Dotty is home for a visit! She’s calmer and a little more mature, but the silly, playful puppy is still there.

And … she is still obsessed with hands. She’s very paw-oriented and loves to dig, paw at people to say hello or ask them to play, and hold her toys with her paws.

When she first saw me after several weeks, she wanted to hold hands, maintaining constant contact by resting a paw on my hand or knee.

She’s also obsessed with human hands, and she appears to believe that the only reasons hands exist are to either feed or pet and play with dogs.

Correction: Pet and play with Dotty. If I am patting Orly or, horrors! another dog, she tries everything she can think of to move my hands — and attention — over to her.

Her focus on hands is especially noticeable when I am trying to relax or to exercise. I like to stretch in the mornings, and some evenings, I try to relax with a short yoga video.

Sometimes I also just sit, watching TV or reading, with one or both hands unoccupied.

These situations are simply Unacceptable. If either or both hands are still, maybe just lying there on the floor or sofa — Dotty simply can’t stand that.

She’ll lick them. Nudge them. Paw at them. Push her nose under my hand and attempt to make it pet her. If I react at all — a laugh, even a smile — she’s encouraged to increase her efforts.

Orly is a little more restrained. While she also enjoys licking and nudging my hands, her favorite trick when I am exercising is to wait for me to close my eyes, even for a second. She darts in and gives me the tiniest kiss, right on the nose.

I’ve seen videos of people doing yoga with their dogs … and the dogs are just accompanying them. Exercising together. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Not these girls … they make it all about them. Or maybe they just understand that laughter is the best exercise and are nudging me toward more laughing, less stretching? Yep, that must be it!