The puppy is an April Fools thing. It will disappear soon. You can control it by using your arrow keys or the W,A,S and D keys.

For getting karma points:

A: You can increase your karma by

* Commenting on a story (not your own)
* Commenting on a blog (not your own)
* When a story you wrote gains a new subscriber
* When a story you wrote gains a vote
* Someone purchases the layout you created
* Someone transfers karma to you