Category Archives for "Growing Up"

0 What to do when you’re feeling hopeless and seeing no reason to keep living.

Suds Asks: Shirelle, sometimes I feel so hopeless I don’t want to live anymore. Does that ever happen to you?

Hi Suds –

I’m sorry you feel so lousy.  I know what it’s like to feel really sad and frustrated and lonely and angry.  But no, I’ve never not wanted to live anymore.  That’s because dogs are different from people – we just never think that way.  But I have to tell you, I’ve never known a human who hasn’t felt just Continue reading

4 Why Does School Teach So Many Useless Things?

Lovesblackcats asks: Why don’t we learn really useful things in school like how to fix a flat tire or balance a checkbook? Why do we need to spend time finding the diameter of a circle or doing calculus?

Hi LovesBlackCats!

Boy this question gets asked all the time. I’ll bet they asked it in Ancient Egypt, and it’ll still be asked a thousand years from now. “Why do I have to study stuff that means nothing to me?”

When I was a puppy, I really cared about a few things. Biting, chewing, playing, food, making friends, and whether Handsome liked me as much as I liked him. That’s about it. I wanted to spend all my time pursuing those things. If I could have had my way, I wouldn’t have even slept! And Handsome would ruin my good times every day by insisting on Continue reading

0 How to deal with someone who rejects your friendship.

JLL asks: I take a drama camp and there is this girl named Emerson. At first she was really nice to me but, one day my friend Bailey and I went up to her and asked, may we please look at your necklace? She said no! in a very rude way. The next day a girl named Sue was wearing a very similar necklace , I asked Emmerson, is Sue wearing your necklace? She said, don’t talk to me! in a very rude way. Later, I told the teacher and I asked Emmerson, what did I ever do to you? She simply said, your annoying. She also said that she didn’t want to be friends. And I’m fine with that but I have the feeling that she will still be mean to me and turn people against me. I don’t want to be friends but I still want to get along with her. What do I do?

Wow, JLL, this is a tough one.  I don’t know if you’re still in drama camp (Handsome left town for a while, and I wasn’t able to post anything while he was gone – sorry about that!).  But even if you’re not, this sort of problem will happen again – it happens to adults all the time.

What you’re dealing with is that you’re trying to “play by the Continue reading

0 Advice for kids and teenagers on how to deal with having to clean their room.

Crooner62 asks: Why is it so hard to clean up my room when I know the mess will just get worse if I don’t?!

Crooner, I don’t know exactly how old you are, but I can tell you that things like this get easier when you get older.  When you’re a puppy, it’s just so hard to concentrate on something as BORRRING as cleaning!  I’ve written elsewhere on here how much I hate getting baths, but that’s not Continue reading

0 Fair-weather Friendships

DCW asks: My friend, Patrick said “I wanted to be your friend because I wanted to be in your play,” then he wasn’t my friend anymore after the play. That’s when he said it. What should I do? I really want to be his friend.

Wow DCW, that’s really tough! It sounds to me like Patrick doesn’t really understand what friends are for, or what friendship is about. I imagine he’ll learn more as he gets older.

But for now, I don’t know Patrick. And you are my Continue reading

0 Fostering good relationships between siblings

Bert asks: How do you recommend fostering good relationships between siblings?

Hi Bert!

Great question!  First, check out my answer to “Why is my brother such a bonehead?”  Showing that to the kids might help.

But next, I’ll start with the bad news: Sibling problems have always Continue reading

0 Do manners matter?

Isis75 asks: Do manners matter?

You know the funniest thing about manners?  People train us dogs not to greet people the way we want to – sniffing, licking, jumping on them – and instead to “sit and shake hands.”  In other words, they’re afraid of our Continue reading

0 When are bad words okay for kids and teenagers?

JoannaLove asks: What do you think about bad words?

I don’t speak with words, I bark.  But I definitely use bad language at times.  Like when I see a squirrel or a dog I don’t like outside my window.  Or, worst of all, a cat! Oh do I use nasty language then!

So it would make me a pretty big Continue reading

0 At recess, when is it best to tell on someone?

Louisa asks: At recess, when is it best to tell on someone, or not?

Ah, the politics of the playground!  When I go to the dog park, it’s fun to tumble and tussle with the other pooches.  Most of the time, everyone just has a great time.  But sometimes, one of the other dogs gets too Continue reading

0 At what age is it okay to start watching Harry Potter movies?

Caldonia asks: What age is okay to start watching Harry Potter movies?

I am a dog.  Stories don’t really work for me.

When Handsome reads books or watches tv, though, I do pick up on what he’s feeling.  And that can be really good or really bad.

For example, sometimes he Continue reading