What I Have Learned From My Puppy

Many of you know that we are now a three dog family. On Saturday, March 27th, Chloe joined us from a rescue in New York State. Paddy and I picked her up along with her sister (Paddy’s dog, Bailey) at an Adoption Day in Burlington, Vermont. Chloe is short for Chlorophyll , so named because of her love for just lying in the grass in our field, occasionally munching a few greening blades, in the warm sunshine.


Chloe is part chocolate lab and part boxer. She has eyes that are most of the time green but sometimes blue depending on the lighting. As I write this, she is about 12 weeks old, and our lives are reminiscent of the years when our own children were babies and into everything!

Chloe enjoys her store bought toys but tearing up the newspaper has a certain allure as well. And she prefers live dogs and people to any action toy you might come up with.

We can learn a lot from our pets, and here are some of the things (in no particular order) that I have learned from Chloe:

1. Life is a game – and the trick is to get everyone playing it with you

2. The best place to sleep is next to someone you love

3. If someone tells you “no”, they usually have a good reason for it – though you may not understand it right away

4. It’s best to get outside and exercise every day

5. Everyone should be able to take a nap when tired

6. Homemade toys and gifts are often more appreciated than store bought ones (shoes, slippers, empty water bottles, etc.)

7. If you take it slow, you can even befriend old cranky granny dogs

8. Take time to smell the roses – or lie in the grass in the sun

9. Curiosity can sometimes get you in trouble, but, that being said, explore everything you can – who knows what new things you will find

10. Playing by yourself is OK sometimes, but nothing beats having a friend to hang around with