We got down to the beach at the crack of dawn to miss the crack of storm coming. A dog has to do something good on her birthday, and Banksy’s our only dog that has an actual birthday. Everybody else has a fake one. Some of them have to share mine, so they don’t even get their own.

Banksy is three years old. That seems old. We missed our goal of finishing her ADCh while she was two, we need to actually run pairs classes to get those pairs Qs. And go to trials. This is the year of maybe not so many dog shows. So if I can run pairs 4 times and get Qs this year, she can have her ADCh. But she did compete at Nationals in Arizona and competed amazingly.

Three year old Banksy seems about the same as two year old Banksy. But with better behavior. In general. With occasional lapses. Her favorite things to do are run, run, run, run. I say, “Go go go!” and she takes off around the perimeter of the park. Sometimes adding ciks and caps around things I point to for style points. Those would be left and right wraps around posts and trees, in case you don’t speak Slovenian. Banksy speaks Slovenian for several words.

On these rainy days, this year the year the drought has broke, we go to the park in the breaks between squalls and I send her around and around to do laps, while I slog around in my rain boots. She likes to run, and she has to run. Running is a big part of her life. Being a border collie, and all.

Her favorite toys are Tennis Ball and anything she can tug on. Banksy is a tug machine.

I can’t trim her nails. However, Erin can trim her nails and I drive her to Erin’s groom shop and apparently we will do this forever so hopefully Erin never moves away. Sometimes Erin’s sitting out front having a smoke when we pull up, Erin with her purple pigtails. Banksy loves Erin, she runs up to her even though she’s also ready to bolt. She’s terrified of everything involving fingernails and tries to leap off the table like a maniac. Erin just counts her nails like little piggies and it’s done in a flash and that’s how we do her mani/pedis forever.

Banksy’s an agility machine. Our machine ran into bad weather this winter so we actually don’t do agility except for maybe once a month. I’m sure she’ll know how when the sun comes out again. I hope. They don’t forget over winters, do they? We’re lucky she was a puppy during the drought.

Banksy’s best friends are Otterpop and Gustavo. Also everyone she meets at the beach or the park. Except huskies. Usually she runs away from huskies. She is not best friends with anyone at agility. Agility Banksy is run by Banksy’s evil twin that must be alone. I MUST BE ALONE, says evil twin. Agility time is apparently THAT SERIOUS AND IMPORTANT and she must be alone with only me the person who drives to agility and points at the things. Then go all crazy watching the others do the agility til it’s her turn as long as she is ALONE while doing so. We hate it when her evil twin takes over, but luckily it’s not all that often. Sometimes her evil twin shows up at mealtimes. Evil twin wants all the foods to herself and must be alone to consume it and woe be to any dog who is near.

That thing about girl border collies who can be total bitches? That would be Banksy’s evil twin.

Banksy turned into a stay at home dog when I go to work last year. She’s kind of a couch potato during the day, so she’s cool with that. She likes to sleep in the window so she’s right there to see my car drive in the driveway when I come home. She is not cat sized, unless cats can weigh 25lbs and be 17.25″ high at their withers. Yet there she is, in a cat sized spot, Gustavo takes the other window and as far as I know that’s where they spend their days.

So happy birthday, Banksy. We survived. I think you’re officially an adult. Three years old for border collies is I believe drinking and voting age. Banksy would have been Hillary all the way. We have our ups and downs and you are still a bad girl when we’re on a walk and the german shorthair pointer that pulls the kid on the skateboard zooms by which makes me crazy but has gotten a lot better in general so at least if the german shorthair pointer walks by you don’t freak out anymore. All that control unleashed stuff works good. And you’re pretty cute. And let me pet you a lot of the time, if not all the time. Maybe someday you will sit next to me on the couch. I think once you did that but it was by mistake and you realized it and maybe that will be when you’re four. If not, it’s cool. You are your own dog, a lot of dog, and we can’t imagine how life would be without you.

Here’s to many, many more.