I'm 2!

I'm 2 years old!  Today, mom took me driving and stopped to get something a couple of times.  She said she voted and got a part for her tractor.  Then on the way back, she stopped at a different park north of Frederick.  We walked for a little ways then we went down to the river where mom took my leash off and I got to go swimming!  I like this river - The Monocacy, mom says.  After a little while we walked down the path a ways where there were lots of dog smells for me and spring flowers for mom - Virginia bluebells, speedwells, violets, and others.  Mom let me walk off leash because there weren't any others out.  I ran down to a creek and splashed a bit.  Then mom decided to take a little bridge across the creek to a path on the other side.  It made a loop around a little island that abutted the river again.  I got to go swimming a whole bunch in several different places.  I jumped into the water and swam but then I wanted mom to throw sticks for me.  At the end of the island, we met some other people with dogs and all we dogs had a great time swimming and playing.  The water was a lot deeper there and I had to swim to go out to get the sticks.

I was so tired on the way home, I just laid down and slept in the car.

Canine Good Citizen

I'm now officially Miss Dirona, CGC.  I passed my canine good citizenship test last month and my certificate came today.  I have to admit that I just barely passed.  We took the test at my mom's friend's mini farm and there were so many distractions!  Turkeys and chickens and guinea hens and dogs, oh my!  It's an easy test except for my getting distracted and ignoring mom.  All I have to do is sit, down, (I even threw in a roll over, just for fun), stay, come, walk politely as mom and her friend with another dog pass by and shake hands, someone else handles my ears and paws (no problem with that -  I love people!), I get taken away while mom leaves for 3 minutes and I not supposed to act up - that was easy too except for the male dog trying to mount me, and finally weave thru a crowd without pulling on my leash.  Fortunately they give me more than one try to pay attention and not pull on the leash.  I'm a lot better now in everything mom asks me to do.  I even heel at Lowes and Home Depot and don't pull on the leash - mostly.

My sprained hock is a lot better now.  Not getting to run around for 5 weeks was really hard.  Mom took me on some walks after 3 weeks when the vet said she could.  We went to the C&O Canal with my pack and I got trash for her and brought it back up to her.  She put some of it in my pack.  Getting the trash is fun!  Mom is so pleased with me.  We got to a camp where there was a lot more trash.  She tried to tie 2 bags to my pack but they slipped and I got spooked and ran.  Mom took them off of me and carried them herself.  She had 4 bags and I had another in my packs.  My pack isn't very big so it can't carry much.  I get excited and pick up sticks too because I want mom to throw them for me but she tells me to drop them and get the trash.

Trashy Dog!

but in a good way

We went again and got 6 bags of trash.  Mom carried 5 of the bags but said I should have a bigger pack.  The trash isn't heavy but it gets bulky -  mostly bottles people are too piggy to carry out despite the rules.  And the green pack slips off center.  She ordered me a new pack and it came today -  a large size but better designed than the one I had.  It's a Mountainsmith.  It was a bit big but mom got some clips to narrow the width of the back so it raised up a bit and the front strap goes across my chest instead of just above my legs.  It has a strap that goes between my front legs too that should keep it from slipping.

Mom is thinking about getting me a little cart to pull.  I would have to learn a lot of new things.

New pack is a little big

Pack with clips to shorten a bit

22 Months Old

My mom has been remiss in helping me with this blog.  I'm now 22 months old.  I'm now pretty obedient most of the time and I always come to my mom now when she calls.  She hopes I can pass my Canine Good Citizenship test next week.  My biggest problem is still pulling on the leash and getting distracted by other people because I so love to greet them!  She's been working a lot on heel and I know what I'm supposed to do on or off leash but I still want to go faster than she does and I have to check myself.  Half the time, when she asks for come to heel, I leap into position at her side - cause I loves me my mommy.  Hey, I'm a collie!  Enthusiasm is my middle name!

Racing up the driveway

What we've been doing over the last few months:  Our van trip was fun.  I got to go swimming in 2 giant lakes mom called Superior and Huron.  That was a lot of fun.  In the fall, my mom got to work on house projects and I hung around a lot, often dropping my toys in front of her to get her to throw them for me.  In January, she got our driveway done with bricks and quit yelling at me for messing with the sand.

Visitor

Striking a pose

Sticks are fun!

On New Years day a young border collie came to us and we had a great time wrestling and playing until he got taken away.  We haven't seen him since so he might just have escaped a visitor.  I get to go play with my favorite dog buddy, Zephyr a lot and we did some walks.  Mom throws a ball for me every day and I have fun racing after it.  I also decided that cars as well as school buses and trucks need chasing off our property boundaries.  I don't go into the road because of the fence but they always leave so my barking and chasing must be working.  I also chase and bark at raptors and flocks of birds.  They always leave too, so I must be doing a good job.

Mom doesn't like the way I push at her to let me go outside, so she hung a bell on the door and asked me to touch it.  I did and it made noise so that scared me.  She left the bell on the door and rang it every time we went out.  Took about 3 weeks but I got used to it and stopped being scared of it.  Now, I sometimes ring the bell when I want to go outside.  Mom tells me I'm a really good dog for that.

Last week, I sprained my hock - that reverse knee on my hind leg.  Mom took me to the vet on Monday and the vet wrapped my leg and told mom I can't play ball or run around for 3 weeks!!  Mom kept telling me to leave it when I tried to chew off the bandage so most of the time, I left it alone.  Today, she took the bandage off saying I was a good girl for letting it last the whole week.  My hock still swells a little but it is better.  She's been giving me extra treats too.  One of them is cream cheese that she forms into a ball, then lets me lick her fingers clean.  She says she is glad I'm easy to pill.  She's been hiding liver treat around the house for me to search and find.  That's a fun game.  I don't like this restricted activity very much.  I really want to go running and jumping.
Mom has me inside a lot and on a leash the rest of the time.

Traveling dog – again

8/7/11

We left that wonderful place and Pete this morning. I had to ride in the van and got out to smell new places. I forgot to not pull on the leash in the new places and mom was not happy with that. She let me go down a slope away from the highway so I could splash in a river way up high in the mountains. It was very shallow but fun to investigate all the new smells.

Dirona in Alpine river - CO 14 near Cameron Pass

Dirona & Van at Camp in little clearing - Medicine Bow NF, WY

We stopped a couple hours before dark in a forest. There's nobody up here at all except us. Mom let me go off leash and we took a walk. I found some black cows but mom told me to leave it and come back. I didn't want to, but I came back to her. She was happy with that. Towards the end of our walk, mom lost sight of me and kept calling me. I got scent of something and followed it for awhile. I came back to the van but mom had gone back and called me. I went down the road to find her. Then we played fetch for a little bit. I like this place. But I miss Pete.

30 mph

We went to the land again last night and I made it to 30 mph!  It wasn't for a very long distance, but I did it!  We also played in the ditch with balls this time!  So much fun. They finally figured out what Pete has been rolling in so intently.  It's spearmint.  I thought he had something good like a dead mouse or something.  I didn't roll in it but he seems to love it.

We found some gopher holes out there and dug some but didn't find anything.  I could smell them but I didn't really know how to catch them.

Mom has been cleaning up the van a lot lately.  She says we are headed out again.  I'm going to miss Pete.  He's so much fun.

More fun at the land

Racing the truck is so much fun.  Especially after swimming for a stick.  Pete got all the way into the ditch today.

Swimming - A dog learning

I am swimming in the ditch!  Gosh it is so much fun.  It makes me so excited and gives me tons of energy!  This place is just fun, fun, fun!

Yesterday, I got up the nerve to jump all the way into the ditch and swim.  It was hard and then I suddenly rolled over.  I'm not sure what happened but mom said the current in the ditch must have done it.  I got back to the other side ok but that was a little scary.