The times that I have to make an entry in The Ducky Diary are dwindling down to about once a month. Sometimes twice, but the last entry was only a single page. And it was mostly about how proud I am of Ducky these days.

Yes, she still has her moments. Sometimes she reminds me of a small child who wants all of Mommy’s attention to herself and has a hissy fit when a sibling tries to butt in. Yet, unlike the days before I started keeping track of her snarky moments, I’m highly tuned into the energy …

I can literally see her start to tense up. And I can cup her little chin in the palm of my one hand (while holding her collar with the other hand), look into her eyes, and calmly tell her “No. There’s no need for that. Settle down.” And she does. I can see the hairs on her scruff soften, her gaze soften, and the rest of her body relax …

Then I can let go of her collar without worrying if she’ll go after Shadow.  She won’t. She either walks right past Shadow without acknowledging her presence; or, she’ll stop and give her older sister a few puppy kisses on top of her snout or forehead. So sweet! Tension defused.