My little Maya is now 8 months old. She’s gone from 10 to 12 pounds as I discover lifting her off the bed in the morning. She is brown, black, white, and tan with an irresistible little face. She loves affection, especially getting her tummy scratched.

We are going to our third week of “puppy school” and I’m wondering who is getting trained here. She thinks all the other puppies want to play and is bouncing at the end of her leash this way and that. She does know how to sit and is learning to come when I call her. We have a doggie cage which is about 3×4 and she loves it. I never use it to punish her but give her a treat every time I have to leave her in it to go somewhere. She doesn’t like riding in the car and it occurred to me that she is small and only hears the noise but cannot see anything lying on her towel on the seat. I’m looking into a booster seat for small dogs. We’ll see. She loves to go to the house of my friend Carol on Friday nights. A group of us who are widows, watch a Hallmark movie (Carol can fast forward through the commercials) and eat popcorn. They all fuss over her and she is in doggie heaven. She also makes the rounds at the ladies Bible study in my home Thursday mornings, getting lots of pets and attention. One lady mentioned she might bring an extra large bag one day and sneak her home. I do keep an eye to see what size purse she brings each week!

Maya loves leaves. The yellow ones that fall from the tree by our back deck are fascinating. She brings them into the house and doesn’t eat them, just tears them in little pieces all over the living room carpet. Oh, well, I tell myself, as I reach for the carpet sweeper again, she’s just a baby and looking for something to pay with. In the meantime, she keeps me smiling with her antics and when I sit alone on the couch in the evenings, she’s a little cuddle bug and I’m glad she came into my life.