Meet (More of) the Family

Next up in our continuing series of the cast of characters that colors my world (I can alliterate with the best of 'em): I would like to present Ottoline. When she was a puppy, she was a big pain in the ass--willful, disobedient, prone to fighting with her sisters. So she was named Out of Line, shortened to Ottoline, and shortened again to Otty, because we are lazy. She is, by the way, also a collie, just like Leda the fluff ball. Otty is what is known as a tri-color smooth collie. She would like you to know that the original "Lassie" book described Lassie as a tri-color collie (meaning black like Otty). Otty would like to have a few words with whoever decided Lassie should be a sable (brown) in the movies.

Otty is our show dog. She's the only one of the dogs who is, ahem, "intact," which is a requirement for showing dogs. Every six months I have to lock her up like a Victorian maiden so she doesn't run off and besmirch our good family name by getting "in trouble" with some ruffian in the neighborhood.

Otty is also at the bottom of the dogs' dominance ladder, which means she spends a lot of time being chased and diving under the forsythia bushes to escape her pursuers. It's all in good fun, until there's a fight and someone gets a gash in her face. With three female dogs, we've had a lot of fighting in the past. There's a reason "bitch" means what it does.

Otty is a good girl who gets very excited about being petted. She also enjoys long walks in the woods and gnawing on moldy deer bones. Her interests include children, hunting rabbits in the hollow, and sleeping on the couch in the kitchen.