Jerry Lee is a Border Collie through and through.  Smart as a whip and incredibly intense.  He was bred to work and his only job around my house is fetching.  Since he is a good work dog, he wants to fetch 24 hours a day.  Anyone who walks through the door is an exciting new candidate for tossing a tennis ball for him.  If you toss it for him just once, he becomes relentless in demanding more: dropping the ball at your feet and crouching in anticipation.  If that fails, he drops it in your lap.  If you ignore that, he picks it up an drops it again.  He's got an important job to do, but he needs human help ...

My friends Chrissie and Linda came over on Saturday and I forgot that Chrissie had never met Jerry Lee.  Linda cracked up because when I left the room after the first ten minutes, Chrissie whispered to Linda: "That dog is a pain in the ass."  Linda had to assure her that there was no need to whisper, this wasn't news to me. 

A few years ago I made this little picture log of the routine that we go through over and over again, every single day:












Marilyn the corgi has a totally different personality.  Here she is:



She's saying:  "Hey, where's my tummy rub?"