Category Archives for "Featured Questions"

0 What to do if someone gets a crush on you

789decision789 asks: What do you do as a teenage facilitator, when your student is madly in love with you?

Hi 789decision789 –

I’m going to assume that the student you describe is younger than you.  My answer would be the same even if they weren’t, but it sure makes it easier if they are.

Given that I am about as adorable a dog as has ever sniffed a tree, I face this problem all the time.  And while it’s nice to be lovable to the world, and it’s great to be really attractive to someone you’re interested in, it really puts you in a tough position when someone you don’t want any romance with (or legally/morally can’t have one with!) lets you know they’re completely smitten with you.

But the reason it’s tough is that you don’t want to Continue reading

0 Is it wrong to be a “goody-goody” at school?

adriannaar asks: My friends are calling me a goody-goody and a teacher’s pet, just because I respect the teachers and help them and the office staff out. What should I do?

Hi adriannaar –

You know, we dogs get this all the time.  Other animals, whether the nobly independent wolves we’re descended from, or the snooty cats we like to chase, love to get on our cases.  “You do whatever your humans tell you!  You have no self-respect at all!  You hunt, pull sleds, find drugs, chase bad guys and foxes, protect homes, and then jump on your enslavers and give them kisses all the time!  You make us Continue reading

2 How to read when your parents want you to sleep

DOGSRULE asks: I am reading a lot of books, and my parents love it, but they said they might ban me from reading because I usually stay up past my bedtime to read. What should I do?

Hi DOGSRULE –

Thanks for your question about your reading.

I think that, in the eyes of most parents, kids reading is like dogs barking.  If a person buys a dog, they most likely want it to bark – but only when they want it to; the rest of the time, the barking really annoys them!

Similarly, although I’m always hearing adults worry that kids don’t read enough, you’re not alone in having parents get frustrated by your love of reading!

My friend Handsome had a similar situation when he was growing up.  His trick was to Continue reading

0 What to do with friends who reject you, and then want to be friends again?

adriannaar asks: What should I do if this girl in my class is always mean to me, then nice, then mean, then nice again?! The girl I had the problem with sent me an email saying goodbye, and so I told her goodbye, that I do not want her problems, and angrily said if she were to reply I would block her and she never replied. Then we were talking on the Internet and she said she wants us to be good friends! She is just confusing me – she says goodbye then hello!

Hi adriannar –

As I love to point out, I don’t know much of anything about my pack friends.  I don’t know your real names, I don’t know where you live, I don’t know your ages… and I don’t know if you’re male or female!  If I could sniff you I’d know all these things at once (dogs’ noses are phenomenal!), but over the Internet, I can’t tell anything!

So I might be barking up the wrong tree, as the saying goes.  But one reason why people sometimes behave in this nice/mean/nice/mean way is that they’ve got a Continue reading

0 How to clean the environment

FAHAD asks: How can we clean up the environment?

Hi FAHAD –

Your question is very broad, you know!  When someone says “the environment,” they really mean the area around them, wherever they are.  My environment might be the forest around my doghouse, or the floor of Handsome’s living room.  Right now yours might be your bedroom, or a library, or a classroom.  And how you clean up any one of those is very different.

For example, in the forest, “cleaning up” usually means people cleaning up after themselves, so it’s the same as before they got there (so picking up any trash, etc.).  But in Handsome’s living room, “cleaning up” is much more detailed – it’s about vacuuming, dusting, wiping… making the whole place clean enough for a King and Queen to eat off the floor (which is silly, since I’m the only one who ever Continue reading

0 How to create an interest in artistic creativity

zeni asks: How can I develop interest in artistic creativity in students?

Hi zeni –

It’s a funny thing, but we dogs have absolutely no artistic creativity at all.  We enjoy pretty music and such, but our brains literally cannot create art in the way humans do.  In fact, no one can, except humans.  When a spider spins its gorgeous, intricate web, it has no idea how beautiful it is; it’s only doing what it knows how to do to catch flies.  And when a flower opens, revealing its incredible bright colors to the world, all it knows is that those hues tend to attract bees, which it needs in order to create new flowers.

So in a way, what you’re asking is how to engage your students in becoming human, in the most essential way.

So, how to do that?  Continue reading

0 How to live a successful life

beena asks: Tell me how to spend a successful life.

Hi beena –

I have an answer for you, which might sound cheap at first (or even catty, just about the lowest word I can imagine!).  It’s this: Define what “success” is for you.

The only time one can truly decide whether their life has been successful or not is at the end of it.  So imagine yourself many years from now, old, very happy, feeling your life has been a total success.  Now let your imagination run wild, like me in a field of bunnies!  What has made your life so successful?!

Do you picture Continue reading

0 Which parent should a child choose in a divorce?

Hachiko asks: I think my parents are getting a divorce. Should I be happy or sad (I’m happy)? My dad’s not a good man. My mom’s currently looking for a job, but she won’t get paid much. But my question is: who should I stay with? Clearly, my mom won’t be able to pay my educational expenses, and my dad’s acting very rude with her.

Hi Hachiko –

I have a number of questions on here about divorce, and most of them deal with the fact that the children of the couple feel very bad about it.  The fact that you actually say you’re happy tells me a great deal about your situation.  In particular, it tells me that this divorce is a positive and necessary one, and that it will likely make your, and your mother’s, life better.  I can’t say that, as a loyal pooch, I’m ever glad to hear about people divorcing, but in cases like this, the sad part is what was in the marriage before the couple split, not the split itself.

Divorce is almost purely a legal issue.  So a lot of the things you’re asking about are beyond my knowledge, and will be determined by a court of law.  For example: Will your father have to continue to financially support your mother?  Will your father have to pay child support for you?  Will you have a choice of whom to live with, or will the court determine that for you?!

So your questions might be things you don’t need to worry about at all.  Except, I think, one:  You ask Continue reading

0 What to do if you feel guilty about eating

amber asks: What should I do if I feel guilty when I eat?

Hi amber –

If you’re saying you want to learn to control your diet better, I have some posts here that deal with that issue.  But it sounds like you might be asking something more worrisome: Are you feeling guilty about eating anything?  Are you feeling that you’re doing something wrong by eating?  And if so, is it because you feel you’re doing something cruel or mean to that sandwich, or those carrots, or that cookie?  Or is it that you feel you’re doing something bad to yourself?

As far as the sandwich or carrots idea goes, it sounds to me like you need to accept your Continue reading

0 What can help arthritis?

majuliann asks: Can eating apples heal Arthritis? If not, which fruits can?

Hi majuliann –

Humans and dogs disagree about lots of things.  Dogs like licking strangers’ faces; humans usually don’t.  Dogs like sniffing where someone’s peed; humans don’t. Humans adore cats; we don’t.

But one thing we definitely agree on is that we both HATE arthritis!  This awful, painful, chronic, debilitating disease has absolutely nothing to like about it!

Actually, the term “arthritis” applies to over a hundred Continue reading