Kathy and I have so enjoyed the dog-sitting: especially when the Lombards’ two hounds were over and it was crazy kennel time at the Kilday-Eisenbergs. I could really let my inner-dog Nazi go. We loved to line the dogs up at chow time and have them dive for their bowls all at once, to avoid the inevitable ” You gonna eat that?” that the slow poke chow hounds got from the vacuum cleaner mouths. Ally always expressed her tiny rebellion at the line up, refusing to lay down before her bowl. She knew the kibble was better in the other bowls. She was always as good in a pack as solo.
Much to my Type-A, compulsive chagrin, upon her visits, Ally regulary took a dip in our backyard garden pond, taking about 10 % of the water out with her upon the inevitable retreat commands. She knew to wait until at least three people were in the splash radius before shaking off. You just can’t train that into a dog: that’s breeding, that’s special.
I agree with those who observed that Ally was very generous in allowing for all of our human flaws, as she observed them, and always stayed very forgiving and tolerant. We humans are, after all, a very errant species, and need much grooming and patience if we are ever to learn.