Holly is 19 months old! That is starting to sound like a mature age. When people ask her age, I generally say ‘a year and a half’. People then comment on how young she is and somehow that leads to forgiveness for any barking, pulling, jumping, etc. She may be ‘a year and a half’ for the next three months. I’m still clinging to that magical two year mark I was told about – where a Golden Retriever suddenly becomes a mature calm dog, compliant in all commands. As the calendar turns, I get more and more suspicious that I was being consoled by a friend that recognized I needed some false hope. That said, I am very proud and pleased with my Holly Dolly. Despite the abundance of energy and high dose of happiness, she is a sweet girl with an amazing sense of humor. Even Helen and Gracie are entertained by Holly once they burn off their frustration and see her as simply being a tease. Much like I have to do.
Holly loves the cabin and the lake, as does Helen. Helen amazingly seems to have more endurance and can out-swim Holly in duration but not distance. As Helen is doing her ‘laps’, Holly often hangs close by and swims nearby to check on her. I like to think that Holly would help Helen if a problem developed in the water but then I have my doubts when I see Holly dunk Helen as she plows past her after the frisbee.
The darn ducks are continuing to run interference on the dogs fun. Mama Duck will lead her baby ducks (11 at the last count) right into the yard and back into the water passing by the pontoon. It was a scramble but we managed to get all the dogs quarantined in the pontoon where they safely sat out the duck parade. Now that we’ve had three weeks of duck duty, we are committed to help Mama Duck successfully get all 11 ducklings to be full fledge grown ducks, that fly south for the summer!