My Playful Pets: Maebel

I have two mid-sized dogs who have just way too much personality. The younger of the two (we suspect) is a cross between a Beagle and a Corgi. She is so adorable even when she is in the middle of being annoying. We decided to call her Maebel. No particular reason for that name, except we like to give out people names to our pets and Maebel is a singularly unusual name for a dog. Maebel has ~most~ of the nervous energy of the Beagle and the herding instincts of the Corgi, so that makes for some fun playtimes. For her morning constitutional, she likes to bolt out of the dog door as soon as it is opened, and dash, full-speed, in laps around our smallish backyard. This is done with a great deal of enthusiasm, and vigor. Once that task has been accomplished she ~bangs~ back through the dog door, to leap up onto the bed and trample/lick/greet whomever is unfortunate enough to still be laying in it. Usually with muddy feet! Also, this dog can jump really well. One of our favorite games is to hold up a tugtoy/stuffed animal, out at about shoulder height. Maebel will gauge the distance and spring up to snatch the object out of our hands. She doesn't always get up to it, but she's really starting to ~look~ good at it. She is so athletic, and it really is something to watch. (At least I can! I love dogs) Of the two dogs she is definately the cuddly one. Due to her abandonment as a puppy, she is always ready to be reassured that she is OK by a good cuddle. She also thinks it is her right to sleep between myself and my husband, and to sprawl out in a manner designed to take up as much room for herself as possible. We're still going to keep her, though, aren't we? (Wink)