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.

Check out the The Collie Shop https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/HollytheCollie and follow us on Instagram @holly.collie https://www.instagram.com/holly.collie/

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.

Check out the The Collie Shop https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/HollytheCollie and follow us on Instagram @holly.collie https://www.instagram.com/holly.collie/

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.

Check out the The Collie Shop https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/HollytheCollie and follow us on Instagram @holly.collie https://www.instagram.com/holly.collie/

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.

Check out the The Collie Shop https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/HollytheCollie and follow us on Instagram @holly.collie https://www.instagram.com/holly.collie/