That'll Do, Pig.

So Jeremy and I have long suspected that our shelter dog, Tilly, is a Lab/Border Collie mix. She mostly looks and acts like a lab, except she has longer hair and hates the water. So when we took her with us to the junior high lock-in last weekend (we're adult supervisors for the youth group at church…man, I feel old writing that), we expected a lot of this:

The girls especially (and there were a lot of them—I think 14 girls and 3 boys, bless their hearts) loved Tilly. And while Tilly loves attention and kids, I think it was a pretty anxiety-ridden night for her. Why, you ask? Well, it turns out her "herding instincts" are MUCH more prominent than Jeremy or I knew.

Imagine trying to keep up with and herd 17 tweens. I think cats would have been easier.

Every time a kid left the big room we were all in and went to the bathroom, Tilly would hop up and follow. She would then wait outside the bathroom door until the kid emerged, and escort them back to the group. If there were two people in the bathroom, she would escort one back, then return to the bathroom to fetch the other one.

When the kids started playing Manhunt in the dark, empty church, I thought her little head was going to explode. As it was, any time a kid ran by, Tilly would run after—not in an aggressive, nip-at-their-heels way, but I don't think she was really playing, either. You could almost hear her saying, "Hey! HEY! You get back to the flock!"

The only time she stayed still was when Jeremy closed her into the office he was sleeping in for the night. Needless to say, my puppy was beyond pooped the next day. Still, I can't help but have a certain amount of pride in owning a dog that is almost as Type A as I am.