
She's made a lot of progress since we brought her home, in so many ways, but most importantly to me in her socialization with people. She's still very nervous when I ask her to perform tricks, but she can shake paws now, which is more than I'd honestly hoped for for a long time. In the last couple of months, she has <span style="font-style: italic">finally</span> started to play with people. (In the past, she has only played with Spock and other dogs.) One of the dogs' new favorite toys consists of two joined rope rings that have small tennis balls threaded through each rope. She chewed off one of the tennis balls, but the other is intact. She runs around the house with the toy dangling from her mouth and loves for people to try to try to take it from her, then throw it down the hall for her to chase.
Bones and I have a new game, which we indulged in last night for probably half an hour (during which I frequently dissolved into undignified giggling). I accidentally discovered one day that Bones goes crazy when you blow on her ears. By that, I mean she gets a little excited and can't keep still, shakes her head, and jumps up and down off furniture, since this usually happens when we're on the couch. Half the fun is inhaling very loudly in preparation, as she practically jumps out of her skin with excitement. So last night, I started that as we sat watching a movie on the bed. She jumped up and down off the bed each time I inhaled and ran out of the room once I blew on her ears, but she came sprinting back moments later every time and licked my face.

Her brother the non-birthday boy pouted by the bedroom door as we played. Sorry, buddy! But it's Miss Bonesy's day to shine.
