Cricket, 2014 adopted dog

I haven't sent an update in a while, so figured I would send a couple of pictures. Cricket is loving life- now the weather is even nicer, so in addition to just obsessively playing with balls, she's now boating and camping at the ocean :) She loves our nieces and nephews and everyone who meets her loves her- especially men for some reason. My brother in law even said when he gets his kids a dog someday he's going to look for a border collie too!

cricket is doing great, she loves playing ball during the day and napping by he fire in the evening. she goes everywhere but to work with me. she's especially enjoying being the "big sister" to the two littler ones. here's a video of how they play everyday

well, it has been a week since cricket joined our family and she has really started to come out of her shell, especially the last couple of days! i took her to the vets a few days ago to talk about arthritis medication choices and she gave us a month sample of one that she prefers for long term use because it's less harsh on kidneys. well, on day two of the medication, cricket was not limping at night and was a different dog. you can tell she feels good and seems less nervous and just...happier. i am sure it is in combination with settling in here, too.

we play fetch every morning first thing and then a couple times throughout the day. she is my shadow and follows me everywhere- even just to take the trash out! she is putting up with getting brushed every day- i know she likes it once we get started, but she is still a bit scared of anything i pick up and come close to her with- especially the brush :(

last night she finally broke down and "played" with dexter and indy. the little clowns have been trying all kinds of things to get her to chase them (including stealing her squeaker toys and running while looking over their shoulder), but she has just watched before last night- when she chased them around the kitchen island a few times and then they all jumped onto her dog bed in the living room and had a mini-wrestling session. it was pretty adorable to see a 40+ pound dog playing with two little guys!

it is so fun having her in the house- i picked a good dog ;)

i will send some pics of her soon!

cricket is such a good dog! i am smitten! so far we have played fetch with a ball, a squeeky toy and a frisbee at our house, and this morning she went swimming in the inlet (loved it!), got stinky from the sea water and then had to get a bath (hated it!).

dexter and indy met her on a walk near our house and liked her right away. she is indifferent to them...indy especially REALLY wants to be BFFs with her, but cricket doesn't seem to notice he exists. poor indy.

she may be indifferent to the dogs, but she adores my daughter, grace. as i write this they are cuddling in her bed.

i got a dog agility set coming in the mail, i suppose we will start playing when it gets here next week :)

she has been a little shy & nervous, i can only imagine that this situation is very strange and overwhelming to her. i see little bits of her happy and outgoing side and i am sure the more secure she feels, the more that will come out in her.