Category Archives for "Kids"

0 What’s a good gift to give parents?

Serena asks: I’m kinda crazy thinking of what’s the best farewell gift for my parents. I’m 12 years old please suggest to me the cutest gift I could give.

Hi Serena –

Well the cutest gift is always a puppy!  But I don’t know if that’s what your parents would want right now.

What I’m not sure of is who’s leaving whom!  Is the farewell gift because you’re going somewhere on a vacation, or because they are, or is it that you or they are actually moving away from the other Continue reading

0 How to handle rejection

Amethyst asks: How does one handle rejection, especially as a teenager? And please could you give me stories of other teenagers that have overcome both rejection and depression?

Hi Amethyst –

The honest truth is it never feels good to be rejected.  I’m a really friendly pup, and I want to be friends with just about everyone I meet.  And I get rejected so often.  Maybe because someone’s scared of dogs, maybe they just don’t like us, and maybe they love dogs but are wearing black and don’t want me to shed all over them (I can’t help it – I don’t do it on purpose!).   Whatever it is, it hurts every time.  And when it’s someone I really care about, oh that’s like a knife in the heart!  The times when I’ve run up to Handsome and he’s been angry to see me (probably because I’d climbed over the fence and run across the street) I will never fully recover from.

On top of that, when you’re a teenager, you care more about acceptance from your peers than at any other time in your life.  So the boy who doesn’t call again, or the girl who is offended by your goodnight Continue reading

0 How to stop fighting with your sibling

Serena asks: I and my younger brother always have petty fights. What do I do about it?

Hi Serena –

I don’t know how old you and your brother are, or whether these are physical fights or just arguments.  But either way, there’s a basic truth, which is Sibling Rivalry.  Siblings argue and fight, and that’s been true throughout history, and for puppies as well as humans.  The important thing is to be able to move past it as well and as smoothly as possible.

That’s very hard, I know.  Even though you’re older (and I assume, bigger), both of you have instincts that are hard to beat.  But here are some ways to gain some power, so that at least he won’t start these fights so Continue reading

0 Why do I have bad luck?

Beshoo asks: Why do I have lots of bad luck (sometimes)?

Hi Beshoo –

Well, I can’t tell you why this is true, but the answer is – because you exist!  Everyone has lots of bad luck, especially sometimes.  Even what seem to the luckiest people in the world do.  Sports heroes have bad days on the field, movie stars get rejected for a role or get terrible reviews or (worst of all) no one comes to a movie they did, I’ll bet even that Uggie who everyone’s so in love with right now – the little dog in the movie “The Artist” – I’ll bet even he gets a Continue reading

0 How to help a child who’s afraid of many things

fly asks: My 11-year-old son has always gotten very anxious for, for example, going to school first day, taking exams, or participating in tournaments – he really gets scared, and sometimes he gets sick. How can I help him?

Hi fly –

I’m so sorry for you and your son – living in such fear (or watching your child in it) is clearly a miserable experience.  Now, it’s very normal for a child to be frightened of any of the things you mention – the first day of school, exams, or tournaments – but it sounds like his fear is Continue reading

0 How to speak up in the classroom

shae asks: How can I be noticed in class, and how can I stop being quiet in class?

Hi shae –

This is really interesting.  See, grownups have been trying to get kids to SHUT UP in class for thousands of years!  I’ve never heard the other side of the issue before!

But I’m guessing that you’re not asking about how to talk with other kids, act silly, giggle, and make the teacher furious.  I’m thinking you want to be more a part of class, less shy, and more assertive.

The important question we need to look at, in order to help this along, is Why you’ve had trouble with this.  After all, I imagine every teacher you’ve ever had has encouraged their students to be involved in class.  So what’s gotten in your Continue reading

0 What to do when your friends hang out without you

inez3 asks: All of my friends have gone to one of my best friend’s sleepover and they didn’t invite me – but they never do any way. And I’m really upset.

Hi inez3 –

I don’t know if there’s a worse feeling in the world than being left out by those you love.  Children hate being left at home when their parents go out, and, wow, if you’ve ever had a puppy, you know how nutty we get when we’re shut away from the family, even for a few minutes!

Then you add to that that humans have different interests at different times, and between the ages of about 10 and 21, they really care more about their peers and how their peers see them than anything else.  So I’ll just bet you’re feeling awful about this!  And I relate!  I still hate it whenever Handsome leaves me alone at all, and even worse when he’s with other people.  And when he comes home smelling of dogs he played with, it just drives me Continue reading

1 How to move on from bad memories

Mention asks: How can I forget my bad memories from when I was hurt in the past?

Hi Mention –

That’s a great question.  People always tell us to move on past the bad things in our pasts, and live life in the present.  But how can we do that when those bad memories just won’t let us go?!

Well, here’s the deal – those memories are there for a very good reason.  They’re there to protect you from making mistakes again.  Now if the memory is that your hand really hurt the last time you put it onto a hot stove, that’s great and will truly serve you forever.  But let’s say the memory is something more like “I went on a date with a girl and she treated me horribly.”  Well, your mind might tell you that going on a date again would be as dumb an idea as putting your hand back onto that stove.

The trick with memories like this, ones that argue things that aren’t completely true, is to have a Continue reading

0 How to deal with a nervous pre-teen

Nono asks: How can I deal with a pre-adolescent boy, twelve years old? I’m a single mother, and he has no brothers or sisters. He recently became very nervous. My blood pressure always rises when we have any conversation together, because his arguments have no end and his voice is becoming louder (though afterwards he apologizes). This happens at least ten times a day, and I’m afraid that one day I’ll get fed up talking to him! We’re still friends, but I’m afraid to lose that. Please guide me as to how to deal with him.

Hi Nono –

I’m of two minds on this (which is very hard for a dog – you know our brains are a lot smaller than yours!).  First, it’s very normal for a boy of around twelve to become ruder, more aggressive, and louder.  But second, I wonder about your saying “he recently became very nervous,” like: is there something other than the beginnings of adolescence going on?

With the first instance, the best news I can give you is that this should end completely – in about six or seven Continue reading

0 How to stop being the butt of your friends’ jokes

saf1 asks: For three years, I have been going out with a group of friends, and they often make fun of me and say that am ignorant and stupid. This is killing me from inside, and I am starting to think that maybe it is true. What should I do with these friends? Tell them about my problem? Or should I just go with it and believe that I really am stupid?

Hi saf1 –

Oh yucch!  This is truly distasteful!

Now I have no idea how little or how much you know.  Or how intelligent you are.  But I do know enough to say that if the people you go out with all the time are saying that you’re ignorant and stupid, that’s just awful!  What it sounds like is that they’ve put you into a “role” in their group, and that role is as the butt of their condescending humor.

If I’m right, the problem with that is that it’s almost impossible to break out of that role, as long as you’re in that group.  Some people try to break out of that kind of role by beating some of the members up (which might create some fear in them, which would at least slow down the insults), or to try to be so nice to each of them (giving them candies, etc.) that they’ll all be nicer to you.  The problem is, that last one doesn’t work very well, and of course getting into fights will get you into Continue reading