DR. WALLACE: My boyfriend's mother has a darling little dog and it has pierced ears and wears earrings. She told me that piercing the dog's ears was a painless procedure. Now I want to get my cocker spaniel's ears pierced, but my father won't let me. Please help me convince him to let me get Daisy's ears pierced. I tried putting clip-on earrings on her, but she keeps shaking them off. — Samantha, Carson City, Nev.

SAMANTHA: You might think pierced ears and earrings would look cool on Daisy, but somehow I think she'd disagree. She's already told you what she thinks of clip-on earrings.

I'm with your father on this issue. Please allow Daisy to be beautiful just the way she is. She doesn't want to go "Hollywood"!

HE ALWAYS GETS OUT OF SATURDAY CHORES

DR. WALLACE: My grandmother died a month ago. My mom and I are going over to clean her garage so they can sell her house. I don't mind helping out, but my brother won't be helping because he has basketball practice from 12 to 3 p.m. I don't think this is fair. He always gets out of Saturday chores because of practice. To make matters worse, my dad goes to all of his practices, so he's no help on Saturdays either. — Angry, Chicago, Ill.

ANGRY: Sometimes fairness is all in how you look at things. For instance, not long ago, a Los Angeles teen was helping his parents clean up the garage attached to their 50-year-old house. In the midst of the "drudgery," he found an odd-looking vase stuck behind a stack of old newspapers. His mother was going to put it in her yard sale, but decided first to have it appraised. It's a good think she did. The rare antique Chinese vase was auctioned for $120,000. She gave half of the money to her son to pay for his college education.

You never know what you might find when you clean out someone's garage. See if Mom will allow you to keep any unusual "junk" you come across. You just might wind up making your brother feel like he's the one getting the raw deal!

PARENTS SAY SECONDHAND SMOKE NOT DANGEROUS

DR. WALLACE: My parents both smoke in our house. I've tried and tried to convince them that secondhand smoke is dangerous for my 11-year-old sister and me. I'm sure it's also bad for our dog.

My parents keep telling me that secondhand smoke is not dangerous. They said a doctor told them that once a person inhales a puff of a cigarette, all the bad things stay in the lungs of the smoker and that they filter the dangerous tobacco elements, and so secondhand smoke is completely safe.

I don't believe what they are telling me is true. How dangerous is it to breathe secondhand smoke? — Jason, Little Rock, Ark.

JASON: It's hard for me to believe that a doctor told your parents that secondhand smoke is safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. The doctor in question must not have been a medical doctor, but perhaps had a PhD and is employed by the tobacco industry!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: re:publica