"i think love is a perfect word for this year - look at how much he loves you!" - BeCs

It is really good to have friends who love us, and know us, and come visit us from far away. BeCs was here from Berlin last week, and it was so good to have her here - I miss her terribly some days. Especially when I am laughing at things no one else finds funny, but I know she would.

Wallace is reminding me that the word this year is to love. And not just to love, but to love lavishly. Wallace, you may remember, is the mutt I found at the King County Animal Shelter last month. He's soaking up attention like there's no tomorrow. NJ called me last friday after I had left the house to run an errand, saying that Wallace was still waiting at the door for me to come back, 20 minutes later.

When BeCs said this, I was petting Wallace's head, and it's true, he came over to where we were talking, just to say hi and make sure I still knew he existed. I've read that dogs adopted later in their lives are often more loyal than ones who grow up with you. In any case, Wallace thrives on attention. The more we shower him with treats for good behaviors, the better he gets. The more we pet, the sweeter he becomes.

He is scared of people. I don't think people were very nice to him before he came to us. The first time we had people over when he was here, he cowered in a corner. So we instituted a treat campaign. Last week when a bunch of friends came over for dinner, we handed them all handfuls of treats with the instructions, please give these all to wallace and tell him what a good boy he is.
By the end of that night, he was going up to people and trying to nose treats out of their hands. I know this is simple behavior modification, really, and the next night, he was jumpy again and we had to coax him again. And I think it will be like that for a while, the coaxing. But the point is that
Wallace is a good example for me of how important it is to not hold back with the love. The more you give, the more you get, peeps.