Once he has decided to name and keep Nipper, Palmer realizes he must divert the gang from coming to his house. Why does he want to keep the boys away? What are some of the excuses he invents?

Palmer wants to keep the gang from knowing he has a pigeon for a pet. He knows Beans would first make fun of him and then try to kill Nipper. Palmer begins to invent a variety of reasons why the gang cannot play at his house, including his mother's forbidding the gang to come to the house, the refrigerator is broken, and the house has no heat. When all else fails, Palmer yells to the boys to bomb Dorothy's house with snowballs.