Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie turned 5 years old yesterday! I made her a hat with my craftiness, and of course, my cricket. She hates having anything touch her ears and getting pictures took skills. One of my favorite aspects of Ellie is her ears. I thought I would dedicate a post to my first puppy and her floppy ears!

Ellie Puppy
I got Ellie as a gift from my parents in November 2009. I'd wanted a cavalier king charles spaniel since I saw the one on Sex and the City. Plus, cavalier puppies are absolutely adorable! Ellie was even more unique because she had a heart shape on her side. She still has it to this day.

The fist picture I took of Ellie.

Tug-of-war was and is her favorite game.
Here, she's trying to take the camera.

Ellie would cuddle with me in any way possible.

Her ears cracked me up.

I discovered that Ellie loves to shred.

While cleaning out some old papers, Ellie decided to shred them for me. To this day, she still loves ripping things apart. She's moved on to cardboard and toilet paper rolls though. I discovered her love for cardboard the first time I moved. I had boxes piled up in the living room and she went to town on the corner of one. Since then, if I'm leaving for an extended time, I leave her a few pieces and she gladly shreds away.

Ellie's jersey for football games!

Getting a Little Sister

I was trying to finish up my last marketing class that fall and she was a needy puppy. That spring, I was taking my last English class (Poetry Writing 2, yuck) and she still wouldn't leave me alone for long. That's when I got the great idea to get Sparrow. They have been best friends ever since. They do everything together and everything thinks they're twins. I'll post for Sparrow's birthday on her "unique" tendencies.

My girls!

Always together.

When I got a yard, I discovered they like to dig.

Ellie's Odd Tendencies

Since she's grown up, Ellie is much more calm. She prefers to watch Cedric and Sparrow play and is quite reserved. She has always pulled away when strangers try to pet her and she'll pull away from me if I try to pet her head. She never walked up to strangers and didn't like the dog park much. It took her about a year before she was excited to see Brandt.

Ellie is not a fan of cuddles.

Crazy Ellie ears while snuggling!

Ellie finally warmed up to Brandt.

I taught the girls to ring a bell when they wanted to go out. Ellie kept ringing it when she wanted to go outside to chew on sticks. I was still in my apartment so I took the bell away. I brought it back when I got a yard but she refused to touch the bell. Since then, she scratches on doors when she wants to go out. If I ignore her, she'll hit the door hard enough to make it swing back and hit the wall. She's a stubborn dog!

Five Years Later, Ellie Finally Came Out Of Her Shell

One of our first trips to our new dog park, Ellie began rubbing herself in the grass. She used to this on dead snakes when she was a puppy and I haven't seen her do it much since then. Now she's always rolling around at the park. She's been running up to strangers and even letting them pet her! It's great to see her come out of her shell. Nothing brings out crazy Ellie like tug-of-war or fetch. She growls very loudly while tugging and she'll bark and spin when playing fetch. People used to seeing her are always surprised to see her do these!

 Here is a video of Ellie rolling herself down the hill at the dog park.

Next video is of Cedric and Ellie playing fetch. I just love watching Ellie's ears flop as she runs. She always lets Cedric get the ball (at the park, not so much at home). She loves running back to me though and I always give her lots of scratches for her effort.

Ellie really hates things on her head.

Happy 5th birthday to my Ellie Bean! She's a weird one but she's mine!