Lizzie my teacher, my friend, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

YOU DON'T GET THE DOG YOU WANT, YOU GET THE DOG YOU NEED

Well, today is the third birthday of my best Pal Lizzie. Everyone who has been with us through this big adventure of Lizzie's life has promised that when she turned three life would be very different, so I find myself celebrating and reflecting as she hits this milestone.

The first time I saw Lizzie it was in a picture in the newspaper-or actually on the net. I saw her picture and just thought I would call and see what the deal was. It was one of those things where for some reason I had to follow my heart, and with in an hour I was on the road and driving to see her. She was at a rural farm with her two sisters and about 11 weeks old. Her dad was a nice dog that just seemed pretty nice and stable, her mom was a cattle herding dog that I never got to meet. I chose her because I felt some sort of connection with her, but also she was the one who just wanted to sit and play with me. She played with everything I had brought, she passed all my little behavior tests and I just knew she was the dog for me. I came up with her name on the way home, I will always remember that ride. A few days after getting her home I went to class with Chloe leaving Liz in a 48 inch high xpen, as I came home I felt a little stab of contentment pulling into the driveway seeing that beautiful red/white face looking out, greeting me......then it hit me....WHAT????? How had she got out and what damage was done while she was unattended for a few hours in the house?? Thus started our little journey together, full of ups and downs!

I have to say I was very intimidated by the horror stories about border collies and was not sure I was up to what I heard they were like, and to tell you the truth Lizzie is everything I was afraid of getting....high energy, too smart for her own good, driven, obsessive.

IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE A CAUTIONARY TALE, or a post about how hard Liz can be....well, here on her third birthday I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world to have this little whirlwind in my life.

Lizzie has been one of the most influential teachers in my life. She has drug me kicking and screaming to some lessons that I am still working on fully embracing and I know I will be a much better person for what I have learned.

I could go on for days about the things I have got from my Liz but to sum up the most important lesson it is to respect and accept who someone is. To recognize and appreciate all the special things they bring and not just concentrate on what I want them to be and what little space I would like to fit them into.

Who knows if Liz will ever fill the little space I originally got her for...but I could never have hoped to find someone that would fill all the spaces she does fill in my life-and I can not imagine my life without her now.

So to my friend, my buddy, my partner, my companion, the girl that has inspired me by how she just grabs life and has fun no matter what she is doing-HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY LIZZIE!!!! I hope we have many, many more years together and what ever you bring I am sure it is going to be fun.

As Lizzie's Birthday present to me...we went and worked down at a yard today she had not worked at before. I let her run at home in my agility yard for about an hour, then I let her run in that yard for about 15 min., then we set up some exercises and did a good half hour of work. She was amazing and didn't leave me once. There were lots of distractions and lots going on and she was all about hanging out and doing what ever I wanted. She is really growing up.