“An Eclectic Array of Topics”

Imagine my surprise when I saw this tiny fawn in the backyard!  Where was “Momma”?  It was common for me to see rabbits, chipmunks, pheasants, grouse, squirrels and an occasional fox.  This drives my little Sheltie crazy.  By the time my Sheltie was 7 weeks old, she could out run me.   I decided to get a harness for her.  Once she learned it was to her advantage not to chase “bunnies” (this meant ALL animals to her)…she no longer needed the harness.

When she sees any animal, she stops dead still…and stares.  If she thinks about chasing it…she will first look at me (wondering if I “see” her)  All I have to do is give her a stern look…and she walks away. 

Here she is (near the mirror)  when she was little…she weighed almost 4 lbs when this photo was taken.  By this time,  she’d grown quite a bit since I’d first gotten her.  She absolutely LOVES the snow!  While she was visiting my Mom…she was given a “Cowgirl” outfit…as you can see!  She was about 5 months old at this time.

She is now a therapy dog…so is used to wearing the hat she was issued, a bandana and name tag with her name.  She is on the small side of the AKC breed standard for a Shetland Sheepdog.  She is only 13″ at the shoulder.  She even has a horse friend!  Of course, the horse has never been in the backyard…and certainly not the house.  It is such a kick to watch her around farm animals.  One of my friends has chickens…she constantly tries to ‘herd’ them into a group!  I’ll include a photo of her horse friend. 

The children that live near us, come over to see if my little Shelite can “come out and play”.  They love to play ‘catch’ with her.  They take turns tossing her various toys or her tennis ball.  It makes no difference where they toss it…she always retrieves it!   They also get a kick out of her being obedient to them.   The children get so excited.  This has opened up some friendships with their Mommy’s & Daddy’s.  I’m very grateful to the Lord for creating this avenue to meet so many of my amazing neighbors!

“Just For A Good Laugh”…as most have you may have guessed, I’m no computer whiz and am trying to navigate my way through this whole process.  This is the reason for creating this page.  I just wanted to see if I could do it.  The photo of George Clooney was forwarded to me by my friend Kayla.  She said it reminded her of a photo I have of my Dad when he was much younger.  Obviously, George Clooney was never in my backyard and certainly never in my house.  Nor do I have any interest in him.  If you knew my amazing husband you’d know precisely why I say this.  My husband is a ‘gift’ from the Lord…and the most incredible man on the planet.  He is also very romantic.  It was incredible just meeting him, let alone marry him.  WOW!

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  This beautiful little lass on the right is my “Fur Baby” niece.  Her name is Jill.  She is an English Springer Spaniel >>>>>

I have many “Fur Baby” nieces and nephews.  Our entire family has had dogs since we were children.  My Dad had gotten Beagles to train for hunting…however, my sisters and I used to bring them into the house, and rock them to sleep in our doll cradle.  So, there went our Dad’s chance to have “hunting” dogs.  All they wanted was to be held, petted and rocked to sleep

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The beautiful little Sheltie below is my “Fur Baby”.  She is a trained therapy dog now.  She’s also been trained in obedience and agility.  Shelties are amazing in agility!  Her favorite thing to do (at the moment) is to play “catch” with her tennis ball and to chase the beam from the laser light.  She also takes my hubby’s shoes and puts them in her crate at night, along with several of her own “babies” (toys).  She is an absolute delight!  The photo of her below was taken when she was a puppy.   It was taken outside in the snow.  I had her sitting in a decorated cardboard box, and put some decorative things around her.  This photo won a local contest.  She’s our little “sweetie”.