Cheyanne

The last of our furry four legged herd is our new-ish puppy Cheyanne. The look you see to the left is something along the lines of the look that landed her here with us. We had just moved and had a busy summer of unpacking, clearing land, fixing up the house, drill competitions, fencing and stall making ahead of us and had no intention of adding a puppy to that. For some reason one day we got it in our heads that we could do a grown up dog though. No clue why. We got to checking out local pounds and various ads for dogs available for adoption and came across a local ad for a lady that had an adult Australian Shepherd as well as a litter of 8 puppies. We figured we could atleast go check out the adult, see what Aussies were all about. We have both always been interested in them, but were a little worried about their energy level and having problems with a herding dog wanting to chase the horses every where.



By the time we arrived we were both pretty well convinced we were just going to look. We didn't really want an adult, atleast not this one, he apparently had some issues. So we arrived and all the puppies ran to the gate to greet us. Going to look at puppies without planning to buy is like going to a decent horse auction with a trailer and saying you don't HAVE to get anything. Should have known better! This little girl immediately caught my attention. I've always had a soft spot for black tri's. She was also the runt of the litter and me and runts have a pretty good history. She was the only one who's white collar didn't go all the way around her neck and the lady called it her lucky horse shoe. How cute is that?!? But really, her personality is absolutely what made me melt! She was having fun playing with her siblings, but was the first one to come when you talked to them or knelt down. She was also independent and at one point wandered off a ways and crawled thru or under the horse fence. The seller saw that and called her name and she immediately came running back and sat down when asked. At 8 weeks old. Cutest thing you ever saw! She was the happiest and sweetest puppy of the bunch, but definately had a different air about her. We just sat and watched them all for a while, just to get a feel for them and we kept catching ourselves watching her. By the time we were getting ready to leave, she had plopped herself on their big doggie bed and was out like a light. She didn't care when her brothers ended up wrestling practically on top of her, she loved her bed and was completely comfortable there. Until we knelt down to say goodbye to them. She came right over and got her share of lovins!





All the way home we were torn. She had completely stolen our hearts, but we hadn't planned on a puppy. They are high maintenance. Did we want that? Were we ready for that? Could we give her the attention she deserved over the summer while we had so many other things to do? We slept on it and woke up the next morning knowing we had to have her. She just fit us. We went and picked her up a couple days later. She has been a fabulous addition to our little family! She is always happy to see us and more then happy to keep us company while we're working outside. She is very smart and learns very quickly, which so far hasn't been a bad thing. She has gotten in trouble for chasing horses a couple times, but I think Sugar started it. I can't tell if Sugar is playing with her or wanting to run her over, but she sure knows how to antagonize the poor dog when she's trying to be good!

Cheyanne was hilarious to watch play in the dirt while we were clearing the property! She would find a clump of grass or clod of dirt and run around with it like it was the most fun thing in the entire world. Or she'd hear a mole or something in the ground and sit and listen and dig and listen and sniff and dig. She also did awesome at the drill competitions she had to come to with me while dad ran the dozer at home. She had a blast playing with all the little kids I was able to pawn her off on when I had a class. She was great when she had to stay in her kennel in the trailer by herself at night. She became more comfortable with a couple of the other team dogs that were there and by the end of the weekend was even wanting to play a little bit.

It has been really fun watching her grow and become more social. The first time I took her to the vet she hid between my legs as much as she possibly could or tried to climb in my lap or right up around my neck when she was on the table. The last time we were there, she walked in confidently and tried walking right up to a HUGE Husky that was waiting there to say hi. I had to say no-no on that one. Mom wasn't quite comfortable with that. He looked nice enough but he could have practically swallowed her whole!

I also love it that she lets me take tons and tons of pictures of her and never complains. She is a very entertaining subject!

So even though we absolutely had not planned on having her, I'm SO glad we do!