed to. I look up at Ilana. She’s watching the road for cars. Then I look at her bare leg next to me and give it one giant lick.

“Ewww Mika!” Ilana yells and jumps a little. I look up at her, tongue lolling.
She sighs and pats my head. My reward for saving her was completely worth it.

Diva Dog

Mika is allowed on furniture, including my bed, but not at night. She wasn’t very happy about this when she first found this out. She also doesn’t have a dog bed because she destroys them. I gave her a nice big blanket to nest in on the floor next to my bed instead.

Mika didn’t think the blanket was as comfortable as I did. She’d pace the room, dig on the carpet, and try to sneak onto my bed. One time she even attempted to sleep in Sammy’s little dog bed. A fifty-five pound dog trying to squeeze into a ten pound dog’s bed was hilarious for me. Not so much for her*.

When Mika had exhausted all other ploys, she would stand near the head of my bed and shake herself to wake me up. Then she’d just look at me with her big brown eyes and a soulful, pleading expression. I have to admit, I was tempted, but I stayed strong. Her begging didn’t work.

And so it went, her pacing and inching closer and closer to my bed, me constantly shouting, “Get off!” or hissing, “Don’t even think about it!” No one was getting much sleep.

Until one day I saw her lay down in my laundry basket. I immediately kicked her out, since the clothes in it were clean, but it gave me an idea. I took a larger laundry basket and filled it with her blanket. That night we tried it. Mika was not interested.

“Fine,” I said, “Have it your way.” Exhausted and at the end of my patience, I switched her blankets to original laundry basket, now devoid of clean clothes. Mika got right in and settled down**.

“What a diva,” I muttered as I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up. I was finally, going to get a good night’s sleep. Just as my head hit the pillow, I heard snoring coming from the laundry basket…

*See Figure 1

**See Figures 2, 3, and 4