I meant to do this earlier, but was reminded by Kristine today. )

BRADY
If I had to describe Brady in one word, it would be “intense”. We always joke that Brady will not get old gracefully and then pass away in his sleep sometime…an aneurysm in the middle of the yard running after a squirrel would be more his speed. At age 10.5 he IS finally slowing down a little bit, but not really all that much. He’s my Cardi who has been through the most obedience classes (4), yet is the one least apt to listen to me. Can you say hard headed? That said, he did teach us a lot. He’s also endearing in a lot of ways, but has always been Dave’s dog. His stubbornness and drive frustrates the living heck out of me. Through his life we’ve tried flyball, agility, and herding. All of which he is fantasically driven to do, but woefully falls short in physical ability. Brady is perfectly built for stamina (and is a fantastic hiking dog)…balanced, not extreme, and light on his feet. But his extreme drive when coupled with a strange inability to judge distance (I swear there is something odd with his eyesight, and not just as an old dog) equals a dog that is constantly injuring himself. A very memorable moment was during our first flyball demo at a local park…he was so worked up that when his turn came, he tried to run and jump so fast that he simply landed on TOP of the jump, completely taking the whole thing and himself down to the ground. Undaunted, he popped up and finished the rest of the run. We repeated the experience in agility training, even though I took him to several classes and trainers just for jumping. So despite a fantasic amount of drive, Brady has always been a house dog. He’s our official greeter and has always been the undisputed alpha of our house. Not a nasty bone in his body, he nonetheless will tell other dogs plainly what they should and should NOT be doing. He adores all humans, small or large, as long as they pet him.

LIZZIE:
One phrase to describe Lizzie would be “Suck Up”. Lizzie is a lover, not a fighter, and 100% a people dog. She loves people and will do her best to get them to either pet her, or give her food. She believes that she belongs in someone’s lap, and when we have friends over will spend the better part of the visit trying to work her way into one. You simply have to look at her at any point in the day and she’ll roll onto her back, asking “want to rub my belly?” She loves dogs that are in her pack (or extended pack), and tolerates other dogs for the most part as long as they don’t try to play with her too much, at which point she tells them in doggie terms to “buzz off”. Remember, she’s a people dog, not a dog’s dog. ) She’s also a chow hound extraordinaire and has been known to swipe food off the table if, say, you have to get up for a moment to keep the toddler from killing himself. Not that I speak from experience or anything. We joke that she’s our cat because she’s such a quiet dog…not just that she rarely barks, but she moves quietly too. This trait helps her with the aforementioned food stealing, otherwise known as “sneaky”. She has so far turned out to be surprisingly good at agility, despite her couch potato tendencies. Mostly she loves to please me, but her excitement about the sport exceeds simply wanting to do what is asked, and I’m thrilled!