Puppy Love

We started off dog sitting for a 140 pound black lab and I very unexpectedly fell in love with him.  He is polite, he is calm, he listens to me (at least someone in the house listens to me!) and he follows me everywhere.  When Joe travels for work, I feel safer with Charlie's loud bark at the doorbell and snoring on the rug next to my bed.  He has been with us now for about three months, and the one who is in love the most, though, is Julia.  I didn't realize until Charlie's arrival how often Julia is the odd man out in play with the boys. As the youngest and the only girl, she is often marginalized, and while the boys will usually play with her, there are many occasions when they are in Legoland or simply do not want their pesky little sister to be part of their play.  Charlie's arrival has brought Julia a new best friend.  She hangs on him, follows him everywhere and says "Chaw-lee" about 1,000 times a day.  She even gets him to play princess with her, and Charlie patiently tolerates this, although he is not the most enthusiastic about this type of play.