We've now had Dahlia for nearly two months. On one hand, it's hard to believe that it's been that long already. And on the other hand, it's hard to believe she hasn't been in our lives all this time!
She's adjusted very well -- while she still doesn't know us as "mommy" and "daddy," she does recognize that we're her people. When we come home, she's so excited to see us and wiggles while sitting and giving us "the paw." This is something endearingly unique to this dog and probably what ultimately saved her life at the Ohio shelter. She will give you her paw...just because...and generally hooks it over your arm while you're petting her chest. Sometimes she'll give you "the double paw" -- she puts one against your leg, leans back so she's sitting on her haunches, and then puts the other on your other leg. She's not jumping on you -- just leaning against you. It's very sweet.
In the past couple months we've seen her personality come out more and more. The rescue said she had no Border Collie traits, but we've found out that when she gets excited on walks, she'll start to herd you. The rescue also said she wouldn't go near water, but so far she's gone in up to her chest and splashed around a bit. No swimming yet, but maybe we might convince her to try at some point. She's starting to play some more -- likes to roll onto her back and flail her legs around while mouthing at your hands with a silly grin on her face and she's begun to learn a little bit about fetch. She's proven to be good with dogs (we take her to the dog park frequently), great with kids (last weekend she met David's nephews and nieces and was wonderful with them), and very people-loving. She goes up to people, calmly, and just waits for them to pet her. She's very sweet.
We have her in obedience classes and even though people there have asked why we have her there (since she's pretty well-behaved), we felt we really need to teach her more commands and hopefully figure out how to overcome some of her stubbornness (she likes to lay down and sniff if you try to pull her away) and her overly excited reaction to other dogs when she's on the leash (she PULLS to get to them, sometimes barks).
David and I couldn't be happier with her.
