When my puppy turned a year old last week, I got to thinking about what a fun year it has been for both of us.

For her, it was about being able to make the high jump onto the bed, stealing socks without anybody noticing, and perfecting her cookie panhandling stare. For me, it was all about learning to operate my four-legged chewing machine.

We've had quite a few laughs along the way. We've also had a few scares that I can now laugh about. To be sure, my puppy's fixation with tasting, chomping, eating and swallowing AN-Y-THING has taught me some important lessons to add to the guidebook for proper puppy parenting.

I knew I was in trouble the first time that I heard my mother ask me if she should call poison control - "again" - after Drew had managed to eat some of the Christmas Cactus that was perched up high, but apparently not high enough, on a window sill. At this point in puppyhood, we had already called the poison emergency center three times in two days while visiting Nana. As far as I know, my mom is still on a first-name basis with the call-center operator, and it wouldn't surprise me if they exchange Christmas cards this year.

I remember another time that I saw Drew's tongue turning blue as she was thrashing around on the sofa. She was just 2 months old, and I had barely underestimated the appropriate size chewy bone while grossly overestimating her desire to behave like the princess I supposed her to be. This panicky scene was due to the fact that instead of chewing, she had decided to swallow the bone whole and it was lodged in her throat. I can still feel her needle-like puppy teeth grazing my fingers as I reached into her throat to free the rawhide. Lesson #2: Buy bones no smaller than the size of puppy's entire head. The one experience that still tickles my funny bone was the time that we were walking downtown and she dove for something on the sidewalk. She swallowed it before I could catch a glimpse of what it was, but the telltale stain of grease and ants on the sidewalk as well as the proximity to the coffee shop led me to believe it was part of a doughnut. I can still see her smiling up at me with ants crawling all over her face and I remember still finding little black bugs on her a week later. Lesson #3: Teach puppy to "leave it" on command.

At times, picking up poops from my precious little creature was just as amusing. On any given day there was a surprise to be had. Sometimes they were "Made in China," according to a tag that she swallowed. Sometimes they were pretty colors from the bites that she managed to take out of her steady stream of new puppy beds. Lesson #4: Remove all tags and buy brown puppy beds.

Alas, my beloved's puppyhood has ended. The fun is not over, however. For her first birthday, I decided to get my dog a friend - a puppy that will probably chew on her.

Wags, Tracie

TRACIE LALIBERTE-BAILEY of Attleboro might just need her head examined by a professional. She is pursuing a doctoral degree on the human-canine bond. You can contact her with any dog-related questions at tracie@dogpawse.com.