Gracie May

by Roberta E
(Jeffersonville, Ohio)

Gracie at 6 months...

Boy did I Love Labs and Boxers!!! All my life, I had been around these two amazing breeds. I had NO idea there even was such a breed as the Australian Shepard... My cousin did have a very strange looking dog when we were growing up that had no tail, was an odd gray color, and, bless her heart, had no teeth. (She WAS a very old farm dog.)

But, in the last few years, my hectic life style hasn’t permitted me to even have a dog, so I have went without.

When a friend asked me if I would go with him to look a puppy, I didn’t think anything about it… who doesn’t LOVE puppies, and I had no plans on getting one. As they played, tumbled and chased, I must have touched each one a hundred times. They were absolutely WONDERFUL. They were a litter primarily of black tri colored, and a couple of red tri thrown in the mix.

We had it narrowed down between two when I looked over at the side of a neighboring kennel and saw two blue eyes staring out at me. She was the runt of that litter, really tiny compared to her litter mates, not very social and VERY curious as to what I was doing.

As I walked over, she came running out at me as fast as her little legs would take her and as she was handed to me I Knew I was in trouble. I wasn’t even READY for a puppy… but I took Gracie home anyway and haven’t looked back since!!! That was a year ago.

Now, I did have to research the breed once I had her… something I would not encourage in ANY situation, ALWAYS research before… but...

WHAT AN EASY PUPPY!!! I know that there has been work, but BOY, do these dogs learn fast! I can’t even put into words the difference in training. Truly, the only problem that we are having is her shyness with strangers… That is something we try to conquer everyday.

You have before you a reformed Aussie lover!!! She has tons of personality and makes each day better. Oh, she’s strong willed and can talk back, but the positives outweigh the negatives. She doesn’t even let her size slow her down… She can put the “Smack Down” on her brother who outweighs her by 20lbs! (My friend came home with a litter mate. He is also the most amazing pup... I've never met a male just so unconditionally LOVING!)

Thank God I’m somewhat active… We have started agility training, we have an attachment for my bike so she can run alongside, and take walks everyday. Exercise sessions are not extremely long, but they do work the energy out of her.

Almost a year has gone by and I would do it again, and again. Gracie is sassy and somewhat spoiled. She has become the sparkle of my dull life, and I wouldn’t trade her for all the money in the world.

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