“Is it a boy or a girl?” “What’s his name?” “Can I say hello?”

We hear this each time we take our new puppy out for a walk.

As for what we see….we see smiles and then more smiles. Some offer a sheepish grin, some boldly walk up to us saying, “I need to see the puppy…he’s SO cute!!!”

When my grandson was born, I wrote about the baby phenomenon. How babies make people smile. People who would typically NEVER speak to you in passing on the street suddenly stop. They just need a glimpse.

Although I’ve owned puppies before, I don’t think I’ve ever been as aware of the power they hold. People turn to mush. While out for our walk, we’ve had at least three people slow down while driving past us, they put down their window and comment on the puppy. Grown men have been compelled to slow down and engage with a perfect stranger over a puppy.

Last week, I was walking the puppy, and a woman pulled her car over, got out, and asked if she could say hello. Yesterday, a teenager doing pop-a-wheelies on his bike slowed to tell me, “Nice dog!”

Our puppy is growing in leaps and bounds, and this wonderful and welcome interaction with strangers will soon end. He will become a dog and may even appear menacing. People who are crossing the street to see the puppy now may later be crossing the road to get away from the dog. That makes me a bit sad.

For now, I’m enjoying these puppy-promoted interactions. I love seeing the joy on people’s faces and watching social barriers dissolve in the blink of a smile.

It’s a beautiful season when the whole world seems smitten with puppy love.