trystinn | Bordering

I walked through the hallway this afternoon and saw Gracie standing at the guest bathroom sink, staring at herself in the mirror while cocking her head back and forth. She flicked her head over to me, lowered her ears a bit, then turned back to considering herself. I murmured "beautiful girl" at her, causing her ears to perk back up and a smile to take over her sweet border collie face. I slowly made my way down the hallway, grinning myself.

I never quite know how much Gracie understands. The scientists say that borders have the intelligent understanding of 800 words and the language understanding of an 8 year old.
I do wonder sometimes about her perspective of our shared life. Does she consider Flash to be her silly, retarded brother? Does my OCD help provide her with consistent training and enough routine to satisfy her instincts?

We recreated our world for her and Tracker, years before Flash was born. We bought our home to provide an excellent environment for them, a wooded backyard with plenty of space and cottontails to chase. Bought a large van so she could stretch out in the backseat en route to the dog park, spent a month desperately trying to teach her to fetch, put myself and her through obedience training. We could have sheep, we're allowed upwards of 300 pounds of livestock, but somehow I feel she's quite satisfied chasing her bunnies about Bunhalla. Her little sheep have provided her with hours of instinctual pleasure. Flash we rescued because he needed rescuing and we had the right environment for him, but also to provide her with a young sibling to play with, boss around and herd him away from trouble. Though as I type that, I realize she mostly just tattles on him. She's got a special look for "Mum, he's up to no good again" all her own. Like any good big sister should.