The Story of Shelby the Siberian Husky

In July of 2007, Shiloh became very very sick. She developed an internal digestive tract infection. Our vet did not know if she would pull through this sickness. Needless to say, we were heartbroken. We did everything we could and gave her all the medicines they prescribed her. Fortunately, Shiloh survived this big scare in life, but it made us think about what we would do if we did lose her. One day, not long after Shiloh was given the all-clear by the vet, I saw an ad for Siberian Husky puppies in the local newspaper. I told my sister about it, and she said we should at least go look at them. She had never seen a husky puppy in person, and thought it would be fun just to go look. So, I told my husband, and he said he wasn’t interested in going, but to go ahead and go look. We drove to the breeders house, about 15 miles away, to check out the puppies. There was a litter of 5 puppies. The conditions they were in, were not the greatest. The woman owned 9 Huskies, and said that this breeding wasn’t planned, it was an accident. The mother of the puppies was 9 years old! She should never have had a litter this old! The puppies were just living in the mud underneath the dog house! The only upside was, all of the dogs were very healthy, well fed, and had housing.

The mother, father, and Grandmother of the puppies were all on site, and they were all very friendly and healthy.  I really didn’t think my husband would let me get a puppy, but I fell in love with a little boy (yes, Shelby is a girl, now keep reading).  He was very shy and timid, and reminded me of how Shiloh was when we first got her.

I went home that night, and showed my husband the pictures of the puppies, but he didn’t have much to say.  The next day when he got home from work, he asked me if I wanted to go back and see the puppies, needless to say, I was thrilled!  We drove back to the breeder’s house so he could meet the dog that I picked out.

We played with all the puppies, checked them out. My husband picked up a few and put them down, but one puppy, in particular, would not leave him alone. Every time he pushed her to play with the other puppies, she came back to him and sat at his feet. I had a feeling we would not be taking home the little boy that I had picked.

We agreed to get the female.  She was fun, playful, and completely opposite of Shiloh.  My husband said she would be more like a “Dog” because I always tease Shiloh about being a cat.  Shelby was only 5 weeks old, so we couldn’t take her home yet, even though the mother was rejecting all the puppies.

1 week after our 5 year wedding anniversary, we went back to pick up Shelby. She was only 6 weeks old, but it was time for her to come home.  The day before we picked her up, her Mom attacked her, and she now has a small tooth mark scar above her right eye, and below her right ear.  The first place we took her was to the vet to get looked at.  He said there would be scarring, and could possibly be damaged from the injury.  We did have a few scares with her eyes after that, but the vet said it was due to the trauma, and she would be fine.  And so far he was right!

Shelby is the big Clown in the family! She is vocal, hyper, and LOVES attention. She thinks everything has to be about her! Since we got her, Shiloh has started eating better, and even become more active. She does put her foot down when Shelby gets a bit too riled up, but all in all, I think Shiloh is happy to have her around. Shelby is my silly girl! We love her dearly!!

In January of 2011, we entered both Shiloh and Shelby into the Bissell Most Valued Pet Photo Contest.  Shelby placed 3rd in the week of her voting, and Shiloh placed 2nd in her week, which put both dogs into the Final Round of the contest!  Only 60 pets NATIONWIDE made it into the finals!

In April of 2011, we got the phone call from Bissell that Shelby had won 3rd place in the finals! She won a $1,000 donation to the Animal Shelter of our choice (Huron Humane Society of Alpena), and she got a full photoshoot and was to be featured on a Bissell product package!

In the Fall of 2011 the package was finally released! It is only available at Target, but Shelby is the the Lift-Off Multi Cyclonic Pet Vacuum Cleaner! The photo you see here is of her next to the box that she was featured on!