My six-year-old pup, Misha, used to be a snuggle bunny. That’s a big part of why we ended up together. Talk about irresistible enticement!
I had gone with a friend to meet the puppy she was adopting. Her boss was fostering six Aussie-mix cuties who had been surrendered at just four weeks old and had recently been rescued by an organization called CCREW from a shelter in Fresno, California. It turns out that puppies are so labor-intensive that many animal shelters will euthanize them.
Her pup, a blue merle, was adorable, of course. It’s hard to find a puppy that isn’t. Then she pointed to a blond munchkin with a white chest and a dark snout.
“Check out that one,” she said. “He likes to burrow into your neck.”
When I held him, he nuzzled up against me, his tiny pink tongue flying, and I was hooked. There was that irresistible enticement again.
It would turn out that my new fur baby and my friend’s not only had the same mother but also the same dad. Yes, multiple males can father puppies in a single litter.
Misha, the name I would give the newest member of my family, definitely had an independent streak, along with a talent for stretching up on his tiptoes and pulling himself up, over, and out of his enclosure. With his tiny front paws above his head, he looked just like a dancer. Since he could almost levitate, I named him after ballet great Mikail Baryshnikov, who seemed to just hang in the air every time he leaped.
By the time Misha (my puppy, not the icon) hit his adolescent years, however, his penchant for cuddling up with me had faded. His sister, even though she wasn’t around all the time, was clearly more of a draw than I was. He was still loving, but it seemed like our snuggle time was largely over.
Happily, that swung back around right about the time he turned six at the end of last year. But he’s still reticent to join me on the couch … unless I’ve gotten out the throw from his puppyhood. Then he’s with me in a snap and a leap.
In thinking about this, I realized we writers need to do exactly the same thing when it comes to attracting readers to us. It’s all about supplying our audience with the kind of irresistible enticement that keeps them close.
