Finn

Holly had the pleasure of meeting a new friend, Finn, a goldendoodle staying a few days with DeeAnn.  Holly wasn’t too exurberant with the big boy instead plopping on the ground and taking a fully submissive position.  There wasn’t any rough-housing  but some tail wagging and sniffing.  Likely in time they would get accustomed to each other and be comfortable in a rousing game of dodge & chase.

Holly and Keltie have the opposite attraction.  They continue to be fully engaged and in perpetual motion.  I have to smile thinking back to when we had concern that Holly may be too rough with little Keltie and wondered how we would contain her.  Little did we know it was Holly we had to be worried about, not Keltie.  Again tonight I pulled Keltie off from Holly’s head, shaking her ears free from the razor sharp puppy teeth gripping on tight.

The past couple days have been beautiful Fall days in Duluth.  We took opportunity to visit again with a long time work friend, Nancy.  Holly has visited with Nancy a couple times, I’m guessing about the 3 and 6 month mark.   It’s always fun to hear about the changes people see in her, whether it be size, personality or structure.

Holly has become quite the ball dog, perhaps a bit too much so.  She loves her Kong ball and if that one isn’t available (as in, it’s hidden for a while) she will substitute anything round.  I’m in process of working on the concept of ‘all done’.  Being the teenager that she is, she is choosing to ignore the command to come, instead opting to stay outside with the ball in her mouth on the remote chance that I will change my mind and return to the playing field.  So along with learning to comply with a recall, I am seeing if she will learn that ‘all done’ is a stopping point and there’s no use pushing the envelope any longer.  And I am learning patience, or that which I lack.