And one just so happens to be stalking the other. ;)
As for bragging, I feel I should do some bragging about Petal. I figure since I'm always willing to share her mischief, I should share her shining moments too.
First of all, you should know that Petal loves little kids. She'll sing her best song for them, jump, pounce, bounce and pull out all of her greatest Collie moves, but to her dismay they always run away.
(Gee, I wonder why).
This week two of my cousins have been staying with us. Both of them girls, one of them 13 and one of them 8. And, you guessed it, she's much more interested in the 8 year old, who happens to dislike having her space invaded by a long, moist snout. Petal's not sure why. Lassie is a little more understanding, but he can't always resist giving her a good poke with his nose. Ella, however, has always appreciated having her own space and thus she completely understands.
But Petal must have this girl's attention. And admiration. All the time. So she barks, licks, jumps and dances.
The jumping is the biggest concern, of course. Petal is a big dog and easily knocks kids over with her excitement. So she's been living life on a harness and leash this week.
The first day and a half I had to have constant hold on the leash, but now I can let go of her leash and let her wander free at certain times of the day (when she's tired and mellow, when the kids are in the other room, when the kids are just kicking back watching TV, etc).
But I have to say, I'm shocked at how quickly she's adapted to having two extra people in the house. It's almost as if they've been here for months, rather than a week.
The jumping has been brought down to a minimum throughout this week and now it's practically nonexistent. She's still on the harness and leash, just incase, plus it seems to remind her to be on her best behavior.
Then yesterday (Wednesday) we went to the park and Petal tagged along with us for some training.
And she was excellent.
A little barking here and there, but less than expected. She walked nicely with me and had a great time sniffing around without getting overly excited and hyped up (due to me taking her for a nice long walk before hand, I'm sure). Me and two of my sisters played with her, calling her back and forth between us and she did so well with staying focused on us and going to whomever called her.
But, before that, the most impressive thing she did at the park was letting two little (and nervous) girls walk past her without barking, straining on her leash, or *dramatic pause*
breaking her sit.
That I didn't even put her in.
She was calmly sitting there, in front of me, my Mom, and sisters when these two little girls came to walk by. There really wasn't much room to pass by, they easily could've reached out and touched Petal and Petal easily could've reached out to touch them, but neither of them did. Petal turned her head and watched them walk by without a peep or any more movement than it took to turn and look at them.
She's never done anything like this before. Children have always been a great target for Petal's jumping and licking and barking, but Wednesday she just let them pass by without even straining or breaking her sit to sniff them. I was so proud! And Petal was, of course, rewarded with yummy treats and lots of praise and petting. ;)
She really is growing up so fast. I don't realize that often enough and sometimes I wonder if I've done something wrong by her, but then a moment like the one at the park comes along and I realize I've done pretty well with her. She's a good dog. Especially for her age. Lassie, at Petal's age, was much more difficult in certain ways. He was much more trouble and took longer to mature.
(But isn't that how it goes with boys? They don't mature as fast, or as well, as us girls ;P)
(Sorry to any and all guys who might read this)
(But it's true)