On May 15, 2012, Arb and I took possession of the house we now live in.
Back in early April 2012, literally the same day we closed on the house, I started looking on Petfinder for a dog. We were going to have a fenced yard, and I had always wanted a dog. Arb grew up with dogs, but I had never had one. Arb wanted a Sheltie. I wanted a senior, because I love older dogs, and because they often have trouble finding homes. My search for a senior Sheltie brought up exactly one result. I wrote the rescue right away, explaining that we were interested but we couldn’t bring her home until we actually had the home to bring her to. The rescue took a loooong time to write back, but eventually, the week before move-in, we were invited to meet up with her foster mum at the local Petsmart.
It wasn’t quite love at first sight – Shadow was kindof a mess, with mats the size of golfballs in the fur behind her ears and behind her armpits. And she was a little bit shy. But then she stuck that adorable pointy nose under our hands and demanded pettins, and our hearts went poof, and we decided she had to be our dog.
Arb meeting Shadow for the first time
We brought her home four years ago today. She has absolutely blossomed in confidence and happiness – and beauty, once we took her to the groomer and got her mats shaved off. (No more mats since then due to Arb’s rigorous program to teach her to accept brushing (which involves a lot of high-value treats)).
She has mastered the herding dog stare when she wants you to do something:
And somewhere along the line, I accidentally trained her that if she did a nice down-stay, I would give her just about anything she wants:
They told us she was 10-ish when we got her, but there’s no way she’s 14 now; she still zooms around the yard barking her fool head off like a puppy.
Thank you for being our dog, Shadow, and happy GotchaVersairy!
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
6 comments
May 18, 2016 at 9:24 am
roughseasinthemed
Gotchadays are wonderful. Enjoy your day Shadow :)
We never know how old they are. Just how long they are with us.
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May 18, 2016 at 10:01 am
john zande
She’s gorgeous!
We’re about to move house, and our 8 is about to become 10 :)
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May 18, 2016 at 11:20 am
bob browning
loves loves loves dem dog love stories.
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May 18, 2016 at 3:19 pm
Arkenaten
Absolutely beautiful. I was going to say gorgeous but that bloody Aussie- Brazilian beat me to it!
:)
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May 19, 2016 at 10:15 am
VR Kaine
Congrats to you and Arb, IO, on the anniversary of your adoption! :)
Now can we all go hunt down the neanderthal who let Shadow be in that matted state in the first place? Not sure the extent of his mistreatment beyond abandonment, but they should get sentences like abusers or child-neglectors. (Oops, I meant murderers, since most abusers and child-neglectors never do time.)
Anyways, a happy story, so happy thoughts. :) I love the dog (grew up with Shelties as well) and I wish you both many more wonderful years with him!
p.s. – how does he get along with the cats? Since they seem to “self-identify” as humans (or rulers!), how are they all together?
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May 19, 2016 at 12:45 pm
The Intransigent One
Yup, we’ve got huntin’ to do. Obviously the rescue couldn’t disclose too much about her past, but basically, a family adopred her, and had her for five years! And then returned her. Fuckers.
She gets along with the cats for the most part. If they get too rambunctious she splits them up and makes them settle down. Fiona intimidates her into giving up her bed. But there are many beds so it’s generally reasonably peaceful.
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