Shasta is an Australian Shepherd. She is a red merle - most of you are probably more familiar with the more common blue merle. We named her Shasta because it means three in a Native American dialect and she is three shades of reddish brown with white socks. (She is also three times the trouble as most dogs but that isn't why we named her that) Shasta has much shorter fur than most Aussies. We hoped that would mean less fur to clean up but no such luck. She was born on a farm near us near the end of October 2005 so she is almost 4 1/2. I remember a saying about dogs - "3 years a young dog, 3 years a good dog, 3 years an old dog" We are still waiting for the good.
This is one of her favourite spots to sit. That is the corner I do a lot of the food prep and she is hoping food will fall down for her. Usually I am in the corner too and she is on my feet waiting. She eats EVERYTHING! She loves every vegetable we have given her, even turnip - lettuce is one of her favourites. She eagerly waits when Kevin is peeling an orange because he will give her one piece. And popcorn is one of her favourite words. The only food she has turned down to date are lemons and grapefruits.
We knew that Australian Shepherds were an active breed - right up there with Border Collies - but we are an active family so we thought she would be a good fit. In an attempt to keep her busy Shasta completed puppy kindergarden (where she achieved 191/200), several sessions of agility, which she loved and her pre-novice obedience. We got Darcy (shown with her below) so she had a playmate. They love running at the beach and in the forest but there are problems with that. Firstly, Shasta barks non-stop in the car. See Vet Visit (August 2009) for details (hyperlink won't work). Secondly, Shasta is extremely fast and obnoxious with other dogs and her barking scares the dogs and their owners so I rarely let her off leash any more. We do have a 20 foot horse lead so she can still get a good run.
Walking the two dogs is one of my biggest daily pleasures. Darcy pulls like most dogs do. Shasta doesn't pull as long as she has her halti on - she has many other tricks to keep me on my guard. She does not like wearing a halti and alternates between trying to rub it off in the snow or grass beside the road and trying to rub it off on the back of my left knee. Fun. She is terrified of sewers - some of the time. Some times she will pass them without a second glance, other times she will freak out and bolt so we have to watch out for sewers all the time just in case. This is especially fun when we are biking. She likes to chase cars, snowmobiles and bikes so I have to watch for them too. As soon as I hear a vehicle I have to start saying "leave it, leave it! LEAVE IT". Then praise her for doing so. Yes, I love my daily walk.
Shasta's eyes are an unusual colour. They remind me of a jackal or a hyena. Can you tell I am so fond of her?
Shasta loves playing ball. Squeaky balls are the best because then she can amuse herself if no one is willing to play. And squeaky balls come in a larger size that doesn't roll under the furniture so that works for me too. She also loves to chase logs. Yes, I meant to say logs, or maybe trees or branches. The bigger the better. She refuses to chase normal sticks. They have to be so big she can barely fit them in her mouth. The best branches are found in the forest. They are 6 to 8 feet long. We have to watch for her all the time because she will run up behind with a long branch and she is the perfect height that the branch hits the back of your knees and knocks you down. She would not cooperate with my attempts to get a picture this week so you will have to believe me.
Here is Shasta watching the world go by. She often watches for the kid's busses - she seems to sense the right time. Unfortunately, she still watches for Tori's bus and still hasn't figured out she isn't on it any more.
We have never allowed our dogs on the furniture. I know many people think that is mean but dogs are very dirty and ruin upholstery and bedspreads. Ourdogs are too big to be lapdogs. I don't want to be covered in their fur and dirt when I sit on my loveseat. They have their own cushy beds. And dogs are pack animals and need to know people are the leaders - we get the throne. On occasion some of the children have had a problem enforcing this rule. They don't live here any more. But now we are having a battle with Shasta. She quietly sneaks from the room and finds a couch or bed and makes herself at home. For most of the year we have kept empty boxes or green bins on the upstairs loveseats when we are not in the room. I got really fed up with this awhile ago and got a mat that shocks her when she gets up on the loveseat. She learned very quickly not to get up on furniture that has plastic on it. So now all our furniture has vapor barrier strips.. A slight improvement over the bins. She still prowls for open bedroom doors and furniture we forgot to recover when we got up. What a brat. I have a message for Shasta. We have outlasted 4 strong willed children and many other dogs. Give up now. Stay off the furniture. We will win (or die trying).
I thought I should list her good qualities so you don't think I totally hate her. She has cute perky ears and when you talk to her she cocks her head to one side and that is cute too. She knows lots of words - breakfast, lunch, dinner, cookies, treats, popcorn, squirrel and even a few not food related - bus, kids, who's there, all of our names and bye - and of course all the usual commands. She has a cute little tail - see?
Her cute little tail led to a big discussion here at Christmas. Some members of my family thought it extraordinarily cruel to dock her tail. Some Aussies are born with little tails, the rest are docked to prevent mange. I think hers was docked but don't hold me to it. Once you have a dog with no tail, you realize what an inconvenience a tail is in a house. But I think that could be a whole post in itself. I bet you can't wait.
Coming soon: a post about Darcy.
