My Dog has Turned into a Teenager!!

I know what it's like to have a teenager, because I raised three (wonderful) kids through those tempestuous years.

Still, I wasn't prepared to have my two-year old puppy named Poco turn into a teenager.

She has. She mopes around the house a lot and we can't get her to chase toys the way she used to.

She's finicky about food, and she snubs her nose at kibble, and even at wet food out of a can. (So we cook her ground turkey and chicken.)

But the real issue is her love life. Poco has fallen head over heels over a cute black dog across the street. She and Burt roll around the grass together and are happy as clams just lying side by side (or nose to nose) on the sofa. Whenever Burt's owner, my neighbor Nancy, calls up to invite her over to play, Poco can tell. She stands by the phone, expectantly, staring up at me intently.

I get off the phone and I say to her, "You want to play with..." and even before I get the word "Burt"

out of my mouth, she is racing to the front door. I open the door and she's like a black and white bullet screaming toward their yard. She waits at Burt's fence, and when I open it for her, she makes a bee line to the door where Nancy and Burt await her.

They are adorable together. (The one on the right is Poco.) But every once in a while I get the feeling I used to have when my kids were teens: they wanted to spend as much time as possible away from the house, with their friends. Sometimes I think Poco would just as soon live at Nancy and Burt's house as ours.
It seems like every time I come to pick her up, she looks at me with the "What are you doing here?" look.

Still, they are so cute together I wouldn't think about keeping them apart.

I guess when you really love someone, you let them do what they want or need to do.

So Poco, go for it. I'll call Nancy later today and we'll make another play date for the cutest pair of puppies I know.

Photo courtesy of Nancy Sorell.