I am having so much fun with my new puppy, Picasso.
    

He is so cute and so little, that I find myself grinning every time I see him.

    I hadn't quite realized the joys of owning a small dog, one you can pick up and hug anytime. Or snuggle. These Shih Zsu puppies are very affectionate.
And Picasso was born knowing the meaning of companionship. I swear he is with me 24 hours day - unless I go out, and then I am haunted by the cries of grief that accompany me. He is always under my feet and I trip him over him constantly. But what can I say? Don't love me so much?

I don't think so.

But Picasso has freaked me out many times. One day, I was making the bed, when Picasso strolled into the room and went over to the dresser. And then he disappeared.
  

Picasso had actually walked under the dresser!!!!! I didn't even think such a thing was possible. And then he walked out the other end, carrying a sock. Ah, so that's where that sock went.

 In fact, all kinds of things are making a re-appearance in my life. Balls, stuffed animals, old bones.

(Not real old bones for heaven's sake! The plastic kind. They're bad enough!)
  

But Picasso, although he is sweet, has a mind of his own. There are certain things he just won't do, like sleep in the dog bed that cost me $60. Not for one hour, not for one minute, has he slept on it! Instead, he sleeps on an old sweatshirt, on the floor, just below my head.
 

Here's another useless, expensive thing. It's a dog bag that you just carry over your shoulder. I like the concept of taking him everywhere. I think he'd like it, too, if he stopped wriggling enough for me to get the bag done up! But no, I try to do the bag up and, before I know it, the bag is empty.

Sheeeeesh!

It's interesting to note that this is a self-exercising dog. Our house is long and narrow, so he can start in the dining room, run through the kitchen and along the hall that connects the bedrooms.

Occasionally, he works himself into a frenzy and runs this route and back again 10 or 15 times.

Now, all this is on two-inch legs, of course, so he exhausts himself.

And all I have to do is look up occasionally when he dashes past.
 

Now, of course, I do take him outside to walk, and it is a great pleasure to actually walk a dog without falling down. This little guy couldn't pull me over if he tried!

And it's very funny to see his tiny legs working at top speed, to keep up with me just strolling along.

He's also good at chasing things, but he doesn't get the returning part yet. It'll come.

In the meantime, Picasso is adorable.   

Absolutely adorable.