Zinnia and I continue our bonding and connecting. She seems to love being in my office when I write and lying on my feet. Unlike Bud, she doesn’t snort or pass gas at high volumes.

When I say “let’s go to work,” she comes into work. She is, after all, a working dog, not just a cute dog.

She is very quiet when she is here. I confess to being fascinated by the process through which people and dogs bond.

Part of it lies in getting the dog your heart tells you that you want (it is very important for me to make that decision, I consider it deeply offensive when others to try to take the choice away from me. They are not my friends or the friends of dogs.).

No one should have tried to deprive me of the opportunity to get a dog like Zinnia by telling me it is the wrong and immoral way to get a dog. Social media is an incubator of hubris and arrogance at times.

The next step for my bonding with Zinnia has been training, caring enough about the dog to show him or her how to live in our world.

Dogs admire and need leaders, not just adoring admirers, nd I need to be a leader of my dogs, not just a pal. I know dogs need that as well. Like small kids, dogs have no desire to be in charge.

They just want to know the rules.

Zinnia is an intuitive dog, I believe she has sensed the importance of me writing to me, how important my computer and workspace is, and by coming in here with me and being so quiet and present, then she has chosen to bond with me.

I never force her to come in, I just open the dog gate we got for my office, and she comes in, curls up at my feet or quietly chews on a toy. We just click.

Then she goes to sleep. That’s just what Red did, and Lenore and Izzy before him, and even Orson, my first spirit dog. This is where I first got the idea that

I think that’s an exceptional decision for a dog who is 10 weeks old to be making. I feel she is respecting me and reading my needs and intentions, as I try to understand hers.

I felt this gentle pressure on my right foot this morning, and looked down to see Zinnia asleep. That’s the photo above.