The Fall season has been absolutely gorgeous in the Duluth area lately. Holly & I have been having fun with outdoor activity while we can comfortably enjoy it. Backyard fun and walks either at the cemetery or College of St. Scholastica are frequent activities. Playtime with either Kooper, Rainie and/or Keltie are others. No two days are alike yet we have enough of a regular routine where Holly seems to know the drill. In the early morning or late evening, if she is not with me in the bathroom I give a shout – ‘Holly, time to brush your teeth!’ and it isn’t long when I hear the pitter patter of her feet approaching the bathroom door.
We’ve now gone to DeeAnn’s house enough times where she knows the turn onto 8th street. She starts bouncing off the walls when the car turns on the street and becomes quite vocal when the car stops in the front. Kooper time, Keltie time, Rainie time, inside ball time, outside ball time, walking at the cemetery, St Scholastica, or the Lakewalk – all have become routine and familiar to Holly. Her excitability continues to be an issue but now it is for the initial 5 minutes, about a 100% decrease! We continue to work on it.
Advanced Beginner class starts this week. Holly and I are registered. The Beginner class ended 2 weeks early for us when Holly went into heat. Time for another run at it! Lana made comment today about how much Holly has matured. I feel that is true also and contribute it to her being with little Keltie (feeling the responsibility of someone younger than her) and having gone through a heat cycle (after all she is a lady now!).
Her personality is starting to blossom, definitely a ball dog and still loving when she can tease her mother! Today she stole the scissors I was using outside and ran to the tree branch where her ball was resting (it was a mandatory rest from ball play). She looked at me, looked up at the ball, back to me, back to the ball. She was clearly saying ‘I’ll give you these scissors if you give me the ball’. If it had been anything else other than a sharp pair of scissors, I would have negotiated with her and struck a deal. I have to strike a balance when raising a dog that can outsmart me.