How Can You Tell Your Dog Is Missing You?

Our dogs are acting a little unusual, these days. It began as subtle changes, you know, like following us around from room to room -so close, in fact, that when you stop, they plow right into your leg and, heaven forbid, you should back up, you're liable to step right on them, or trip over them, trying to avoid doing so.

I realize, we have been quite busy, lately, what with the ASI Convention and our time volunteering for "Your Best Pathway to Health," this month. As a result, we haven't been getting a lot of quality time with our pups, and they've been showing the strain.

Our dogs, Mao and Ming, are about a quarter Labradoodle and mostly, Golden Retriever -they're about a year-and-a-half old. Lately, they've been going well beyond "affectionate." It's been downright possessive! I called three times, for our daughter, Karali, to get in the car. Finally, I heard her trying to answer, "I can't -Mingy won't let me go." So I walked around the corner to see one of our dogs laying on the kitchen floor, hanging on tightly to her, as though she thought she'd never see us again.

But the strangest thing happened, just today. My other daughter, Anali, tugged on my shirt and asked me, "Papa, what is Mao doing?" I glanced over to where she was pointing and saw our other dog, pressing his ear up to the wall where my wife was in the other room, talking about our plans for next weekend.

I wonder if they're going to need counseling when this is all over?