Shelby Turns 4: Reflections, Part 1
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.