Pure Joy by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online

to run back to you with it, and then you can see her think better of it, change her mind at the last minute, figure she’s not going to give you a toy she loves, and run away and hide it. She can play with her toys for hours. And she seems to be convinced that we are all trying to steal them, and she is not going to let that happen.
    Similarly, she is convinced we are going to eat her kibble. Several times a day she fills her mouth with as many grains of kibble as she can stuff in it, and then goes somewhere to hide it. You can see plainly where the kibble is, although sometimes she’ll hide it under her bed. If she sees you watching her do it, she’ll hide it again. And then she gives us a suspicious look. Recently, she piled it on top of her igloo bed, saw that I had noticed it, and then went to get a doll and put it on top of the kibble to hide it better. To date, her suspicions are unfounded, and I have not eaten her kibble yet. But she still suspects I might. It really makes me laugh when I watch herantics. She keeps busy for hours, and then collapses and goes to sleep. She is an endless source of amusement and joy. And it’s a lot more fun watching her than stressing over a rewrite or a slew of faxes to answer or any of life’s less fun events. It’s hard to be sad with a funny little being bouncing around, doing things that make you laugh. She is definitely the best therapy there is, which is why dogs make people so happy. Whoever comes to visit winds up laughing at her, and everyone in the house is in love with her. She is impossible to resist. And in Paris I can spend more time lying on the floor playing with her.
    Her Paris wardrobe is also a lot jazzier than her clothes for San Francisco. (I dress better in Paris too and wear mostly jeans in San Francisco, because I go out more in Paris, so I get more dressed up.) I’ve discovered a few stores, and one in particular, that have incredibly silly but fun outfits for tiny dogs. Little sparkly sweaters, others with rhinestones on them, or heart designs, a pink snowsuit with a bunny on it (which she hates as much as the old one, this one even more so because it has a little hood). It is hysterically fun to dress her up, although she looks pained about it, an ordeal she must endure. The things I’ve found for her in Paris are so cute, although they potentially put me back in the “weird” category that my children warned me about and that I intended to avoid. I’vegiven up—she looks adorable in her cute sweaters and coats, even a gray sweater with a pink flower on it. And she has equally fancy leashes in pink, white, red, and black patent leather, with flowers on them, or rhinestones. I can’t help it, I have a ball dressing her up, and she’s not a bull mastiff, after all, she’s a two-pound teacup Chihuahua. One of my Paris friends said I should have called her Barbie Mouse since I love dressing her up. I recently got her a red wool coat with a black velvet collar that looks exactly like a coat my children had for Christmas when they were small.

    Paris fashion: Minnie in style in her gray sweater with pink flower

Alessandro Calderano
    There is also family history for dressing dogs. My kids loved Halloween and always planned their costumes for months. And they loved dressing their dogs in Halloween costumes too. One of them dressed their dog as a tiny bumblebee. Vanessa dressed her Yorkie one year as a French Maid. There were several “ballerinas” in tiny tutus. I think the prize of all time went to my son Maxx when he dressed Annabelle, his Boston bull, as Superwoman, in a Superman costume, cape and all, with a blond wig. Most pet stores carry costumes for dogs at Halloween, and they have bunny ears at Easter. I got Minnie tiny reindeer antlers for her first Christmas, but she hated them, so I didn’t make her wear them. And my daughter Sam recently gave Minnie a bumblebee costume and tiny witch hat and orange coat for Halloween!
    A little off the