Quincy is Growing Up

Quincy celebrated her first birthday on September 10th. It's hard to believe our little pup is already reaching adulthood, but she has proved this so us in many ways since turning the corner to one year.

This summer was a very trying period for us. We essentially had to figure out what this border collie business was all about, and how to be the best parents for her. We haven't experienced the "border collie boredom" that happens, where should would be destructive and destroy things, but she has chewed up some magazines and other paper items when we weren't watching. This of course is a very small thing, but we are still learning how to eliminate these behaviors.

Quincy needs an abundance of exercise. Even after a walk, Quincy just isn't tired. If anything, she is more hyper. Luckily, we have discovered that she has a huge talent for frisbee and is very good at retrieving. This is our way of giving her "jobs", since we clearly don't have any sheep to herd. Quincy leaps into the air and catches the frisbee every single time. Hopefully we can teach her some tricks soon!

Another exciting development is that she is A LOT more receptive to learning. Quincy hasn't been a fast learner, but now she is getting the hang of things. I finally taught her how to beg, and our next trick is going to be teaching her to jump into our arms, which Alan started to work on this weekend.

The best part of seeing our little pup grow up is her personality blossoming. Quincy is the sweetest, kindest little girl, and a major love bug. She's always by my side, loves to give kisses and be held and snuggle. She gives Reagan endless devotion, she plays with the cats, and she adores Walter. Quincy came into our lives at the perfect time, and even though we weren't planning on getting a little border collie mix, I am sure am glad that we did.

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Quincy Lulu's Tutu

Quincy is an oddball. Before Quincy, we had two Goldens. We both wanted another dog, that being a Newfoundland. Of course Alan was resisting, saying we had to wait before we moved into our house, and all of these other crazy reasons that we have both forgotten by now. When we were at the pet expo in Novi (we go every year), I was keeping my eyes peeled for Newfs, and then we walked past a rescue full of puppies. My eye caught the little black fur balls that looked like Newf puppies, and I basically stole Quincy out of the arms of another lady. As a side note, I actually found this person on Dogster and she ended up adopting Quincy's brother, Riley. It has been wonderful, because we can compare notes on how they have been growing up and developing. We were both convinced we had Border Collie/Newf mixes for a variety of reasons.

When I picked up Quincy, she nuzzled her head into my neck and was acting as sweet as can be, giving me puppy kisses and just generally being all cute. Alan caved. We took Quincy home knowing she was a Border Collie mix, just because we fell in love with her. Everyone we met thought she was a Newf, including people WITH Newfs. Even our vet thought she looked like a Newf mix. Now that she is nine months old, Newf she is not. Quincy weighs a whopping 30-35ish pounds, not the maybe 60 we were expecting.

She isn't what we thought she would be, but that's fine by us. She is a quirky little ball of energy. She looks like a bear cub when she runs, makes all sorts of weird noises that can't possibly be put into words, bares her teeth and wrinkles her nose with a huge smile, and gets into a lot of trouble. She is not the most intelligent dog (as Border Collies are supposed to be), but she is a pure sweetheart. In the last few months, we have been watching her develop and grow into her own personality, one that we fall in love with a little more each day.

On Saturday, I brought Quincy outside for a little photo shoot in her tutu. She isn't as girly and princess-y as Wembley was, but she is a darling little girl in her own way, and certainly girly enough to wear tutus. The moments were quiet and precious, just Quincy and I in the yard, rolling around in the grass. Sometimes it takes that one on one time to remind me that although they are part of the pack, their individual personalities are what made me really fall in love.

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