On Becoming A Man

Duncan turned 2 and a half last month, and he’s finally coming into his own. Over the last few months, his personality has changed in several small, almost unnoticeable ways. He’s started being more assertive with other dogs and standing up for himself (except with Reyna, of course, because he’s not stupid). At our last club meeting, he actually snarled at two different dogs who got in his space, instead of just backing away. I was actually rather proud of him. It seems as though a switch has flipped somewhere in his brain, because he’s suddenly responding to certain commands, when 4 months ago he would have given me a blank stare. Or a spin, his favorite response to any command he doesn’t know or doesn’t want to do. He’s also responding faster and moving faster, something I never would have expected. I’m even thinking about entering him in a Rally trial in July, because I think we might be able to get through the course in 4 minutes. And to top it all off, he actually jumped into the truck three times Saturday, all by himself. My little boy is growing up.