Pointless Tricks for Treats

I haven't written for awhile. Life is fast for me, but it feels a bit slower. My foster mom recently took me back to the vet. He gave her a new prescription. She calls them my "treaties" and wraps them in cheese for me. Then she gives Jazzy some cheese without the "treaties." I love cheese so I don't mind taking them.

Quite honestly I don't have trouble eating anything. Yesterday I found one of those round felt things that stick to the bottom of chairs. Yummy!!! It's almost as tasty as shoes and socks!

So there I was chewing and enjoying it when all of the sudden she shouts, "What do you have in your mouth?!" and lunges for me. But fortunately I'm too fast. I ran around the room. She couldn't catch me. Finally she pulled out a milk bone, and then I let it go. Hummm... I wonder what else I can chew on to get more milk bones....

So I've been taking medicine to slow me down. But I still love running in circles, the butterflies are still flying around me, and I don't like when things aren't smooth or perfect. If there's a thread in the carpet it bothers me and I have to snap at it. If a piece of fabric is hanging off a table then I have to snap at that too. I'm still doing these things.

Yesterday my foster mother did something really odd. She hung this bell thing on the back door and for some reason gave me treats and laughed when I rung it. Then she had the boy film me. They both seemed to think this was the funniest thing and kept laughing, but I don't care. They can laugh. As long as they give me food I'll ring that bell.



In fact, I kept ringing it all day hoping they'd continue, but at one point my foster mother said, "No bell! No treats!" and she ingnored me. Finally I realized it was no use. She wasn't going to give me more treats so I stopped. But today I kept watching her closely to see if she might give me treats for doing this pointless trick, and each time she said, "Bell" or pointed at it, I rang it... and got more treats!

Life is good!

Anxiety Tank

I have been very lazy lately.

Not!

My foster mom only wishes I were lazy. Yes, once in awhile I'll sleep deeply, and you can talk to me, and I won't wake up... but my foster family has a suspicious nickname for me. It's "Energizer Bunny." So I've been thinking about this and wondering... maybe I'm part rabbit? Could that be possible? The odd thing is I have bunny feet. Although shelties are born with extra toes called dew claws, I have even more!!!! If you look at my photo you can see them. If you pick me up I have these paws that look more like bunny paws than dog paws. I wonder if bunnies see butterflies circling. Maybe that's why the butterflies love me...

To help with my energy, and the butterflies, my foster family has started dressing me in this odd thing called a tank top. They said it's a homemade "anixety wrap." It's suppose to calm me down so I don't run in circles as much and it's suppose to help keep the butterflies away. Personally, I don't think this thing works. I think the reason I don't run around as much when I'm wearing it is because it's annoying. Also, while trying to chew the thing off I'm distracted from watching butterflies. Maybe if I give them sad eyes they will take it off of me.

Butterfly Snapping

My foster mom told me I am no longer on the adoption website. I saw her crying. I think she is upset because more and more I see these little rainbow-color flying insects. I think they must be little moths or tiny butterflies... and I just want to catch them. I never do. They always fly off. But I snap at them. Some days I see them more, and other days not so much.

My foster mother has tried to distract me from them. She'll clap, or give me a chewy, or other things. Sometimes this helps and I stop looking at them and snapping. Other times, they are so beautiful I cannot pull myself away. I cannot stop. She'll even hold onto my collar, but I want them too much...

She has been talking with veterinarians trying to figure this thing out. Why do the butterflies like me? What is so special about me? Well, I think all of you reading this know that everything is special about me. For one I'm a sheltie, and two, I'm the fastest and happiest dog in the world. And I have this thing called (OCD) Overly Cute Disorder. So I do these really cute things a lot.

I will write more about this when my foster mother learns more. So far there's no clear answers. Some veterinarians tell her that I have something called partial or temporal lobe seizures (whatever the heck that is?!), and others say it's a behavioral thing (duh! It's a behavioral thing because butterflies love me and I just want to catch them!!!).

How to Find Me in a Crowd

So... how do you find me in a crowd??? Easy!



Look for the happiest sheltie. Look for the one with extra prance in her step and the most wag in her tail... and that's me!

Southland Sheltie Rescue Inc. Annual Fall Potluck Picnic and Auction

Just recently I had one of the best days ever!!!

Early one warm and sunny day my foster mom packed Jazzy and I... along with blankets, a fold-out chair, two ex-pens, cameras, two boxes of donuts and various other things into the back seat of her truck and drove us to Memorial Park in Sierra Madre to attend the Southland Sheltie Rescue Inc. Annual Fall Potluck Picnic and Auction.

When we got there, we found a park filled with shelties. Jazzy and I were brought to a fenced area where we could run and play with other shelties. Whoever put that fence up must be the smartest and most clever person in the world because everyone had the best time ever in there.

Next, my foster mom went to go buy tickets for the auction. While she was gone a nice lady named Tonya watched us. I liked her shelties a lot. They were super fun to play with. My foster mother really liked her and her family as well. Besides the auction, there was also a Halloween Costume parade. I want to thank my foster mom for not putting me and Jazzy in costumes, or make us participate. Instead she got her video camera out and filmed the event. Here it is... this is the one time you are going to see a video on my blog that I'm not in!



In this video you can see my foster mom's previous foster dog Oliver and his beautiful mom. My foster mom will sometimes say I remind her of Oliver because we are both so cute and extremely loyal.

After the costume parade my foster mom visited a very special sheltie named Merlin. He's blind and deaf. She got to pet and hold him and thought he was the most wonderful dog (next to me, of course). He experiences everything by feel and loves to snuggle and be petted. I think this was nice for my foster mom because I'm so hyper and active that I don't have the patience to be held. I rather run around and wag my tail. She also got to meet Scooby and many other nice dogs from rescue. And she got to see another very special sheltie named Mollie Pumpkin. Molly Pumpkin was recently picked up at the shelter by one of our volunteers. She's a teeny tiny old shetie who had been living on the streets and trying to find food and safety. Now she has a warm home and loving family. I think she believes she has died and gone to heaven! Sometimes a little bit of heaven does land on earth...

My foster mother wants me to let everyone know that the people who volunteer and adopt through Southland Sheltie Rescue (and all the other rescues out there!) are all very kind and loving people who go out of their way to make a difference to help dogs and other animals like myself. She wants me to thank all of you who do this.... even if it's something small and tiny, like helping an unwanted dog have a safe and loving place to stay for a brief space of time, or giving one a forever home.... you help create these pockets of heaven here on earth. Something real and significant... I thank you for your warm and caring hearts.

Overly Cute Sheltie

My foster mom always tells people I have a lot of energy. You're probably wondering.... just how much energy can a little sheltie have? Well, here's a video showing this. My foster mother once had me run with her when she rode a bike. It was okay, but afterwards I still wasn't tired!