Meeting Mojo

Holly made a new friend today – Ric and Karen’s dog, Mojo.  The initial greeting was relatively controlled by both dogs, Holly being the more engaged.  Mojo wasn’t too sure how to handle having another dog in his home but he worked through it quite well.  There was no game of chase, no mouth wrestling, no take downs – just appropriate walk and follow, wag and sniff, bump and wiggle.  Holly was interested in scoping the house for easy goods and landed some slippers, yarn and firewood.   We visited for about an hour, with Holly having no accidents or damage in the house.   Combine that with the nice visit I had and it was truly a win-win!

I have been taking Holly to the campus at St. Scholastica for walks.  It’s where Boden and I would go often.  For me the walk is about a walk.  For Holly it is about the smells, sights and whatever she can snarf into her mouth.   She’s has determined pine needles are not a part of her diet, but pine cones certainly are.  At the last vet visit, I asked Dr. Lisa how many pine cones are too many.  She reminded me pine cones crumble into pieces, while some get swallowed many spill out.   I did a small observation study and indeed found this to be true.

Holly’s favorite game is chase. I’m trying not to get pulled into that game if I can help it. When your phone or carkeys are being held hostage, it is hard to not be a participant.  Her favorite toy is a tennis ball.  She has started to become willing to play fetch, though tries hard to convert fetch into chase.  When indoors, she’s not happy with one tennis ball, three need to be out on the floor and her mission is to get them trapped under the couch so someone has to plant their face on the floor and reach under for it.   Over and over, like a child dropping items from the highchair tray.  We’ve been impressed and proud over Holly’s quick learning and how fast she catches on.  Sometimes I think she’s as amused with how quick I can be trained.