What's Warm, Cuddly, and Getting Bigger?

I was sitting in Starbucks today, charting on my laptop. I overheard a conversation taking place at the counter between the baristas and a gruff-voiced gentleman with a Southern accent. The conversation caught my attention when the guy said something like, "yeah, she's gained a lot of weight since she'd been back with me, but I guess that's okay." What an odd comment. And rude! He went on to say that he found her at his neighbor's. "They had her all chained up," he said. Just as my tired brain was processing just how shocking and offensive this conversation was, I realized that he was talking about his dog. "You have to let them outside, and you have to socialize with them," he said. I spent the next few minutes listening as if I hadn't figured out what he was referring to, and had quite an amusing morning.





A few hours earlier, I was snuggling with my own little puppy:

He's a good boy.