Throughout this past winter, our kennel workers have made the decision to allow Betty to roam freely and independently about our property, rather than hang with the various packs in our barn kennel. Betty is our playful, fun-loving, sociable, and most animated yellow Lab. She’s one with a stronger will than most dogs, since she tends to wander off independently, going her own way on walks, rather than staying with the pack while they’re happily running through the snow, following one of the leaders who work at our kennel.

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When I say Betty has a stronger will, it’s because she doesn’t always come when she’s called. Instead, she’ll stand and look at you, cock her head to one side and paw the ground, smile (really smile), and say, “I’ll come, but only if you play with me first.” Our employees are too busy in our current muddy, snowy conditions to go along with Betty’s antics. Instead, they’ve chosen to ignore her and let her have her freedom about the property.

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Betty tolerates other dogs, but she definitely relates more to humans. She wants so badly to be with people, she’ll follow our employees around while they work and say hello to everyone who lives or visits here, dancing her entire behind when she wags her tail. Since Betty has gained this new-found freedom, she has learned how to open our laundry room door and enter the house. At first, I thought Betty was coming into our laundry room to eat the cats’ food there but, surprisingly, she walks right past the food to find people. She’s just coming in to say hello. She grins broadly, waggling her hind end and slapping her tail around every piece of furniture in the house. Yes, she’s still the typical Lab in that she’ll snack on the cat food (and it shows in her slightly rotund belly), but Betty is atypical in that she’ll walk right past the cat food to find people first. We have a rule now to keep the laundry room door locked against Betty’s intrusions, but that doesn’t deter her from knocking on that door every morning like clockwork. And, thankfully for her, we’re out and about in the yard often enough to pet her and throw a stick, pinecone or snowball for her to chase.

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Betty hasn’t gotten into any mischief, aside from walking into our house when anyone accidentally leaves the door unlocked, so we might consider allowing her to continue roaming free when the snow melts and the weather turns warmer. Betty is 6-years-old at the time of this writing and she still behaves like a young, medium-energy puppy. She’s so darned cute and happy all the time, no one could possibly be sad around her for long. Her joy is effervescent, lighting up any room, all of our property, and each of our lives.

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