16 Months Old

Holly is 16 months old today!   Her birthday treat was a deer antler.  It kept her occupied for well over an hour by entertaining her as she flipped it in the air, pounced on it, growled at it and eventually laid down with it between her paws for some serious chewing.   The antler now rests on the fireplace mantel and returns to floor level when she is interested in staying focussed for a good gnaw.

Snow is stifling our activity a bit.  Our walks at the cemetery are hit and miss, depending on how glazed over the paths are with ice.  Holly’s backyard time is limited to the 15 foot leash.  She has a leash law now as she has taken habit to step over the fence and explore all the three sides to the backyard.  With the alley on the backside, I can’t risk her taking liberty to explore and slide down the high snowbanks into the alley.  Most of the time she goes to Luna’s, the goldendoodle two doors down, and tries to entice her to come out through the porch window to play.  She has taken on other explorations though, noted by the empty potato chip bag she carried  back into the yard the other day.  That was the day the leash law was put into full effect until the snow has melted and the fence serves as a fence again.

Holly & I did take a nice hike along the Lakewalk.  More of that needs to be done.  We both get a full challenge of staying focussed and under managed control.  It is such a different type of walk that at the cemetery.  The cemetery is her time to be on the lead and leap into snowbanks and dash around.  The lakewalk is my time to walk with a controlled canine partner by my side, which is why more of this needs to be done.  Time to be a 16 month old dog!