Take a look at Zoe’s face. She looks far more like a border collie than a sheltie, to me. The coloration is more sheltie, sort of… though the markings are classic border collie. But her nose is in no way sharp and wedge-shaped like a sheltie… she has a very very smiliar face structure to Oreo.

I just love my little girl so much I can’t stop gushing about how great she is! And she’s really gorgeous, too. I couldn’t have asked for a prettier little dog. How lucky am I?!

I just opened up some photos of Zoe and found two identical poses, taken three months apart. Wow… what a difference. What a gorgeous girl she has grown up to be!!

Zoe and I had a nice walk today! It’s nice and sunny today, the ice has mostly melted (this morning it was very icy and slippery - I know, I fell on it), so I figured it was a good time for a walk around the neighborhood. We took the longer loop rather than the short loop.

People were out today - getting in and out of their vehicles, one guy was shovelling his driveway. Zoe is very skittish around movement and especially sounds, the louder the worse. We were passed by a few vehicles along the way. I had her on her flexi (I probably won’t do that next time, but it makes her feel a bit safer to be able to walk at her own pace), so even though we’re on a back road I kept an eye out for cars. Which I didn’t really need to, because she’s hyper-sensitive to them, too. I don’t have to worry about this one running after cars, she runs away from them as fast as she can manage. So I just stood in one spot talking to her, with the leash locked short, until the cars passed, then we continued on. She did pretty well, considering. Unfortunately one vehicle was a very loud diesel, and after it passed she ran up on the snowbank and pooped. (Of course I had a baggy handy for such incidents!)

But all in all she did very well, I think. She’s still very skittish, but hopefully the more we get out, the better she’ll get. I think I just need to expand her comfort zone slowly. No walks in Stanley Park for a while. She isn’t leash-aggressive, though. If truly trapped I’m sure she could be, but she doesn’t hackle, doesn’t growl. I say this because Oreo was a very nervous dog when she was younger, but she showed it by being very leash-aggressive. Now that Oreo has been socialized the leash-aggression has disappeared. I’m hoping Zoe will get to that point someday, and a lot sooner than Oreo did (it was entirely our fault with Oreo).

Zoe’s now sacked out on the dog bed in the corner, exhausted. It wasn’t a very physically demanding walk at all (Are you kidding? this is me we’re talking about), but mentally trying for her. Poor girl.

Oh my gosh!! Zoe fetched today! And I don’t mean on accident… I mean I threw the ball about 8 times, and 8 times she brought it back and dropped it in my lap. I’m sooooo proud of her!! She seemed pretty pleased with herself when she got praised as all get-out when she brought the ball back. It was actually pretty funny - we can’t keep normal tennis balls in the house because Zeeke chews them in half in hours. So the only ball we have is an oversized tennis ball… about twice the diameter. Obviously, she can’t fit it in her mouth. It’s been shredded, though, so she grabs the stringy fuzz and carefully carries it back that way.

I did have to put Zeeke in the bedroom to play with her, though…. he flattens her when I throw the ball and doesn’t let her get it. And then doesn’t bring it back.

Zoe looks pretty pooped after playing with Zeeke, then playing with mommy.

Early this morning I got Zoe up on the couch beside me and brushed her with the blue rubber brush. I brushed one side, then rolled her over and brushed her other. When I started on her shorts she stretched out on her tummy and stretched her back legs waayyyy out. I think she liked it. I had to use the undercoat rake on her shorts though, she didn’t care too much for that.

Oh dear. I’m in bed with my laptop, Zeeke’s beside me, and Zoe was rustling around on the floor with one of the bones laying around in here. I glance over at a noise and all I see are two paws, a nose, and very wide eyes before they all disappear backwards as she lands on her back with a clunk. Apparently the bone was too heavy or who knows, but she did not make that jump. After my initial worry, I just bust out laughing. Poor silly, clutzy girl.

Zeeke has a little gas lately. Zoe has a lot She can’t do anything without letting out a fart or two… and they are rancid. We’ve had to evacuate the room a few times today. I blame me for it - I switched both dogs to Chicken Soup brand dog food, and I either Zoe isn’t adjusting to the abruptness of the switch very well, or that brand really isn’t agreeing with her. Poor girl… I feel bad for her, but I don’t really want to be near her right now either! Phew!!

I just must say what wonderful pets we have. I am so proud of them all.

Zeeke really is growing up, he’s becoming so much calmer and more mature. He and I are developing some mutal respect between us. We have this understanding that if I don’t take things out of his mouth, he won’t growl at or bite me. I never used to be okay with that kind of understanding, but it seems to be working well for us. Maybe it’s just a hot button for him, who knows. But he does drop things when I ask him to now, and walks away - he still doesn’t fully trust me, but he’s been really good about it. The rest of the time we get along fine. I give him big hugs and scratch his chest and rub his ears and he sucks it up. I am still very proud of him for how he gets along with Zoe, as well. He earned big points in my book for being a good big brother.

I am never truly alone in this house. Even though I spend all day at home without my husband, I always have them with me. Yeah, sometimes they drive me crazy - like Zoe’s whining at me yet again right now - but as I was falling asleep early this morning with both of them on the bed beside me, I felt so very happy. They’re not perfect, but they’re ours. And they make our family special.

So our house has fur everywhere and bits of toys and we can’t get a carpet or new furniture yet. Some people would consider that too much of a sacrifice. But I wouldn’t trade it.

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Zoe constantly trips me while walking down the hall - in fact, they both do. I noticed yesterday that, while she does stick very close to my legs (causing me to trip), she actually stays beside/behind me. I have been watching every time, and every time she goes right to the same position. It’s like she’s so excited to see where I’m going, what I’m doing. But I really like the fact that she stays behind me, following me, instead of running ahead. She’ll be very good at heeling if she continues doing that - it won’t be anything new to her.

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I also wanted to say how glad I am I have this journal! It lets me gush about them without boring people to death on random message boards or email.

We have a problem every day of Zoe jumping on Zeeke while Zeeke is sitting getting his collar put on to go outside. It really irritates Zeeke, who gets up, which in turn makes it hard for Den to get his collars and leash on. So often Den will ask me to call my dog. Today I was sitting in the office when he asked. So I called out, “Zoe, come!” And wouldn’t you know it, my little dog came flying down the hall to me. I rewarded her with a little treat. I did it again a few minutes later, treat at the ready, and she was even more eager to get to me. I figure if I can call her off something as exciting as Zeeke going outside without her, we’re doing pretty good!

Zoe managed a sit-stay for the first time yesterday! I’ve never been able to get her to sit still if there’s something interesting going on. I always got photos of the top of her head as she ran up to me, and getting her to sit still when food was involved was just impossible. But yesterday evening I was taking photos of the dogs playing and she came over to me. I got her to sit-stay as I snapped two photos of her. And then this morning after they ate breakfast they both wanted water really badly. So I filled up the bowl. They were being pushy, so I got them to sit. I told them to “stay” and put the bowl down. She broke stay, so I picked up the bowl. I again told her to sit, stay. I put the bowl down. She stayed sitting!! I realized them after only a second or two, but heck, that’s definitely a first step!