There is a purpose to this post, but I beg your indulgence while I give you a little history.
When the twins were just 1 year old I got a wild hair that I wanted a sheltie dog. Like I needed more stuff to do and things crying and keeping me up at night! But I was determined. We had two shepherds, but they stayed outside and I wanted a smaller dog in the house. I liked the idea of something that would bark if someone tried to break in. I know, I know, we live in the middle of NOWHERE, but I was a paranoid new mommy of twins. And very hormonal. And I’ve always been slightly whacked anyway, being an artist AND a musician. So I found a litter of AKC Shelties and came home with a cute little sable male puppy. Here is how tired I was at the time, I usually think up fun names for my animals that describe their personalities. But this dog got named “Woody” because Toy Story was on TV and I kept hearing Woody over and over again. But it fits. He was so cute that when he was about a year old, he was used in a local promotion put on by one of my photographer friends. It helped that my kids were super cute too. Of course. Everyone’s kids are super cute at this age, but remember, you agreed to indulge me!!
So here is “Woody” the sheltie, all famous and stuff:
Poor Woody got bitten by a rattlesnake when he was about 2 and never was able to walk very well afterwards. Now he is very old and completely deaf.
When we moved to the new log house, I decided I needed another Sheltie. My personal shepherd had died and Woody was destined to be an outside dog because he was ridiculously hairy and had never really been housebroken. So I got a new puppy. A female sheltie, named “Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl”, or Jessedog (all one word, just like that) for short. She was a pill. She went down in the “not the best dog” category. Basically when you told Jessedog to do something she would wait until your back was turned, give you the finger and then do her own thing. Yeah.
As you can see, she and my cat at the time, MR. Grinch, a cranky siamese, had a thing for each other. Very weird.
Jesse came to a bad end. My friend from up the street ran over her in the driveway right in front of my eyes. I had called Jessedog back from running after her truck, but Jessedog basically flipped me off and ran after it anyway. And that was the end of Jessedog.
After Jessedog died I found out that her parents had had another litter. Glutton for punishment that I am, I decided I needed ANOTHER sheltie. From the same bloodlines! Oy! But this is where dog genetics get strange. I brought home the tiniest little tiny puppy you could imagine. Meet Madeline. A very small Madeline:
Where Jessedog was loud and obnoxious, Maddie was so quiet I had to put a cat collar on her with bells so I knew where she was. She was content to hang out in her crate, and oh the things I could train her to do. She plays dead, rolls over, sneezes and speaks on command. Jumps through hoops. She gets put in the best. dog. ever. category.
So I got to thinking. Old Woody is really a terrific dog. Very handsome. Perfect Sheltie standard. Maddie, while small, is the smartest dog I have ever owned. I wanted puppies*. I kept Maddie intact and we tried and tried and tried. Every heat Maddie would beg Woody to get ‘er done, but poor Woody was so old and lame he couldn’t quite figure it out. This last cycle Maddie even lactated and I got really excited! But alas, no puppies. It was a false pregnancy.
So, what is a girl to do who wants a litter of puppies, to carry on the legacy of her terrific little dog? Puppies that have people waiting in line saying “when that dog has puppies, put me down for one or two!”
Find a new puppy, that’s what. Especially when you are suffering from empty nest syndrome and your kids are away at dance camp and the horse pasture is less two of its regular ornaments. Especially when you fall in love with a little bi-black male that is from some great bloodlines. So yeah. Meet the newest addition to the sheltie clan:
Jojo Tobiano!
(I was going to name him Badger Clark, cause he looks like a little piggie badger, but Jojo Tobiano won out)
Here is Jojo Tobiano with Woody who has seen it all before:
And with Maddie who is not quite warming up to this idea yet.
**No flaming allowed. My dogs, my blog. My delete key in the comments section.
