My Girlfriend's back...

My Girlfriend’s back and she’s a little smarty

(Hey la, hey la, my girlfriend’s back)

Every day with her is better than a party

(Hey la, hey la, my girlfriend’s back)

We had a rough week but now that’s all gone…

(Hey la, hey la, my girlfriend’s back)

I never doubted cuz I know she is the one…

(Hey la, hey la, my girlfriend’s back)

Each day last week got better than the one before.  By Thursday she was able to heel 6 steps in class.  Through all of this - even when she couldn't focus as well as she usually does, she was still always very interested in training.  She thinks training is all just a game she invented and she certainly loves to play...

Gimme still has interest in her baaaaaaby, but its not as strong as before.  Now when she checks on it, sometimes she just leaves it where it is (usually in her crate).

Interestingly during this episode, she has developed a rabid interest in a toy we've had all along.  When I got her I already had a couple milking machine toys and then a friend gave me another.  She never really showed any interest in them, only as long as it took to lick off the peanut butter.  I was going to give them away until I noticed Michael carrying one around. 

Then suddenly this week Gimme decided those are her favorite-best-all-time-toys-in-the-world.  She wants to play with them no less than three hours a day and its absolutely essential that I be involved with this play -- essential I tell you.  I've been working on a home repair project that required me to cut a 4 inch hole through the siding and the house, into the crawl space.  Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it took several hours.  I grabbed our agility table and used that to sit on.  Gimme thought that worked well when she brought back "milky" since she could drop it beside me or jump on the table and shove it at me, at face level. 

If neither approach brought the desired results, she would then roll milky off the table so it fell where Michael was napping in the shade next to me.  Then of course, the barking began.  Finally I'd pick it up and throw it for her.  After several repeats of this process it occurred to me that I was rewarding a really obnoxious behavior pattern - so milky got a time out. 

On Saturday we went walking with Linda in our usual area.  On Thursday I saw no movement or activity in or near the eagle's nest when we walked, but this was a great day for eaglet watching.  As we came to the place where we could see the nest, first one and then the other eaglet, left the nest and flew across the sky.  Sadly we weren't ready and didn't get a picture of them fledging, but it was still very cool to see.  Later on our way back, my friend spotted both babies sitting in the top of a tall dead crag.  These are the best of the pictures we took.

Later as we stopped to look at something else, I happened to look back and saw them both return to the nest.  They only stayed there briefly before leaving.  Again we weren't ready with the camera.  After they left Linda and I were both sure we saw more movement in the nest.  So we are wondering if there is a third "late" baby that isn't' yet ready to fly.  I'll be watching them over the coming weeks.

Miss Gimme finds eagle watching boooooooring.  She doesn't like it that we stop and gawk for so long.  Instead we should be following her and admiring every little thing she does.

Also, Gimme just informed me that she is seeking to copyright her name. So then every time I use it, I'll have to pay her... I already do, but I think she wants to make it legally binding.  That's my girl - always working the angles...