Shannon - My Little Wiggle Butt

by Aussiegirl
(Virginia)

We just lost Shannon to cancer this autumn, but she was the best dog ever. She was just 6 months old when we adopted her from ARPH - Aussie Rescue. She'd been found in an outdoor pen at a shelter. She'd spent part of the night there during an ice storm. She was a very timid blue merle with one brown eye and one half-blue/half-brown eye. Shannon didn't seem too fond of men at first. But she came around and then some.

The turning point was getting her into a puppy training program and giving her lots of love. She remained my companion (AKA Velcro dog), but included my hubby and kids. She loved doing tricks. She learned "settle down" in training - she would lie on her side, head on the ground and remain immobile until "released." (Great training idea - helped during emergency treatments, vet checks, etc.) He would say BANG and then SETTLE DOWN. She quickly learned to go into a settle down when he said bang. People always got a kick out of that. She always wanted (and usually got) the last word. She obviously didn't like having to lie down before I'd put her food down. I didn't do it every time - kind of switched up what she had to do to earn dinner, but as she slowly dropped down she'd do her woo-wooing complaining as she went. I loved how she would woo-woo when I came downstairs in the morning. I really miss that. And her smiles! Loved the full tooth bared smile when she was really happy!

This Christmas, my hubby surprised me with a tri-color Aussie puppy with two blue eyes. She is a doll, making us crazy because she is stubborn about house-training, but she does help with my sorrow about Shannon. Bella is going to be a big girl. She is already around 30 pounds at five months. Shannon was 35 pounds full-grown!

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