My Life with Dogs

I can’t believe it…..Shelby turns seven today…..

I still remember when I brought him home….he was a little terror!    I know I wrote posts about how smart he is….and the time he brought the knife out of the kitchen….he is scary smart!

But, I want to talk about how sweet he is….the way he waits outside the bathroom while I am getting ready in the morning…the way he puts his head on my leg when he is ready to go to sleep….the way he wags his “stub” when I come home from work…the way he looks at me – I know he loves me!

Baby Shelby!

I know this probably sounds really sappy and weird, but I  think you dog lovers will understand.   I have such a bond with Shelby, it is unbelievable.   He means so much to me.  The fact that he is getting older makes me sad.

Don’t get me wrong, he still jumps for frisbees, still chases balls, still knows which toy I mean when I tell him to go get his “guy…”   But, at the same time, I know that dogs are considered “seniors” once they turn seven.

Shelby will still go with me to Camp Dogwood, we will still go to the dog park, we will still throw and chase frisbees and go on hikes.   I just will continue to appreciate Shelby and what he means to me.

Shelby on his 7th Birthday

A lot has changed since I last wrote in the blog.  I lost Bandit in July, 2010 and I lost Mia in March, 2012.   I will post tributes to them in the coming days.

Someone said to me while I was grieving that even though losing a dog is obviously very sad, it gives you the opportunity to know new dogs who you never would have gotten the chance to know….this is true….

On that note, I have added three more beautiful fur babies to my family – Panda, Jax and Katy.   So, along with Shelby this makes my family four dogs

strong!   I guess I can no longer say that I am having a “three dog night!”

I am posting pictures of the new dogs, and will tell you more about them in the coming days!   In the meantime, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and please have a safe and Happy New Year!

Here is little Katy posing for Christmas with some of her bear friends!

Panda is another Aussie friend for Shelby!

What a handsome boy Jax is!

Recently, I have been searching on www.meetup.com and I have found some groups to join where I have common interests – one of these groups is the Chicago Pomeranian meetup.   Last weekend, I took Mia to the Clark Street Ale House in Chicago for the first meeting of this new group.   Thanks to my GPS, I found the place without much trouble.   Then, I realized I had been there before – with the old Pom meetup group!   Well, after feeding the infamous Chicago meters, I took Mia into the bar.

The Clark Street Ale House is a typical, local Chicago bar – long wooden bar, wood floor, dark inside.  But, this was one of the few places that lets dogs in on Sunday afternoons!   When I arrived, there were already 3 Poms there.   They are all so cute!  Of course, none were parti-colored like Mia!

Poms at the Meetup

About 10 Poms I think ended up being there, including Connor, a tiny baby Pom.  This little guy ran up to everyone and played with all the Poms.   Mia loves playing with her brothers, but wasn’t really into playing with the Poms.  Not sure why.   But, we stayed about an hour and I think she had a good time.    I will still definitely take her to some more meetups – I just love seeing all the Poms!

Connor the baby Pom

Well, I learned the hard way not to leave food on my counters.   After losing a bag of nuts and a whole tin of hot cocoa (that was fun to clean up…), I make sure before I leave the house that all food is well out of reach….but what about canned food?   Shouldn’t be an issue, right?

Well, I had all my chili fixings on the counter, cans of beans, tomatoes, and of course, the Rotel diced tomotoes with chilies already chopped up – yum!    Well, I went out shopping – I know I was not gone more than 45 minutes, but when I came home all three kids met me at the door from the garage into the kitchen….and I saw it.  

The poor can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies after Bandit got ahold of it!

A can was lying on the floor.  At first, I thought it was an empty can of dogfood that I did leave on the sink.  But, after closer investigation, I saw it was a full can of something – the label was gone.  The remains of the label told me it was the Rotel.   The teethmarks in the can had pierced the can numerous times.  The liquid had obviously spilled out – and probably licked up too!   Hopefully, the picture does this justice.

While I was on vacation, I boarded Bandit and Shelby at the Yorkville Animal Hospital.  They are really great with them, and I feel better that Bandit is at a vet in case anything happens.  Well, sure enough, when I returned, they told me that he had a grand mal seizure on 2/23, and they gave him valium and he was fine.  It was actually the day before I had requested that he be upped on his meds.  I know that he can have seizures when he gets excited, and I try to plan for it, but I missed it…

Thankfully, he is o.k. and did not have any further seizures now that I have him home.

So, now I had a new puppy…and what a puppy!  Shelby was so smart….scary smart.   I remember once when I was throwing him a ball and it landed on top of his crate.   He couldn’t reach it by putting his legs up on the cage.    He stopped, never taking his eye off the ball.   He went inside the cage, still looking at the ball.   He went back out again, eye still on the ball.   Then, he ran back into the crate, put his nose up on the top so he could touch the ball, then moved it towards the side.  He came back out, stood up so he could reach the top, grabbed the ball, now in reach, and trotted happily back over to me to throw it again!   It was quite a site to witness!

Baby Shelby

But, the honeymoon soon ended…Shelby was a terror!   He chewed everything, wouldn’t listen, grabbed stuff and wouldn’t give it back…you know, typical puppy stuff.   But, it had been over 15 years since I had last had a puppy….and I was 15 years older and less patient!   I was at my wits end.    As Shelby got older, he seemed to get smarter – and less inclined to listen to me.   It was really starting to be a problem.  I was getting more and more stressed out – to the point where I was crying quite often about Shelby and what he had done that day.   I remember even contemplating getting rid of him, something I had never thought about before with any dog.   It was getting really bad.

I took him to Narnia, a very well respected training facility in Naperville, for some basic puppy kindergarten.  He was kicked out of class for distracting everyone and humping – he was fixed!  But just overly rambunctious.  How embarrassing to have your dog asked to leave class!

I remember him running away at Lake Summerset.   He ran up Corkhill Court, with me in hot pursuit, calling his name and telling him to come.   He stopped, looked at me, and kept on running the opposite direction!   He was caught by someone walking down the street with their dog when Shelby went to investigate.

The next time he ran away, also at Lake Summerset, I didn’t notice until he had been gone a while, not sure how long.  I was frantic!  I took the car and drove all around, even driving on the main road in case he crawled under the fence and ran through the field into the street.    He had only run about a half a block down and ran over to someone sitting in their garage – he was very friendly, and they were just petting him.   I was so upset!  I loved him so much!  Why was he running away?

I did not know about doggy day care, and had just heard about it.  After a particularly bad night, the next morning I was crying before going to work.  I called the place where I had been taking him for training and asked if they would take him, even if it was only a half day.  They said yes and the woman there even had Australian Shepherds so she counseled me on their active nature and the need to get them tired out.   Shelby was in daycare at least 3 days/week after that!   What a blessing!  A tired dog is a good dog!

As I would learn from Cesar Milan years later, I was not the leader of the pack and he was taking over!  It took Camp Dogwood where we really bonded for peace to come between us.  Of course, he was nearly two years old then, and I was more comfortable with him.   I would not know what I would do without him now!   So, for all you folks contemplating puppies, especially active ones, make sure you know what you are getting into!

Shelby is now the joy of my life.  I love Bandit and Mia of course as well, but Shelby and I share a special bond, and we always will.

I am a little late in writing this, but Shelby turned 4 on January 2, 2010 and I wanted to reflect back on my years with him.  But actually, this is a good time to write this, as I brought him home the evening of 2/27/06, exactly 4 years ago today.

Shelby on 2/27/06, the day I brought him home

In February ’06, I was still mouring the loss of my Maddie, a springer spaniel mix I had had for 15 years.   She was the first dog I ever had on my own, and of course, she was perfect.   I was not ready to get a dog immediately after her passing, and because of the heartache, I wasn’t sure if I should get another dog or not.   But, those thoughts didn’t last long, as I misssed having a companion.

Fate intervened when I went to get some bird seed at a feed store in St. Charles, IL.   I happened to glance at a bulletin board and saw a group of Australian Shepherd puppies that were available from a home in Batavia nearby….well, I could just have a look….

As you know, you just can’t “look” at puppies….I guess I was ready for a puppy, though I still told myself I was just looking.  I called and went over to the home.  It was just a house in the suburbs.  The family said that they had bred their two Aussies so their children could experience the process.  I knew nothing about dog breeding and did no research at all.   The family seemed nice, the home was nice, the dogs seemed healthy, and of course, puppies are so cute!  They had 10 puppies in all, I think only 1 was adopted already.   When I saw the parent dogs, two merles, they were so nice and very cute.    I only learned after I had adopted Shelby that you are never to breed two merles together, because it can produce a recessive gene called a “double merle,” where dogs are characterized by being very white, but more seriously, the white dogs can be blind and deaf.  At least one of the dogs was white and deaf and they told me this, but I thought this was just a random occurrence.

As I played in the front yard with the puppies, my eyes strayed to a very cute blue merle male with one blue eye and one brown eye.  He was a tough little guy, not at all submissive.   I had my heart set on a girl, because of my good luck with Maddie, but I really wanted the blue merle.  I started playing with him, and as I remember, he did not really show an affinity towards me, he was just ready to rough and tumble with his siblings.  I had visions of agility runs in my head, and how wonderful it would be for me and this little guy who was obviously active to do this and frisbee, etc.  So,  I asked about him.   The woman said that he was already spoken for.  So, I started playing with some of the other puppies, but kept looking at the merle.    There was another pup as I remember who was taking to me, but I really loved the merle!    I told the woman that I was really wanting to do agility and disc and that he would be perfect.   The woman was so sweet, she said she really wanted someone to be active with the dogs and she liked me and felt that I would be good with the dog.    I told her I would pay then and there….she said, “I have a good feeling about you, I want you to have him.”   So I wrote the check, but I was going out of town that weekend, so asked if I could pick him up on Monday and she said o.k.

I couldn’t believe what I had done, but he was so cute!    When I came back on Monday, I was apprehensive…could I really handle this?  Was this the right thing to do?   But as we talked through the details, I knew it was right.   As I said, this family was so cute, but very inexperienced in the breeding process.  But what they lacked there, they made up in care and attention to detail.    When I came to pick him up, they gave me a whole packet of info, with the mother and father’s picture, their AKC certificates, proof that the litter was registered and a picture of the little pup a few days after he was born.   What got to me the most was how she documented each puppies’ birth.   They actually named each dog (probably a no-no with breeders), but I still have the packet she gave me and this is what it said:

“#10 Blue Merle, Blk + White, more diluted black spots than first blue merle

8:27 a.m.    M   1/2/06   Reed and Lily  11.9 oz

Mom is pooped!!  She did well.     “Shelby” like the car – the howler – loves to sing/play/snuggle – adorable.  Son wants to keep him”

I thought about names when I got him home, but Shelby just seemed to fit and I couldn’t think of anything else that fit him better, so Shelby became his name.

Today I went skijoring with Shelby for the first time ever.  For those who don’t know what Skijoring is – it is cross country skiing with your dog pulling you – kind of like dog sledding, but you are the sled!

Since Shelby is such an active dog, and I love him that way – I decided that our next adventure would be skijoring.  For those who know me, you know that I have been cross country skiing for many years.  I have taken many trips with the Nordic Fox Ski Club (www.nordicfox.org) including trips to Yellowstone National Park, Quebec, Glacier National Park, Northern Michigan, Minnesota and many more.  To include Shelby in a sport that I love was just too good to pass up!

Shelby in his skijoring harness after a day's ski

I had been reading up on skijoring, and decided to purchase skijoring equipment.  After much research, I decided to go with Aker Ski (www.akers-ski.com) where I had purchase much skiing equipment in the past.  So, I purchased the harness, the towline and the belt, along with the book “Ski Spot Run” by Matt Haakenstad and John Thompson.   After refitting Shelby with a new harness (the first was too small) we were ready to go.

I started out first getting Shelby comfortable with his harness.  Before the snows came, we did a little “canicross” which is jogging with your dog.  I used a belt, a shorter towline and the new harness.  We jogged along the Fox River Trail, and I could tell that Shelby was starting to get used to the harness.  You hook the dog up to the harness so that the connection is on his rear – you obviously don’t want this around his neck.  Since Shelby was used to pulling me around already, pulling on the harness was an easy transition.

Fast forward to today – snow on the ground, temps in the 20’s, so I decided to give it a go.  I took Shelby to Herrick Lake in Warrenville IL, a place where our ski club often goes, and a place that I was familiar with – it had nice wide trails and was basically flat!  I put him in the harness before we left, so once we got there and I got my boots on, we were ready to go.   I knew Shelby would want to sniff around – according to the literature, you are supposed to “drop” your dog before getting to your ski location – this means letting him do his business!   Well, we tried that, but I knew that during our day’s ski, he would still hit a few trees.

Shelby was a little afraid of the skis and poles at first, but he soon got used to them when he saw that we were outside and ready to run!   Things started off well – he did make a few tree stops, but I went slow and tried to get him out in front of me.  There are standard skijoring command, “gee” for right and “haw” for left, but I had taught Shelby the words “right” and “left” in the past, and we was pretty good at those, so we went with those! 

Our first foray on the trail went really well!  Though he didn’t pull me much, he stayed ahead of me, and I could feel him pulling a bit – especially when he met another dog on the trail….then he definitely pulled me, and I just went into a snowplow and let him go!   I did fall down once – when he went into the field to smell something I assume must have smelled wonderful….we got tangled and I fell.  He came over to me all excited – “What’s going on, Mom?  Why are you on the ground?”   We got untangled, and kept on, no worse for wear!

We met several skiers and dogs on the trail, and Shelby for the most part was good – he did go visit, but came back when I called.    Everyone seemed to get a kick out of seeing us on the trail, belt, towline and harness!

For being the first time for both of us, I thought it was a great start!   I am hoping to go again this week, while I am off work and while there are not too many folks on the trails!    Oh by the way, Shelby was pooped!

Shelby on the Lure Course (photo by Whitney)

Yes, another great weekend at Camp Dogwood. This is my 4th time at the camp, and the boys just loved it as usual!   Check out www.CampDogwood.com for details if you are not familiar with this.   

Bandit, Shelby and I trekked off on Friday up to Ingleside, IL, where we stay for the long Memorial Day weekend.   I stayed once again in Desser Lodge, the room having about 10 bunks and a homey kelly green painted interior.  I got there first, so I scoped out a few bunks to drop off my stuff and stake out an area for the kids.   My roommate from past Camps, also Carol, arrived with Julie, a Rottie mix and her new dog Cafe, an Australian cattledog mix.   We had two other roommates this time – Emily and her cute little guy Dolce, and Lisa with her two Cane Corso Italian mastiffs, Kiara and Lillian.

The weather was great, the activities were fun, and I got to meet up with old friends and make some new ones as well.   Lisa was an expert on feeding her dogs raw food, and shared her knowledge with us.   Emily shared her knowledge of wine, and of course, we indulged in a few tastings!

Bandit at the Beach!

Dolce, or 'The Dolch!"

Shelby took a few more honors at camp – he ended up winning 3 of the beach games contests, including being able to catch 10 treats without dropping them faster than the other dogs!    Can you tell I am a proud parent???

Of course, agility training and lure coursing were also part of the agenda.    Shelby needs a little work yet on agility….well, actually I need a little work!

Bandit loved the beach….his legs were very unstable all weekend, and he couldn’t walk very far without getting tired, so the short walk to the beach was about all he could handle.   He loves running and frolicking in the water!   He just has that look of joy in his eyes….and algae in his mouth!

Cafe's First Camp

I asked Renny Mills, the camp photographer, if I could use some of her pictures in my blog.   She said I could as long as I give her credit, which is fair enough.    So, once I scan in a few of those, I will tell some of the other fun stories of Camp Dogwoods past!

I spoke with Alyssa, one of the camp’s directors, about bringing Mia to fall camp.   She said it would be no problem…so, in October, little Mia will experience her first camp!

Kiara Relaxing

I know that Carol and I will room together this fall, and hopefully Emily will come back (I hear she might be bringing a crew from Michigan!) and Lisa from Syracuse is also hoping to be back.   That is the one thing about Camp Dogwood…..you have to keep coming back!   The dogs, the fun, the new experiences, the camaraderie – it is a very unique way to bond with your “kids!”

Shelby with bra

Yes, Shelby loves bras….he loves to steal them, to run around the house with them and to shake them furiously.   And, of course, to chew the straps and ruin the bra.   Shelby seems to prefer the expensive Victoria’s Secret bras to any other kind, though in a pinch, he will take any bra he can get.

This activity usually takes place when I am in the bathroom.   I hear rustling in my bedroom, and then Shelby’s cute little face appears in the bathroom door with bra in mouth.   He stops to look at me, and makes sure I see what he has.   Then, he takes off running, and our little game begins.   I yell “no Shelby,” and chase him into the living room.   He runs around, joyfully shaking the bra as he strategically avoids me as aI come after him.   He will stop, lay down and start chewing on the straps, one eye on the bra, the other on me, to make sure I don’t steal his prize.

The fun doesn’t last long.  I catch him pretty easily, and he gives it up, wagging his tail as if to say “That was fun, Mom!  Let’s do it again!”

With all the toys this dog has, I don’t know why he goes after my things.   Well, actually, I do.   He has me trained well, as he knows I will run after him and he loves the challenge and the chase.    Aussies are so smart – as my license plate holder says, “My Australian Shepherd is smarter than your honors student!”