0 How to resolve lying to your parents.

Lehshan asks: I’m feeling nervous right now. I’m lying to my mother all the time. I didn’t enroll in my summer class. What should I do?

Okay, let me be clear. I have a very long nose. So I’m not making fun of anyone’s nose when I say that the wonderful old story “Pinocchio” really had it together, with the idea that when you tell a lie it just grows bigger and bigger till it’s as clear as the nose on your face. Your job, if you’re dealing with having lied, is to somehow stop it, and resolve the problem, so you can move on from it.

See, dogs don’t lie. We don’t know how to. So we never can get caught in one. We get caught at other things – digging out of our yard, disobeying, stealing food off the Continue reading

0 How to become famous at school

Anand asks: How can I become famous in my school?

That’s a fascinating question, Anand! Thanks!

I definitely understand you wanting to become famous in your school. I had the same frustration once! In my obedience class, I ended up being the best student there – I learned the most, and did my tricks the best on the last day. But I’ll bet there’s not a single dog there who remembers me. You see, they were all way too focused on the treats their owners had to pay me much attention!

In a funny way, it’s really the same in human schools, isn’t it? Everyone there is worried about all sorts of things – wanting to do well on tests, wanting to be liked, wanting to fit in, wanting to stay out of the principal’s office, wanting to get out of this annoying Continue reading

0 How can you be yourself on a first date?

Avrilox26 asks: A guy from my school (but with 1 class “bigger”) noticed me a while ago… We started to talk on messenger about a lot of things! He’s known me a lot of time, but didn’t notice me until now… Until now we just said hello and how are you ‘live’, the rest online… (I need to mention that I’m kind of a shy person and it took me a while to be myself with other people, but online it’s easier for me to be myself, so I was myself with him online) I think that he really enjoyed me, so he invited me out… Today, we decided the date, time, and place, but I’m really nervous! I don’t know how I’ll act! (I also need to mention that is my first date – if he sees it like a date – ever! A lot of guys have asked me if I want to be their girlfriend, but I didn’t want to, because I didn’t like them or didn’t want/can). I’m so nervous! I’m having a lot of questions now in my mind about what he will think (I always care about what the people around me are thinking about me!) and I don’t know if he’s as nervous as me! He told me that at first he was ashamed to ask me out. Then today he said that he can’t wait to see me and he warned me: “make sure you won’t be late!”… I’d like to invite my BFF to come ‘by mistake’ there, but I think now that he will feel uncomfortable… Do you have any advice/tips about this? What should I do? I’ll be so nervous! And, how can I be myself with him? It’s easy to be myself with other people (those that I know), but with him… I need to mention: I am 14 years old and he is 15 (but he will be 16 in July :/). Thanks! This means a lot to me!

Wow this is really exciting! A first date! It makes me think of my first time in the local dog park. I was so nervous, and SO excited, to play with all the other dogs. And I ran out to play with them and… nothing happened. They wouldn’t play with me. I didn’t know how to play with them, and they didn’t care about me, and… it really hurt. But Handsome kept taking me back there, and over time I Continue reading

0 What new challenges do today’s five-year-olds face?

Sonia asks: Can you tell me what the challenges are, that have to be overcome by today’s kids of 5 years of age and above?

Wow, Sonia, that’s a huge question! I mean, there are a ton of things that most five-year-olds have overcome: most of them have learned to walk and talk and use the toilet and a lot of other more detailed things. But the answer to your question is: Everything Else! Kids 5 and above have to learn social skills and multiplication; how to ride a bike, drive a car, and analyze history; what to do on a date and how to write correctly in the subjunctive tense (okay I’ll be honest, this dog has absolutely no idea what the subjunctive tense is; it’s just something I Continue reading

0 Advice for teenagers who feel they don’t fit in at school

Ashley asks: Do you have any advice for teenagers who have trouble fitting in at school?

Hi Ashley. I have tons and tons of advice for teenagers who have trouble fitting in at school. In fact (and I know this sounds crazy), every word I’ve ever written to teenagers is for ones who have just that trouble. Because every teenager has trouble fitting in at school!
I know, it’s hard to believe! What about the head cheerleader, or the football quarterback, or the kids who do all the plays, or the straight-A students, or just those ones you always see walking together and laughing? Crazy as it sounds, every one of those kids feels like an Continue reading

0 Would a dog have a Hello Kitty game?

Kutchi Asks: Do you have a Hello Kitty Tea Party game?

Oh my goodness, no! My way of saying “Hello Kitty” is to bark my head off and chase that cat up a tree as fast as I can! If I made a Hello Kitty game, it would be called “Hello Kitty Goodbye Kitty!”

But I know there are millions of kids who just love Hello Kitty things, and so I’m sure if you ask around, you can find someone who has just the game you’re looking for. But I truly don’t think you’ll ever find a dog with one!

2 What to do when your parents disapprove of your boyfriend, especially after he’s hit you.

Bunny Asks: I am sixteen. Last May I had a baby. Yes I know it was wrong and everything, but the father and I really love each other – we have now been together for nearly 3 years… So the problem comes in with my parents… I don’t know what to do about them. They forced me to do adoption 🙁 I wanted to keep him… and so did my boyfriend. We were ready to take responsibility for our actions. Then about 3 mouths after his birth my boyfriend and I had a big fight, and he left bruises on me. My parents never asked me if I was ok, they were just glad cause they thought he was out of my life. We broke up for 7 months, till he realized what he had done. He’s the type of guy that actually learns from his mistakes, he felt so bad about it. We really love each other and really take our relationship seriously, but my parents won’t let me see him, and I can’t take it any more! I have been so depressed lately I don’t even eat. I’ve tried asking them if I can see him, but they won’t budge!!!! Please help!! (and i don’t mind if you post this, I have nothing that I am ashamed of.)

Hi Bunny –

I’m so very very glad you wrote me. You are dealing with a gigantic number of issues here, and some of them are as big as you’ll ever deal with in your life, so it’s terribly important that you talk about all of them.

I’ll offer what I can, but the first thing I want you to do is to PROMISE me that you’ll find someone professional you can talk with about all these. No advice website (written by a dog or anyone else) can replace real talking with a real professional. I’m a big fan of therapists, but if there’s something you’d prefer (a religious leader, a teacher) that could be okay too. If you’re still in school, they probably have a counselor or someone who could help, or at least someone who could point you toward someone who can. If you don’t know anywhere else to look, let me know what city or town you live in, and I’ll do some research to see if I can help find someone for you.

But in the meantime, let me suggest a few things. Okay, first, you say, “it was wrong” to have a Continue reading

0 How to find friends your age online.

biros_littlemoon asks: I have a “HOTMAIL” account , but I don’t have many friends there. How can I make friends my age on Hotmail? I am 8 years old.

Hi biros_littlemoon –

Thanks for writing, and for joining my Pack!

I’m not sure I can help you much with your question, though. As I understand it, Hotmail is just a server on the Internet, kind of like a phone company. So it’s not really a way or place to make friends.

There are online groups where you can make friends, often with people with shared interests (like you just became a friend of mine!), but this is something you should definitely be very Continue reading

0 How to deal with a child not listening to you and throwing tantrums.

Jhonny asks: I have a seven year old boy. My problem is that he does not listen to me at all. Whenever he gets up after sleep, he cries a lot for no reason. I am really fed up. For every single thing he throws tantrums. Please help…

Hi Jhonny –

Thanks for writing me about your seven-year-old, and all the trouble you’re having. Being a parent is such incredibly hard work, at the best of times. And at the worst, it’s just about impossible!

So there are a lot of things I can suggest, but first, I should say something here. Now I’m about as great a dog as has ever lived. I’m kind and thoughtful and well-behaved and considerate and I just make Handsome’s life better all the time. But before this, I was… well, I was just Continue reading

0 How it feels when you move or change your home

Nasim asks: Have you ever wanted to change your home?

Hi Nasim –
Well, there are two ways I could read your question. Do you mean have I ever wanted to move into a different home, or have I ever wanted to do changes to the home I have now? Although the answer is kind of the same.
If it’s the first, then my first answer is YEAH!!! When I was a puppy, I spent about five days and nights living in a dog pound, and I wanted to get out of Continue reading