Trudy is a border collie mix whom we adopted four years ago when living in Vancouver, British Columbia.
When she first came to live with us, Trudy was prohibitively shy — she would roll on her back submissively when meeting any new person or even at the sight of another dog. It made it nearly impossible to take her out of the house.
Over the years and with plenty of exposure to love and attention, Trudy has become a different dog.
While far from confident (she is easily intimidated by dogs a fraction of her size or an assertive cat), Trudy loves to lead the way on a trail run, walks confidently at my side and chases balls, sticks and Frisbees.
Thanks to her breed and eagerness to please, Trudy has learned many tricks and can be quite a show-off.
My personal favorite trick is the Superman dive that Trudy has learned off the end of our dock on Lake Dunmore. She easily gets 8 or 10 feet from the dock, which for a relatively small dog is quite the distance (at least four times the length of her body).
While Trudy isn’t one for crowds and competition, she is content to do laps off the dock for hours on a summer day. It works out for us too, as it never seems to get old watching Trudy surf through the air and plunge into the water.