Happy 9th Birthday Katy!!!

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl. You have had such a big year. I was so worried about you when you lost Bailey. You withdrew into yourself and we kept pushing to find you a companion. Last July was truly a hard month for you. While you mourned Bailey you also couldn't adjust to living alone. I'm so glad we found Annie and the two of you have become such wonderful friends.

Last year you also experienced your first dog friendly vacation and you were so brave. I was so impressed with how you handled all the challenges of being away from home.

You have payed forward the kindness shown to you by Bailey, by helping Annie to adjust to her new home, too. While her needs were different than yours, you have found ways to meet those and I've been so proud of how you have helped her to fit in here.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl. May this be a much more peaceful and joy filled year.

Bailey's Anniversary

It is hard to believe it was a year ago that we lost Bailey. He was such an important part of our lives for 13 years and then he was gone.

My DH had never had a dog growing up and you couldn't have asked for a more perfect first dog than Bailey. It is unusual to get a purebred puppy from a breed rescue, but over the years I just came to believe Bailey was meant to be a member of our family. The route just had a couple of extra stops until he made it to us. He was gentle, sweet, kind, and his mischief was manageable especially after we all enrolled in obedience school to learn that cuteness does not excuse bad behavior.

Bailey was good with kids and dogs alike. When dogs got loose in the neighborhood, Bailey could often calm them enough that they could be captured by nervous owners and brought home. When my grandmother required nursing home care Bailey was a frequent visitor. Not only did he spend time with her, but he seemed to know which patients needed him and he had a route he visited on the way in and out to stop and comfort those who would welcome him. He seemed to sense those who were afraid or hostile to dogs and stayed away.

He loved to play ball and Frisbee and even as he got older and stiffer he would continue to try to leap up and grab both ball and disk. He also loved his stuffed animals. Annie has started sleeping with one of the teddy bears Bailey got as a puppy That's how gentle he was with his toys.

I'm not sure where Katy would be today without Bailey's love and encouragement. She was do withdrawn and scared when she came to us. I still credit Bailey's love and encouragement for the greatest progress she made in those early months. She felt safe and protected with him and she slowly came out of her shell to realize the world was nearly as scary a place as she had thought. He encouraged her to explore, but sheltered her when she was scared. At times she literally would almost hide under him when we were out in public and people approached. Today she is has confidence and the ability to handle challenging situations because he stood with her when she didn't.

One thing that truly impressed me with Bailey is the way he could read people. Family and friends who were afraid or had little interest in dogs loved Bailey. He had a way of charming them, overcoming their fears, and getting people to relax around him. It was a beautiful gift. My only regret is I didn't have the resources to train Bailey as a therapy dog. I think he had a great untapped gift that I kept to myself.

On this day I just want to thank him for the 13 amazing years he gave us. My darling angel you truly were a great blessing in our lives.

Hello Again

We have been after Mom to post again. She has so many excuses. Mostly I think she just enjoys playing with us too much to bother with her frustrations with her technology challenges.

She was sure she'd be posting constantly about all of Annie's adorable cuteness, but instead selfishly has been keeping it all to herself.

Truly it has been amazing watching the bond grow between Annie and Katy. Even in the summer heat prior to the A/C's being installed they rarely were napping without being in touching distance of one another. Now with the cool air flowing they are back to snuggling. I have no idea if this is a Sheltie trait, but Katy and Bailey were smugglers and I wasn't sure how things would work out with Annie and Katy. Annie wanted Katy's attention, but Katy wasn't too sure at the beginning. While this picture show's Annie's paw on Katy's behind it has generally been Katy getting them to settle down together.

They are hard at work on their critter flushing and after some adjustment have developed techniques for working together which are rather interesting to watch. Annie is faster than Katy, but Katy is more fearless, so the two work hard to rid the yard of bunnies, squirrels, and other critters. Lately they've been falling short on the garter snakes much to my dismay. Katy was keeping them away from me, but she's been distracted with keeping an eye on Annie's finds as of late and I've encountered three snakes recently. Could be same snake over three days, but just as freaky each day.

Friday Flowers: Crocus

While Mom hasn't been posting it doesn't mean she hasn't been taking pictures. She captured these pics at the end of March and the beginning of April as the Crocus and these mini daffodils were coming out in the cold weather. The crocus actually were peaking out when we still had snow on the ground. We hunted these down and told Mom they were out.

Birthday Treats

Doggie bakery cookies have become a tradition in our house to celebrate special occasions. Annie is still getting used to the tradition. Katy knows that these cookies come on special days and will sit and wait for them to appear. Annie still has that wow what happened when they come out.

Annie has different tastes than the other two Shelties and we've struggled to find the right match in toys. She isn't much interested in balls or throwing toys. They seem to scare her a bit. Her favorite toy seems to be a trash bag or other bag being shaken out before being placed in a trash can. (Don't ask we have no idea why. She just enjoys attacking it.) We stumbled upon Nyla Bones as an option. However, Annie is particular about what kind. She loves the round ones, but won't even look at the ones shaped like bones. While looking for birthday toys I stumbled upon the teething rings and wondered how Annie would do with those. Let's just say one key is almost gone this morning. It clearly was a hit. Lucky for Annie, Katy has no interest in Nyla, so there is no competition for her toys. Katy will sniff them and then realizing they aren't "real" bones she wanders off.

Happy 3rd Birthday Annie

Katy here. Do to computer issues and Mom just not getting organized we've been away for a while. Mom is still working on getting all the new computer stuff worked out, but there was no way we weren't going to post a celebration of Annie's first birthday with us.

Annie's nickname is Little Bit as she is the smallest of all the three Shelties who have lived with Mom and Dad and she will answer to her name and her nick name. I prefer my Princess Katy title. I wasn't sure what having another girl in the house was going to be like, but Annie has grown on me. She's a great snuggler and she doesn't steal my toys. It has been helpful having someone else to watch over Mom and Dad. She can even tolerate sleepig in bed with them. That's something neither Bailey or I could ever do.

We have many more stories to share. Mom is still working out her challenges with loading pictures to the computer, but she's getting there.

Happy Birthday Annie. Don't be surprised if Mom goes over the top a bit. Birthdays are a big deal for her.

Merry Christmas

We wish all of our Blogvile friends a merry, happy, healthy, and safe Christmas. Hope Santa was good to all of you.