It's our anniversary - we've had Angel for 4 years today

[k9Karen]

I can't believe we adopted her 4 years ago. It seems like yesterday. She is absolutely the sweetest Sheltie I've ever known - maybe even the sweetest dog I've ever known. She lives to be loved. I couldn't ask for a better dog (except when she's trying to sneak out to go exploring).

Here are some pics of the beautiful girl whose picture on the internet I fell in love with.

Here she is looking like she's so alert and protecting the flock. Don't let her fool you, she's actually watching to see if Allie is sneaking up on her


This is the way we usually see her - the perfect couch potato:


Here, she and Allie are next to me as I surf the 'net


And last, a gorgeous head shot. You can see here why I had to have her as soon as I saw her picture on the rescue web page:


I also have to admit that I am a VERY BAD dog mama - I completely forgot to post a Happy Birthday to Allie last month. I remembered her birthday and gave her a big birthday hug and kiss, but I never got around to posting anything. She was 5 (can you believe it's been that long jdf?) on August 9.

[Mary Plummer]

Happy Anniversary to you and Angel!

She really is gorgeous! What was her story - i.e., how did she end up in rescue? Seeing her gorgeous pics makes me wonder, as I did with Mr. Blue, how anyone could let go of a dog like that!

[k9Karen]

Her story is "uncertain".

Sheltie rescue (Pinellas County, FL) was called by a vet in a nearby county. The story they were told was that she was a stray - that several people had tried to catch her for over a week, but were unable to, so they called the vet. The vet said that he (or a staff member) was able to catch her and they wanted to put her into rescue.

Rescue posted flyers around the area trying to find her owner, but no luck. After they met Angel, the rescue folks had a real hard time believing this story the vet told them. Angel is afraid of no one - she loves people and she'd go home with anyone (every Halloween, I have at least 10 offers to take her from parents taking their kids Trick or Treating). When they first got her, they thought she was in heat - there was obvious blood. When they took her to their vet, it was discovered she wasn't in heat, but had a terrible urinary tract infection. It took several courses of antibiotics to clear up the infection before she could be spayed (a must with rescued dogs). When she was spayed, their vet found a noncancerous tumor on her bladder - probably the reason the UTI's were so hard to clear up. The tumor was removed at the time of the spay. Because of all this, she was in rescue for 6 months before being put up for adoption.

Her real story will probably never be known, but I have two ideas about what might really have happened. The first has to do with the bladder tumor and her severe hip dysplasia (rescue completely missed the dysplasia). I think it's possible that her previous owners dropped her off to have her PTS and the vet couldn't do it, so he made up this story to protect himself. The other thought I have has to do with her desire to wander and explore - she may have simply wandered off and gone too far to find her way home. For a dog with severe HD, she can move when she wants to. She's gotten out twice since I've had her, and fortunately, her name/phone tag has gotten her back home both times.

I found her while googling - searched on "Sheltie Rescue, Florida". I couldn't understand how such a beautiful dog could be in rescue. I emailed and enquired. A few weeks later, she was mine, and I've never regretted it.

[Mary Plummer]

I'm so glad she ended up with you! You know, maybe it's better that we DON'T know the whole stories about our rescue dogs. At first, I really wanted to know Mr. Blue's story: had someone abandoned him or dropped him off, or did he just take off hunting one day? Then I started thinking that it's probably better that I don't know who had him/didn't treat him wll before us. It should be enough to know we found them/they found us, I guess!

[jdf]

It's incredible how quickly time slips by. I also remember when you found Angel - like it was yesterday as you say, Karen. Angel really is a beautiful Sheltie - so is Allie and they make a great pair. I was amazed when we first saw Roxy - she was a year old, beautiful, sweet and shy and was leggy like a colt. Couldn't believe anyone could part with her but I have to say that I'm glad her former humans felt the way they did cause we got to know her. I think we've all lucked out big time with adopting/rescuing great dogs - there are a lot of them out there and it always seems like it was "meant to be" when they find a good home.

Happy anniversary with Angel and Happy belated Birthday to Allie!

[TheSkeptic]

Beautiful girl. She reminds me of my rainbow bridge Shelties, Tippy and Bear. Two of the best dogs we ever had. ...

[k9Karen]

Beautiful girl. She reminds me of my rainbow bridge Shelties, Tippy and Bear. Two of the best dogs we ever had. ...

Do you have any pictures of them? If you do, I'd love to see them.

[Amandasmom]

Angel is so beautiful, I have such a soft spot for Shelties. I think Pete is a Sheltie mix. They told me collie / shepherd but who knows. I agree with Mary that maybe it's better we don't know. My rottie mix went through 4 homes before he was 12 months, then spent 6 months in a no kill shelter. He is the sweetest dog in the world, how could that have happened?

[momPaws]

K9K- she certainly is as beautiful as an angel! Happy Anniv. to you both- I think you're both lucky.