Our three Shelties give us delightful challenges, because they are thinking dogs, and it is all too easy to be outsmarted by our dogs. We love them to bits, and they love us right back.But it is our Sheltie/Eskie mix who has put us on the sharpest learning curve. She was the classic "free to a good home" puppy, and when we saw her in the cold, damp, cluttered woodshed, we couldn't leave without her. Right from the beginning, she was hell on paws, and she has stayed that way for most of her nine years. It is only recently that we have finally been able to bring out the wondeful dog we knew was hiding under that tempestuous, beautiful blond fur. When an animal comes to live at Sheltie Hollow, they are here for life, and one of the main reasons for this is the love and trust these animals have for us and place in us. Lily loves me, and absolutely adores my husband. The look she gives him says more clearly than words, "Dear master, I love you, Then, Now, and Always."
