Ellie is still petite although she has grown a couple of inches... She is, however, the undisputed boss of the household. Occasionally, Ellie and Bradley have a "stand-off" over a toy or some such. Ellie usually wins. I think it is a bitch thing. A bitch in a pack of dogs is most likely to be the dominant pack leader. Even though they do not always seem to be the most boisterous or "outgoing" they can be very subtle in their body language but still get their message across to the other pack members.

Domestically, our biggest problem is that she still chews things she shouldn't. This wouldn't be such a problem if there were no children around as I would simply put things out of reach. Unfortunately, however, the children do leave their toys lying around and we often have tears as a much loved item is shredded on the carpet! Fortunately she doesn't actually eat the pieces so that is one less worry. We don't need trips to the vets with bits of Pokemon stuck in the throat!

On the obedience front, we haven't made as much progress as I would like. Unfortunately Ellie contracted Kennel Cough this month and this has held us back. We have continued to have problems with the retrieve but I think we have turned a corner on this. It is improving all the time. Ellie is quite demanding in her work. She tries to tell me how to do things rather than the other way round. She won't be "shown" and doesn't like to be handled into position. When she is frustrated she barks, which is annoying and a bit worrying as it can be difficult to stop!

I think we are now getting a bit more "attitude" into the heelwork which is Ellie's least favourite exercise. We have progressed very much and, whilst Darcy at this age could have done a full round of formal heelwork, Ellie is still doing short stretches and circles. She is obviously going to take longer to mature.

This month we also went on holiday and Ellie discovered the delights of the sea. She did some real swimming and loved running in and out of the water. She is a real water-babe!

This page was updated on 5th June 2004