Category Archives for "Questions"

0 What to do if you’re addicted to Facebook

Hachiko asks: I have been getting addicted to the Internet (especially Facebook). I can’t close it because my best friend and I live very far so we can talk there. I also play a game there called Youville, and am addicted to that too. Could you please help me?

Hi Hachiko –

Facebook is, I suppose, the most profound change in humans’ social world of the last decade.  I don’t even know what would come in second place!  It has exploded in popularity and importance so quickly that most of the world has been struggling to keep up with it – including trying to grasp what its advantages and disadvantages are.  Besides its original intent to create a place for friends to meet online, it has contributed to the fall of empires, to countless reunions of lost contacts, and – yes – to millions of acts of thoughtlessness and cruelty.

I’m only a dog and don’t have nearly the imagination or wisdom to know all the advantages or disadvantages inherent in Facebook.  But there are a few things I do know, and they all have both in them!

1)    Facebook is an amazing way of getting news about yourself out to a Continue reading

0 What to give a kid who’s interested in space exploration

kavin24 asks: My younger brother’s 7th b’day is on coming up, but I don’t have an idea for what to give him. Can you choose it for me? I’ll tell you his interests: 1) He likes astronomy and mechanics but I don’t think he knows anything about it. 2) He’s trying to create things. 3) Sometimes he plans space ships. 4) He wants to work in NASA when he is 20 years old. 5) He’s also interested in mathematics. 6) He’s trying to dig tunnels in the house, and to add a swimming pool to our home. 7) He also likes detective stories, and has a detective tool set, laboratory tools and a telescope to watch planets. (note: I just have only a little pocket money!)

Hi kavin24 –

We dogs aren’t very good with gifts.  The nicest present I ever gave Handsome was a squirrel I’d just caught.  I dropped it at his feet as he was stepping out of the shower.  The huge yell he gave made me think he was really excited and appreciative, but he then threw it out in the garbage, so I have a feeling it wasn’t a total success.

So I have no suggestions at all.  In my experience, what people appreciate the most from me is love, play, warmth, protection… and shutting up when they Continue reading

0 How to find a tutor

zipingo asks: I am a special child – I can’t walk and am in a wheelchair. I need a tutor to teach me in Urdu. Can you help me?

Hi zipingo –

I don’t know enough about your specific situation (where you live, etc.) to give you exact information, but I think the Internet is your best bet.

Let’s say you lived in, oh, Paris.  Well I imagine you could go onto a search engine like Google or Yahoo or whatever, and type in “Tutor Urdu Paris” and that a number of names would come up.  Then you could check with all of them, and see who you can trust and like the most.

But also, I would imagine, if you live in a city, there will be places that provide tutors for Continue reading

0 What to do if you’re sent to a scary school

amason7 asks: I failed 2 subjects at school, and my parents say that they are going to change me to a very bad school. I fear for my future. What do I do?

Hi amason7 –

I’m not sure what you’re fearing – if it’s the effect of failing the classes or the bad school.  Or both.

If it’s about the classes, the odds are you’re worrying more than is deserved.  People fail classes and exams all the time, and manage to move on to great lives and careers.  There may be lessons to learn from the failures, and if so I’m all for that.  But in terms of the immediate effects of the exams, you might have to retake those classes, or not get into some schools you want, but in the long term I think it’ll be fine.  Hey I had to get trained in staying so many times – each time I’d think I’d nailed it, I’d screw up and have to go Continue reading

0 What to do when someone spreads lies about you

sundershiner asks: This one girl hates me and won’t stop making up lies about me! How can I get through to her? I want her to stop. But I want to do it in a calm way.

Hi sundershiner –

You probably know me well enough by now to guess what I’d say, which is that you’ve got to find out why she’s doing this!  It makes no sense for anyone to hate anyone, or spread lies about them (which we know well is guaranteed to come back and bite her right below the tail one of these days), unless they have a very strong reason.

(Note: I didn’t say a very good reason; it might be completely stupid!  But it’s definitely a strong one.)

Now if someone hates someone for reasons that are really about that person being Continue reading

0 How to teach a teen not to smoke

smiletrain48 asks: What punishment should be given when a 13-year-old girl is caught smoking?

Hi smiletrain48 –

I’m a big believer in certain sorts of punishment, for certain things.  I never would have learned not to pee in the house, or not to climb onto the couch, unless Handsome had let me know that such things weren’t acceptable.  But in truth, he didn’t have to do much about them.  Once I knew they were outlawed, I was pretty good at avoiding them.

But when I was a puppy, Biting was another story!  I knew he hated it, and I bit him all the time!  Bit his ankles, bit his shoes, bit his Continue reading

0 How to react to racism

amikellia asks: I attend a school. As I got there people started disliking me for no reason. One girl said to another person that I am an African and they are very ugly, I am an African but I don’t know why people dislike Africans. Some of them have to be forced by a teacher to talk to me or group up with me, and so on. Some of them don’t even like sitting down next to me. They make fun of me behind my back, call me names and laugh at me anytime I lose something! If I tell a teacher, it becomes even worse. I try to ignore them, but it is very hard. They even mock my accent because I am an African. I don’t like it at all. Please help me.

Hi amikellia –

In most ways, humans are a lot smarter than us dogs.  Humans can invent and create automobiles, humans can do math, humans can write songs and symphonies and poems and novels… humans are just brilliant.

And then there are the areas where humans can be absolute idiots.  Racism sticks out as maybe the biggest of these.

You say you don’t like the way you’re being treated?  Well I’ll take you one further – I HATE it!  What you’re living through is unbridled cruelty, to the point of real bullying.  And it is SOOOOOOOO Continue reading

2 What to do when overprotective relatives get in the way of relationships

glampie1 asks: I started dating a friend of my brother’s. But then I started to let my friends know (which was a bad idea), and things started to get out of control. He started talking to my best friend (his cousin) and we started arguing, and then we made up. But the only major thing that is wrong with this whole relationship is that my family is too overprotective! What should I do?!

Hi glampie1 –

Boy, is that ever the thing about families!  If you have a not-so-great family, they don’t protect you at all.  And if you have a good one, they just might protect you too much!  So while it’s wonderful to have people caring about you and wanting to protect you, it can also be a drag!  Kind of like my feelings about the fence around my yard – I know Handsome locks me in because he cares about me, but it makes it impossible for me to chase the neighbor’s cat!

The only answer I can come up with for you (I don’t have any for myself!) is for you to talk to your brother and his cousin, and anyone else who’s being too protective of you.  But this can only work if one thing is true:  Do they trust your Continue reading

0 What present to give someone you’re dating

Sazuna45 asks: My friend’s second monthiversary is coming up and she doesn’t know what to give her boyfriend as a present. Do you have any suggestions?

Hi sazuna45 –

You know, humans really are a funny breed.  You care so much about calendars!  When Handsome comes home from work, I am absolutely thrilled to see him.  When he comes home on his birthday, or my birthday, or Christmas, or the day of the closing ceremony of the Olympics, my happiness is exactly the same.  And if he brings me a treat, I’m even happier – whether that’s because it’s my birthday or just that he has some leftovers from a good dinner.

You see, I’m perfectly happy to play along with the whole concept of holidays (although I do get very irritated when Handsome makes me wear Continue reading

2 How quickly does Shirelle answer questions?

kavin24 asks: I sent you a question, but I didn’t get your answer. Why is that? How can I see your solutions?

Hi kavin24 –

I’m sorry about that – I get very overwhelmed with all I’m doing (from guarding Handsome’s house to chasing birds to writing stuff for the website), and so I can’t answer questions as quickly as I’d like to.  It usually takes me a few days to get to them.  I try as hard as I can to answer them in less than a week, but sometimes I even fail at that.

But please know I do answer every question I receive.  So if a week ever goes by and you haven’t heard back, please write me again.  Sometimes emails do get lost.  And even my great doggy hearing can’t pick up on the signal!

Thanks for all your questions and interest!  Welcome to the Pack!

Shirelle