Well Behaved, 7 Years, Will Love You for Life and Stay by Your Side as You Work

Seven year old Shellie needs a Mom or Dad who won't be afraid of her medical condition which is under control on a generic medication that costs us $25.00 per month at Walmart. Like thyroid disease, which is common in Shelties, this is a life-long disease.

Shellie's medical condition is an inherited auto-immune disease called dermatomyositis which you can Google.  This medical condition is called DM as a shorthand for that very long word. 

Shellie had a family that purchased her in the midwest - before they moved to Utah.  All was going well in Shellie's world until her medical condition started showing symptoms at about 5 years of age.  Her family did all the right things - taking her to the doggie dermatologist.  Then, they bought a puppy, because they promised their 2 or 3 year old child that she could have a puppy.  (Don't ask me what I think about that.) Shellie, like many mature adult dogs, didn't enjoy the puppy nipping at her, jumping on her, and probably really didn't like the puppy getting all sorts of attention that she used to get when she was the only dog in the apartment.  The end result was that Shellie got irritated with the puppy and her family put her in a shelter. 

The American Shetland Sheepdog Association has been funding research into Shellie's disease.  Texas A&M is one of the very active research locations. 

Because the disease is being so well controlled on this medication you can hardly see any evidence of it.  If you look closely at Shellie's face in the photos there are places around her eyes that look different - darker.  The hair has actually fallen out of these few spots.  The symptoms of this disease are bare patches especially around the face.  Shellie sees a doggie dermatologist once a year to check out her DM and re-fill our prescription.  This disease is not contagious in anyway either to other dogs or to people.  It's an inherited disease.  Shellie was born with this condition which didn't show itself until she was about 5 years of age.  So you can purchase a Sheltie that appears to be free of this disease and years later discover that your Sheltie has DM.

Shellie's medication is a pill that she takes with breakfast, with dinner, and at bedtime.  She needs to have some food with this pill to buffer the medication so it doesn't upset her tummy. 

Shellie is very well behaved and very, very well house-trained.  She is reliable when left on her own in the house when we're gone.  All Shellie wants out of life is a Mom or Dad (or both) who will give her the love and attention that she deserves. Shellie is VERY loving and affectionate.  She hangs out near me wherever I am.  She watches what I'm doing all the time.  Shellie is a wonderful confidante --- she's never given up any secrets that I've told her in confidence!  She's great to talk to after a long day and is very sympathetic if things go wrong.  She'll love you with all her heart - unconditionally.

If you'd like more information on Shellie feel free to contact us at 801-942-4762.  If you think you might like to adopt Shellie please go to our website http://SheltieRescueUT.org and register and fill out our Application for Adoption.

 

 

Good with Dogs, Good with Cats