Princess Spryte

Spryte is a princess.  Well she thinks she is a  princess anyway. And princess' have a lot of demands. They absolutely MUST sleep in a king size bed, with their head on the pillow.  They MUST be with people all the time or yodelling will commence.  They cannot walk on gravel it hurts their delicate paws. And they despise walking in mud puddles, royal paws melt when wet.  Spring is a really difficult time for princesses.

Last weekend at the agility trial a mud puddle formed right in front of the entry door to the arena.  I went out to potty Spryte, not really paying attention to my dog, just assuming she would be right beside me. Next thing I know I hit the end of the leash and stumble forward, I turn around to see Spryte with her heels dug into the mud, absolutely refusing to take one more step. It was like being on the end of a horse lead, with the horse rearing up and backing quickly away. Who knew a 20 pound dog could have so much strength?!.   Absolutely no amount of coaxing or leash pressure could convince Spryte to muddy her precious little paws.  So like a good little servant, I picked up my princess and carried her across the abyss.

Princess Spryte made another appearance today.  I took her out herding, and with the plus 10 heat wave we've been having, the farm was a sloppy mess.  I took her out of her kennel in the car, placed her on the ground and began to walk towards the round pen.  Well just like last weekend, the bucking horse appeared and we're dodging mud puddles left, right and center. With some annoyed "lets go" from me and a bit of dragging, we finally end up at our destination.  At this point I'm just hoping that the lure of the sheep will distract her highness from the displeasure of muddy feet.

Spryte's little face lit up when she saw the sheep.  She went to work right away, moving the ewe's around and bringing my flock to me.  She  still did dodge mud puddles, but at least she kept working.  Then I was instructed to have Spryte lie down at the top of the flock. I'm thinking no problem, my dog has obedience training. But princess Spryte would have none of that nonsense. Princesses absolutely DO NOT lie down in the mud! How disgusting! I'm repeatedly telling her to lie down and she is busy glaring at me like I've lost my mind.  Our little showdown ended with Spryte in a half crouch and me standing over her thinking I should have gotten a boy.  Ahhhh. life with royalty.