At the end of a year or the start of a new one, I usually write about books I’ve read or places I visited. We all had time to read a lot of books this past year. I’m sure you have all had the opportunity to hone your book finding skills without me joining into the fray.

So I thought long and hard on what to write about until I uncovered an article that I found interesting and amusing. It was concerning dogs and computers. In February, long before we knew a pandemic was lurking, Pepper came to our home. He was 8 weeks old and cute as a button. Little did we know how he would keep us moving in the coming months when we were afraid to do so for fear of becoming sick at the hands of the corona virus.

I was fortunate to be working from home. Pepper being a curious guy wanted to know who I was talking to in that black box on top of my desk. I started him small, bringing him to meetings for the whole group to see and also one on one conversations with co-workers and managers. He loved siting on my lap looking at the people on my computer screen.

Based on that article I read, he is not alone. Dogs of all kinds have developed a relationships with their parent’s computers. They are a hit on Zoom meetings of all kinds. Dogs are becoming virtual fixtures in the business world. Pepper is no different.

Pepper tugs at my arm until I allow him to climb on my lap anytime I’m sitting in front of my computer. He loves to come not only to business meetings but also book club and my writer’s group. He has become such a regular at these events that he is often asked for his opinion which always results in a glob of dog snot across my computer screen.

If we’re looking for something good that came out of last year, his name is Pepper. While just simply being a puppy, he found a unique way to share his love and cuteness with others and bring a smile to anyone’s face. And Lord knows, we all needed to smile a little bit more. As we give ourselves a fresh start in 2021, Pepper’s participation in the workings of the world will continue to spread happiness wherever he goes. Via the Internet that is!