The Many Names of Holly

Do you have a nickname for your dog? More than one? We have heaps. Holly goes by many names, over the years Matt & I have come up with so many nicknames I can't even remember all of them. These are the ones she currently goes by.

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Happy 7th Birthday Holly!

Today is Holly's 7th birthday!!! To celebrate we are launching our brand new website www.hollythecollie.com - check it out!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Halloween isn't really a thing in Australia (although stores keep trying to make it happen) but I do like dressing up and free lollies, so it's OK in my books. I just don't get the pumpkin thing though, what do pumpkins have to do with the scariest night of the year?

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Best Friend

Holly is my best friend, and one of the best listeners I know. Sometimes you just need to hug your dog.

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Cousins

Holly has been spending a lot of time with her doggie cousins lately. Both of Matt's sisters have a dog, and Holly loves to play with them both. Ollie is a lovable, tennis ball obsessed, escape artist Cavoodle. Gypsy is a gorgeous, sweet but mischievous Golden Retriever x Maremma. Holly has a few years on both of her young cousins, so whenever they are playing together she makes sure they know who top dog is.

Return of the Magpie

Holly has had a bit of a problem with magpies lately. Most mornings we go through the same ritual. The magpies notice that Holly's food is being served up and will gather, one will be brave and come forward to try to steal some food, Holly will then chase the offending bird away, while another one takes it as an opportunity to grab some food and fly off before Holly comes back. This usually goes on for a few minutes until most of the magpies have gotten a turn to steal some breakfast, and Holly finally realises that if she eats the food the birds can't get it.

The Insurmountable Staircase

Holly has never been great at stairs, it could be she has a fear of heights, or maybe she just doesn't like them. For the majority of her life it has been fine, she has only had to go up and down the three or four steps we had at our old place and the occasional small set out in public. Recently we took her with us to visit a house she had never been inside of before, and she was confronted with a grand and tall staircase. She refused to even try to take the stairs, insisting on waiting at the top for us to come back up.

The Shadow

Recently Holly went to visit my cousin's pugs. One (I think it was Roy) took a special liking to Holly and spent some of the evening following Holly wherever she went.

The Porcelain Water Bowl

*Disclaimer - I've never caught Holly drinking out of the toilet but I have suspected her of sneaking a sip.* Our cat Oscar, on the other hand, was caught numerous times drinking from the toilet when he lived with us. Holly takes a peek in the bowl almost every time she is in the bathroom with us, I think she is just wondering what the mysterious porcelain bowl is that her people sometimes sit on.

Tennis Ball Dreams

Another sleep related comic. I do like watching Holly when she is dreaming and her little paws and face are twitching. Lately, Holly has really liked playing with tennis balls and I imagine her dreaming of swimming in a truckload of balls.

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Imperative Task

I've talked about this before, but sometimes Holly has some odd ways of sleeping, like against a wall.

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Puppy in the Middle

One of Holly's favourite games is Puppy in the Middle. It is exactly like Piggy in the Middle, Matt & I just toss a ball back and forth while Holly runs between us trying to catch it. She loves playing with us, sometimes one of us will miss the ball on purpose so she can get it and she is always so proud when she catches it.

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Trading Places

Matt and I joke that we should send Holly to work in our place and we could do dog things for a day. I can just imagine Holly sitting at my desk at work trying to figure out what in the world is going on.

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Crumb Catcher

In our house, sometimes when you sit at the dining table you might feel a small amount of weight come to rest on your leg underneath the table. It's just Holly resting her chin on your thigh, letting you know that she is there, ready and waiting to clean up any stray crumbs that fall.

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Comfort is an Art

Holly is a comfort connoisseur, comfort is an art form to her. She will do that circling thing dogs do on her bed for 5 minutes to get it just right to lay on. It's hilarious and adorable to watch. But when she wants to lay on the floor she will just flop down anywhere.

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Moving House

This week was a big week for the Goldsworthy family - we moved! Recently we sold our first house and now we have moved in with Holly's Nanny & Poppy (Poppy is her most favourite person ever) while our new house is being built. It is a big change for Holly, as our old house was the only home she has ever known. She is settling in well at Matt's parents (who have a HUGE backyard that she loves) and will get to see her cousins even more now.

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First Year

1 year ago today I published my first comic on this page, wow a year can sure go by quickly! Thanks everyone for your support over the last year, I'd especially like to thank those special people that encouraged me in the beginning, I wouldn't have done any of this without you. 

 Thank you all once again, and don't forget I put up new comics every Friday night Australian time so come back tomorrow for another new one.

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Mat Hog

As you know, Holly is the Bathroom Lifeguard in our house (check out 
http://hollythecolliecartoon.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/bathroom-lifeguard.html if you don't know what I'm on about). This means that she likes to be included in all of our bathroom activities including making sure we don't get washed down the drain in the shower. She likes to lay on the bath mat and wait, and she is not a fan of giving up the bath mat when we're are done.

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Plain as the Nose on Your Face

This one is a bit of a weird one...
Holly's nose is her second most commented on feature (her fur being first), and I often wonder if she likes her nose, do you think she ever wonders what it would be like to have a pug nose, or maybe a husky nose? It got me thinking. Do you remember that remember that 80's movie Roxanne, the one where Steve Martin is the fire chief with the really long nose. I watched that movie a fair few times as a kid and always loved it, it's sort of about embracing who you are. But there is a scene where he goes to the doctor's office and looks at the nose cards in the mirror, dreaming about having a "normal" nose. Collie noses are fairly unique (there are a few breeds that are similar) but there is just something about their noses that suits them perfectly.

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Gotta Catch 'Em All

I think Holly is sick of walks. Matt & I both got Pokemon Go as soon as it came out and have been walking Holly a lot in an attempt to fill our Pokedex. We have loved Pokemon since we were kids, and the new game is just so much fun and is fulfilling our childhood dreams of being Pokemon masters. But I think Holly is getting a little tired of it.

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The Hypnotist

I just can't say no to Holly when she gives me those big brown puppy dog eyes. She's just too cute!

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Nosy Holly

Holly is a very nosy dog (both figuratively and literally), she always needs to know what is going on and what we are doing. I guess it comes naturally when you have a nose like hers.

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Playing in the Rain

When Holly was younger we had a cat named Oscar. Oscar didn't think much of Holly and kept his distance a lot of the time. I remember one rainy evening Holly was outside playing in the rain (she was around 1 year old) and Oscar was sitting at the door watching her. I imagine he was thinking that she was crazy for intentionally being out in the rain.

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A Good Day

I think every day is a good day for Holly.

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The Artist

Holly has a habit of using that long nose of hers as a paint brush. Every glass surface within her reach gets her artistic touch on it. The windows, the glass door, the mirror in my bedroom, even the windows in the car all end up with streaks of collie snot.

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Beware of the Dog

We have a sign on our front gate saying "Beware of the dog" (I think legally we have to have it, not sure), which I sometimes think people see and assume we have a large vicious dog living in our yard. Other times people see the sign and see Holly standing up so she can see over the fence, and they see we actually have a silly fluff-ball living in our yard. She just wants to be everybody's best friend.

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Origin Story: The Water Bowl

When Holly was a puppy she would always put a paw into her water bowl while she drank. It was incredibly cute and I wish she hadn't grown out of it. We always joked that she was just making sure her water bowl wasn't going to run away.

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That's The Spot

Holly loves a good scratch, particularly on her butt or behind her ears. She will often push against me and angle her head so I get the exact right spot.

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Two Timing

I love dogs, so when I'm out and about I will usually say hi to any dogs I meet. Whenever I get home after meeting a new canine friend, Holly feels it is necessary to give me a full all over sniff. I'm not allowed to move until she has thoroughly checked me over for this other dog's scent profile.

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The Cat

Holly doesn't have much experience with cats, and there has been a cat hanging around our neighbourhood lately. She doesn't really know how to handle it, so she just barks at it until it leaves. It comes and goes when it wants and doesn't care at all that Holly barks at it.

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The Bed Shark

One of Holly's many nicknames is The Bed Shark. She has gotten this nickname because of a morning she will circle our bed, trying to decide which of us need to be woken up.

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Living on the Edge

This one was inspired by a picture posted in the group "Rough Collies!" a couple weeks back, it reminded me of a similar experience with Holly. No matter how big her bed is she seems to enjoy sleeping right on the edge, sometimes even with her head hanging off the edge.

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Silence is Golden

Matt sometimes has to work night shift, which means he comes home and sleeps through the day. We have hardwood floors in our house and Holly's claws make a tapping sound when she walks on them. There have been a few times that I thought for sure that she was going to wake Matt up with her tapping, so I came up with a solution, baby socks! I put on a pair of socks on her front paws and the problem is solved. She puts up with the socks.

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The Big Score

Normally whoever has the most time in the morning gives Holly her breakfast. A few weeks ago I had given her breakfast that morning before I left for work. When Matt woke up she proceeded to act hungry so he also gave her breakfast. It wasn't until that night that we found out that we had both fed her. I wonder how often she has played this little trick on us so that she gets 2 breakfasts.

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The Dilemma

Holly loves playing fetch (for 10 minutes at a time) but every time we play I think she has this thought process, there is always a little reluctance to give up the ball.

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Happy Easter

Happy Easter collie lovers. I honestly don't think Holly, would be phased by a large rabbit going from house to house, as long as it left some dog friendly treats for her on it's way. 

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Holding onto Hope

Matt loves ice cream, Holly doesn't know what ice cream is but she is certain that she loves it too. She watches Matt carefully every time he eats one and is always very surprised that he didn't share his sweet treat with her.

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Constant Training

Holly has us well trained, she knows all of the commands but there are a few that she refuses to do without a reward.

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Luck of the Collie

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Holly wishes you all the luck of the Irish today.

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Terrible Guard Dog

Not all dogs are good guard dogs. Holly is a tiny bit protective of me (she once saved me from a scary motorbike, or so she thinks) but she isn't very protective of her home. She greets every stranger with the same level of enthusiasm as she does a new play mate. Thankfully none of these strangers has ever been a burglar because we ever were broken into I'm sure she would greet the intruder with a tour of the house.

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Holly's First Camping Trip

As you guys know, Holly went on her very first camping trip last weekend. She had a really good time out in the bush with us and some of our friends. She was on her best behaviour most of the weekend. She liked watching some kids float down the river on air beds, she liked telling the possums off when they screeched at night, she liked laying on top of me, and she just loved spending some quality time with us in the great outdoors. I got some really good pictures, so if you want to see some of Holly's adventures check out her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/holly.collie/

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Happy Birthday Matt!

Holly & I would like to take this opportunity to wish the most important man in our lives a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Today is my husband, Matt's birthday and without him none of this would be possible. Literally. He is the one that found Holly in the classifieds, he is the one that drove me down to pick her up, he is usually the one that cleans up after her, does most of her training, and he was the one that encouraged me and supported me when this whole cartoon thing was just an idea. We both love him very much, as do a ton of other people. So, I would very much like it if you joined me in wishing Matt Happy Birthday!

Also we are going on Holly's very first camping trip this weekend, so expect a camping comic in the coming weeks. That also means I probably won't be able to check the page much while we are out in the bush, but I'll do my best!

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Butter Wouldn't Melt

Holly has a knack for getting herself out of trouble, she just has to give me those puppy dog eyes and all is forgiven. What was the naughtiest thing your dog has done and gotten away with by playing the cute card?

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Pets Home Alone

Hi collie lovers! As some of you may know I'm a graphic designer by trade. I've made up a little card that can be printed out and put in your purse/wallet/car/wherever so that if there is some sort of emergency people will know that you have a pet at home that might be missing you. It has the pet's info as well as space for someone that you trust to look after your pet until you are safe.

I've seen these in different formats floating around the internet, but I decided to create my own because I think it is a good idea, just in case. Feel free to print of and use this card.

Betrayal

Matt spends a lot of time on his laptop, Holly likes to interrupt his laptop time as much as possible. She routinely pushes herself between Matt & the screen & it is always funny.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day Collie Lovers!

Saving it for Later

Holly is a messy beast. It is not uncommon to see bits of food & treats stuck in her mane. She always ends up finding & eating it later on.

This is a little bit of a milestone for me, this comic is the 50th Holly the Collie comic that I have drawn and posted here (there have been one or two that haven't made the cut). So thank you, collie lovers, your support has been amazing over the last few months and I doubt I would've come even close to 50 if it wasn't for your encouragment.

Saying Goodbye

I always make sure I say goodbye to Matt & Holly before I leave the house (as does Matt), but often I put more effort into my goodbyes to Holly than Matt. Sorry Matt, I love you but Holly is my fur-baby!

Update

I will be cutting back to one cartoon a week for a little while. Matt & I are fairly busy at the moment, plus there are a couple other projects that require my attention. I will still be posting a new cartoon every Friday night (Australian time) and for special occasions. I hope to get back to two cartoons a week in the future. As always, if you have any funny or cute cartoon ideas, or any collie stories that you'd like to share I always love hearing them.

For now, here is a cute picture of Holly from when she was a puppy.