We have a three-member peanut gallery now, three bright and happy dogs who make it their business to know exactly what’s going on.

Today, Maria and I brought some firewood in from the woodshed for our wood stoves. The dogs found that fascinating, they sat in the pantry and looked as if we were loading cooked steaks.

Zinnia, Bud, and Fate were riveted on us as we moved the wood in. They watched every log come in. I love seeing the three of them, their curiosity is infectious.

Why I wonder, are they so fascinated by our loading wood onto a cart?

Then Bud and Zinnia tore off into the living room to play tug of war. They sounded like two lions roaring as they pulled on a tough dog toy. Bud, who is smaller, is savvy, he got underneath Zinnia and flipped her over.

He doesn’t seem to have noticed she is bigger than him already.

He took off with the toy, Zinnia in hot pursuit, she headed him off in the living room and the two wrestled again, this time Zinnia victorious. Then they did it all over again, about a dozen times.

Zinnia is a great gift to Bud. Fate is growing up and is a more serious dog that either Bud or Zinnia. She doesn’t play much, especially inside of the house. Zinnia will play all day, as will Bud, and they are having great fun.

I see that Bud needed a companion like this, the two are inseparable. We see what a sweet and patient dog Bud is, Zinnia has brought out the nicest qualities in him.

This being America in 2019, everything is everyone’s business and everything one says or does is controversial or upsetting to someone.

I don’t think anyone has ever written a message to me that says “this is none of my business.” The very notion of boundaries of etiquette has been washed away by the Internet. We will all just have to live with it, but not quietly.

Peg sent me this message yesterday: “I feel bad for Bud because he doesn’t come across as special as Zinnia to you. Am I misjudging the situation?”

I feel bad for Peg, who is worried about how I feel about Bud.  My wish for her is that she has better things to do. I do.

I declined to answer the question, first because it’s none of her business, and secondly because I don’t wish to enable people who choose for reasons I will never understand to worry about my dogs.

I got a half dozen messages like that this week. We’ve been there before yes, the wheel goes round and round.

Actually, this is interesting because it happens every time I get a new dog. I write about the new experience.

The shrinks call this projection, and it is unfortunate. People who have suffered neglect, cruelty or abandonment often project their suffering onto dogs or other animals, because they are blank slates, they can’t speak or correct us or tell us what they are feeling.

We can dump all of our shit right onto our dogs, and make these helpless animals just as crazy as we are. This isn’t love to me, it’s something far darker.

This is why nearly 400,000 dogs in America are now on anti-depressants, according to veterinary medical researchers.

It’s a lot easier to give a dog a pill than to train one.

I am no fool, I’m running with Zinnia as far as I can run, how often do I get a cute and beautiful puppy I need to train? You bet I’m focused on her now,  I love the experience of getting a new dog, just as I was when Gus came and Red came and Bud came and Lenore came and Rose came.

People love reading about Zinnia, and yes, I do respond to that.

Zinnia is a new dog who is undergoing intense therapy dog training and socialization. You bet I am paying more attention to her than to Fate or Bud, and that will go on for as long as it takes to train her carefully and well.

So far, nothing about Zinnia is sad, least of all Bud, about whom I have written volumes. I hope and pray it stays that way. That may be her gift to the world. Bud has had a much tougher story, and I have told it many times.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is a choice.