The puppy monster

Stella is almost 2 years old.  But we still call her a puppy.  If you ask me, she’s Greg’s dog – I’m just chopped liver to her.  Usually.  She likes getting loved on by him.  She listens to him (more than me, that is…when she decides to listen).  She brings him toys to play with.  She will lick his fingers for no reason.  Me, she plays rough with.  She barks at me, almost growling, trying to intice me to play w/her.  I know that she just wants to play because her tush is in the air and her little tail (it’s docked) is going back and forth.  She goes “shopping” in my closet, stealing stuff.  Oh – and you know she stole something because she runs across the room with her head held high, and she’s prancing more than running.  It’s the funniest thing to watch.

She has a great personality.  Knowing the characteristics of her breed - protective of family and home, weary of strangers, independent thinker (she’s a herding breed), we made sure she was socialized from a young age.  She went to the dog park and doggy day care as soon as she could.  She loves getting loved on by people.  She loves to play.  She has the cutest “smile”.  And sometimes she does the funniest things – cracks us up.

She has several tricks that she does – for treats, of course.  The thing is, she anticipates what you’re going to say, and just does all her tricks at once.  The list includes:  sit, paw (shake), stay, roll over, play dead (she is down and throws her head to the side), up (is on hind legs to get treat from you – she basically grabs your hand with her paws), circle (turns in circles), and under (goes through the legs).

When she knows she gets to go somewhere, she goes ballistic.  She starts jumping in circles.  Then she goes back and forth from where you are to the back door.  She jumps up in your face.  She then does her circles again.  Sometimes it’s hard to get her to sit still to put her leash on.  She is SO excited.  If you say “car”, she knows she gets to go somewhere, so you have to be careful when you say it!

However, lately, she’s been nicer to me.  Earlier today, when she came down the stairs, she ran down the stairs, through the house, and came straight to me, to get loved on.  And while I was prepping for dinner, she and Greg were playing in the front room.  When they were done, she came over to me and gave me a kiss!  She’s not a very kissy dog.  And when I was scratching her, she kept wiggling to make sure I got all her spots.

Of course, now, when I’m writing about her, I cannot remember all of the hilarious things she does.  She does things, sometimes, that have me in tears!

Here’s her the other day, after her hair cut!  What a sweet pup!