I was fresh out of college when I came home and my parents told me our dog 'Brandi' was going to have puppies and that my favourite dog 'Buddy' was the father. It was something that was never meant to happen, Brandi was just a pup herself but she went into heat earlier than expected.Buddy was a Black Lab/German Shepherd cross with a beautiful inside and out. Brandi was a Rhodesian Ridgeback cross with the most stunning face I have ever seen, I knew these pups would be amazing dogs!

On June 28,2002 nine beautiful puppies were born. The runt died unfortunately, but the others were healthy and happy. I KNEW I would be keeping at least one of the puppies, I was their 'surrogate' mommy as I like to say, so I had the pick of the litter. I watched them grow up and go to loving homes one by one, pondering day and night which one would be my first puppy that was all mine. I couldn't get one particular puppy out of my head. She was a bit smaller than the others, with a beautiful black coat and a white blaze on her chest with just a tiny bit of white under her chin. She looked kind of like our first family dog 'Sammy' complete with huge floppy ears and gorgeous brown eyes. There was something about this 'Sammy Dog' that told me she would be a great dog. I also got the feeling she may have health problems down the road, she had this wheezing while she slept. I decided she was the one.

I named her 'Shelby Elizabeth' Elizabeth being Sammy's middle name, from the time she was ten weeks old she slept in my room on my bed every day. She loved playing with her dad, but her mom's disposition changed dramatically. Brandi would attack Shelby and not in a playful way. We had to keep the two of them separated from then on. Within the year of Shelby's life she had gotten tangled up with a porcupine, swallowed her string toy whole and been sprayed by a skunk. She was energetic, playful, cuddly and truly the best friend I could ever have. She followed me everywhere, I trained her well and she was eager to please not wanting me to be out of her sight and wagging her tail in circles when she saw me.

Two years passed since the day Shelby was born, I was still living at home but I had a job and a boyfriend(who was sometimes jealous of Shelby). I noticed that Shelby had thrown up a couple of times in the past day or so but I assumed it would pass. The next day it got worse, Shelby was wretching and wouldn't eat so I took her to the vet. They did X-rays and bloodwork finally revealing that Shelby had a Diaphrgmatic Hernia, a hole in her diaphragm. The wretching was a result of Shelby's intestines, stomache,etc. making there way into her chest cavity causing a lot difficulty breathing. The vet said they could do surgery but it would be $3000-$4000 depending how bad her organs were twisted when they went in, she had a less than 50% chance of surviving the surgery. As a young girl just starting out not making very much I couldn't afford the surgery, the vet said Shelby had a 1% chance of her organs moving out of her chest cavity, which would MAYBE save her life. He suggested I put her down, I made the appointment for the next day and took her home with me so that we could say goodbye. As a last ditch effort, I stopped at the store and got some canned dog food. I stayed up with Shelby all night rubbing her belly while she was heaving trying to comfort her, I didn't want to miss a single second with my girl. The next day I put some food out for her and low and behold she ate it. I was thrilled!! I called the vet and he said that as long as she was eating she could stay at home but if she got worse I HAD to bring her back in. I took LOTS of pictures of her just incase she didn't recover, I wanted to remember my sweet Shelby. I stayed up with her every night for nearly a week making sure she was okay. The vet called everyday to see how Shelby was doing and to remind me that it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to her condition.

Days went by and then weeks and then months, my Shelby did it!! She beat the odds! I truly believe that our bond and my love for her helped give her the stregth she needed to fight to survive. She had the amazing will to live and to thrive! She was a miracle!! The time came when I needed to take Shelby to the vet for her regular checkup and booster shots. The vet could NOT believe that Shelby had overcome such terrible odds, everyone there called her 'Shelby The Wonderdog'!! I was so proud and blessed to have Shelby in my life.

Years passed and I grew up, bought a house, got married, and adopted at cat. In fact,my new husband and I had just gotten back from our honeymoon when Shelby started acting strangely. Less than a week later I found out I was expecting our first child! Our connection was so strong that Shelby knew I was pregnant before I did!! When I finally went into labour Shelby was terrified, I was in distress and she did NOT like it one bit. While I was in the hospital with our brand new baby girl, my friend who had been looking after Shelby said she hadn't been eating. It took a couple of weeks but slowly she did start eating again as things settled down. She would get up with me for night time feedings and sat by my side when I had the baby blues. I don't know how I would have gotten through those first few weeks without her.

Shelby loved our daughter very much, in the daytime the baby would nap in her cradle in the living room and Shelby would be asleep right beside the cradle the whole time. She would nose the baby while she was in her swing and they would play together on the floor all the time. Of course Shelby especially loved when the baby got old enough for solid food, that meant she would get some food droppings. When the baby was learning to walk Shelby knocked her down many times but the baby didn't mind, she loved her Shelby. Finally the baby was learning to talk and after 'momma' and 'dadda' she was soon saying 'Shelshie'! After a few months and a lot of practice she finally said 'Shelby'. She loved to call Shelby in from outside and refused to go down for a nap or bed without first saying good night to Shelby and giving her a hug and a kiss. Shelby was very tolerant of the now two year old even when she was enjoying a well deserved nap on 'Shelby's couch'. Our daughter loved to brush Shelby and throw the ball for her. I had taught her to pet Shelby nice and gentle from head to tail and that's what she did and Shelby loved it.

At this point, I had miscarried our second child at eleven weeks and I was inconsolable, except by Shelby. She always made me feel better and cheered me up. She refused to let me be sad. If at anytime during her life she heard me crying, she would come running over wagging her tail in circles trying to lick my face. She gave me the strength I needed to get a through a terribly devastating time.

A few months went by and now Shelby was eight and a half years old. She had had her wretching spells but the vet told us to keep her calm and that should help. I noticed that Shelby had been wretching again but I assumed it would pass like all the other times. I was wrong, we rushed her to the doggie emerg and she was getting weaker and weaker. The vet did X-rays and discovered that her organs had again moved up into her chest cavity making it difficult for her to breathe. The vet also found that Shelby had a terrible case of bloatand her stomache was twisted, to top it all off her heart was extremely enlarged. We knew what this meant and we were devastated. The vet told us that they needed to do surgery to fix her her hernia and try and un-twist her stomache but that thisa was very complicated because of her enlarged heart she most likely would not live through the surgery.

We made the decision to put our beloved Shelby dog down. They allowed us to have some time alone with her to say our goodbyes, it broke my heart when our two year old daughter hugged Shelby, gave her a kiss and said in her sweet little voice'Goodbye Shelby, I love you' I realized that she wouldn't remember Shelby in a couple of months, she wouldn't remember what great friends they were or how much they loved eachother. My husband took our daughter out and I stayed with Shelby. I kissed her, breathed in her scent and gave her one last big hug. I told her I would always love her, that she would always be in my heart and I thanked her for being her for the past eight and a half years.

On February 21, 2011 we said goodbye knowing that we would be together again someday. I stayed with her the whole time holding her head in my lap telling her she wouldn't be in pain anymore. That was four days ago and I miss my Shelby dog terribly. I miss everything about her but I know that letting her go was the right thing to do and that I never took one single day with my beautiful, loving Shelby for granted. I know without a doubt in my mind that I gave Shelby the absolute best of me and that she knew it. I miss every thing about her, the way her ears looked when she was happy, her smile, her scent, her tags jingling on her collar and the way she was always right under my feet.

I love you Shelby Elizabeth, my Shelby the Wonderdog. You will always be in my heart and my mind and we will see each other again some day I promise. This story is dedicated to you.