As you can see, aside from the trees and flowers that bloom in spring–there are some miraculous things happening to newborn puppies too!


That little ball of fur on the right is my new puppy at one week old, while the fully formed puppy below her is from last year’s litter, from the same Mom and Dad. Amazing what can happen in 8 weeks! 


As I told you a few days ago, the new puppy is arriving on May 1 and I hope you’ll help me give HER a name.
Any ideas? Whoever wins the contest will receive (5) copies of my new book and an invitation to really a really fun celebrity book party–so get your entries in. 


Meanwhile, thanks to my expert advisor, Lisa The Dog Trainer, preparation are underway here to welcome the newest resident of Battery Park City. And the new pup will hardly be lonely, for there are literally hundreds of dogs here of every shape and size in Battery Park City, many of their devoted Moms and Dads card-holding members of our active Battery Park City Dog Association. 

     Go ahead and ASK ME what breeds are living here? Ok: Majestic Great Danes rub noses with pint-sized pugs and Shih Tsu’s.
     Golden Retrievers and Labs race by the river, pulling their owners along, or trailing behind bikes, or ahead of Baby Jogger strollers.
     German Shepherds, Labradoodles, Westies, beagles, and puggles all parade along the water, sniffing under trees and reveling in the sun.   
     At the nearby dog run, boxers, Yorkies, poodles, Boston Terriers, Wheatens, and bulldogs chase balls and one other, or splash in the dunking pool.
      It’s a circus and a dog show rolled up in one. And it’s perfect employment for the neighborhood’s dog walkers, exercising their troops from dawn to dusk.
      But to say that the neighborhood is dog-friendly would be an understatement.
      At Halloween, canine residents compete in the neighborhood’s annual costume contest and dog parade.
      Contestants have included a Batman whippet, a Wizard Of Oz cowardly lion Bernese mountain dog, a Cinderella Chihuahua, a Minnie Mouse pug, and a Madonna Lhasa Apso, all strutting their stuff.
       They competed against creatively attired Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Australian Shepherds, Dalmatians, Havaneses, Border Collies, Scottish Terriers, and, of course, an army of mutts. (One year, the champion was Santiago, a one-year-old pit bull “biker”—in a leather jacket, leather cap, white T-shirt, and blue jeans).
      In short, it’s a dog eat dog world here on the Hudson, in the best sense of the word, and I hope you’ll bring your dog down here one day soon for a visit. Tomorrow I’ll take you back to the beginning and tell you about how and why I decided to write this book in the first place.