Orly will be two years old (!!) on Sunday, Oct 22. All she wants for her birthday — besides the traditional ice cream treat and the weekend she will spend playing with her best friends of course — is to be the big sister again.

I got back from my vacation and picked Orly up, then drove out to get Dotty back from her trainer, Glenn. Glenn brought out a small white pony, claiming it was Dotty.

He then showed off how nicely this behemoth walked at heel, did a sit stay, and politely sat to ask to go inside (no loud barking). Definitely not Dotty.

The pony was wearing Dotty’s collar and had a bag of Dotty’s food, though, and she seemed very happy to see me, so I loaded her into the car. She seemed excited about being home and finding her toys, and happily  reunited with Orly.

But … Dotty is a puppy. This is a dog.

…Or not. By the next morning, the Dotty pony was in full puppy mode, twirling and bouncing along on our walk, stealing Orly’s toys, racing in circles in the back yard, and generally being Dotty.

One thing seems to have stuck from Dotty’s time with Glenn (thank goodness!): The newer, larger Dotty hasn’t demand barked at all since she got home!

The big puppy is here to stay (for a while, anyhow), and Orly is now the older sister but not the bigger sister. Harumph. It’s enough to make a girl go eat more ice cream.