Mariko makes her stand

And so, I'm back from my vacation and realized my sweet girl is all grown up. I swear she had grown a bit. :D

Mariko has never been an easy walker.

I can still remember her very first walk. She was all leashed-up and ready to go .... but no, she refused to budge. She just sat in the front of our gate. Unlike her brother, he was out the door with nose-to-ground the moment the gates opened for the first time. She didn't get the concept of the leash. She probably finds it undignified to be led around or that we should take the car instead.

In the early days, she stuck close to my legs. But, as she saw more and more of what was over the fence, she became more and more courageous.

Nowadays, she literally springs and gallops the whole way. It has been impossible to keep her at my heels because she speed walks. One would think that the walking difficulty is proportionate to the size of the dog. Nope, not here. My boy heels better because he's big and walks slower...well, that is when he's not tugging about the grass. My girl, on the other hand, is a springy lamb!

To make things worse, she gets excited at any moving objects - especially cats wondering around the neighbourhood. When it comes to dogs behind gates, she charges forward with her barky attitude.

She knows her walking trail by heart. So well, that when I changed routes, she knows and insists on take the "right" way. One good thing is she isn't picky with where I take her. Somehow, this week... something changed.

We walked our usual trail and were on our way home. We turned into our road and was heading towards home when she stopped dead on her tracks. All four paws rooted to the ground. You would think it's easier to get a 50-pounder up on her feet. Nope, she didn't budge. So, I thought she had a memory loss or something and forgot where she was. I dragged her back home the first time.

The next day, the same thing happened after we turned the corner into our street. What's with her? It turns out that she didn't have a memory loss. Rather, I had a light bulb moment. She didn't want to go home yet!

Since that fateful first time, she'd be happily trotting the first ten steps after the corner home. Then, stops dead on her tracks once she recognised that this is the road home. I still get amused by her doing this every night!

If I pulled her towards home, she will not budge an inch. If I pulled away from our gate, she continues to side-step away from our gate. So now, I have to put in an extra block or two for her.

(Must get a photo or video of her in action!)