brown and white with a pink collar...and a little bit crazy

That was Sam's description of the family dog when we were picking her up from the boarder's after our trip to MI in June.

One year ago, we brought home a 12-lb new addition: Molly. She cuddled, played, loved her daddy and kids, stuck close to her mama and slept great. Sure she piddled on the carpet and was so sick with kennel cough that she was sneezing orange snot all over everything that was within 5 feet of her, but her cuteness outweighed all that.

then

We took care of the pesky kennel cough and Kris decided that maybe she wasn't all she was cracked up to be. She became a normal puppy. She started digging, barking and chewing. But, in an effort to make up for it, she potty-trained quickly.

As the months progressed, she held her own as third "child" while continually growing. (We don't count Gordon as a child...he was more "roommate" before we had kids and now he's probably third "parent".) She loved the kids, forming separate bonds with each.

She and her boy roll around and wrestle together, then she cuddles up next to him for movie time. She only half-heartedly gives a warning growl or nip after the hundredth time in 10 minutes that he has tried to sit on her back with she's chewing a bone. At one point this year, she even let him give her a snazzy new haircut with the safety craft scissors. Mama was none too thrilled and slightly embarrassed about walking a diseased-looking dog covered in bald spots around the neighborhood.

Her bossy girl might be the best one in the house to tame her when she's being a wild child. While pulling the problem child act and running around like an idiot refusing to come in from the yard for me or Kris, Grace will march right out to her, grab her collar and lead her in the house and straight into her kennel.

She is becoming increasingly more trustworthy these days, even at her current size of 60 lb. I am actually thinking of sanding down the wood on the front of the couch that she chewed several months ago, since I'm pretty confident that she won't do it again. I'm also thinking of buying her a new bed, trusting that she won't eat a third one. I can trust her in the backyard with almost full confidence that she won't come back to the door covered from head to toe in mud. We're still working on her not bolting as soon as the front door opens and trusting her outside of her kennel while we are away, but eventually, we'll get there, too. And she helps keep me from gaining massive amounts of weight from my snack addictions as she walks me around the neighborhood. And, even though Kris will tell you that he doesn't like her very much, I've seen him play with her with her beloved chicken which tells me that he's still tolerating her being around.

now

Happy doggy anniversary, Molly. Goal for year #2: getting Gordon to accept that you are here to stay.