We are loving Shiraz. She is such a good girl – so playful and energetic and sleeps like a (puppy) angel. She brings us so much laughter and joy. She can be so expressive and silly.

I was wondering if you still had the original picture of her that you had online. She was standing in the snow. This was the first picture I saw of her and I immediately fell in love with her. I knew she was the one. The other picture you had of her the day later was also beautiful, but the
first one is the one that melted my heart. If you do have it, could you email me the picture. I will be so grateful.

Attached are a few pictures of her in her new home. She has the run of the house, comfortable anywhere and everywhere and she loves to nap beside her new
daddy, Daniel.

Update July '15

It was a year ago yesterday since we adopted beautiful Shiraz. We decided to change her name because she didn't seem like a Shiraz to us and we wanted her name to have a softer sound; we named her Shila. Her name means gift for her. And she is most definitely a gift. She has given us joy beyond measure and I know we are a gift to her as well. She has changed so much in a year. With lots of love and persistent training she is an incredible girl. Her recall was a challenge. She would come to us about 90% of the time when we called her name. It was a little frustrating that we couldn't trust her, but I knew that she just needed time to trust us and to know she could count on us.

When we clued in that it wasn't about her being defiant, but instead because she was so engrossed in what she was sniffing that she didn't hear us, we thought of getting a referee whistle. Well the whistle gets her attention, and within a couple of days training and some steak bit treats she now comes running when called. She is off leash in the yard now when we are home and she is so happy. Even when she is on leash she is quite content. We have also trained her to heel, to spin, to roll over, to cuddle, to stop, wait, slow down, sit, stay, shake hands. She is so obedient and so eager to please.

Shila is so energetic. I take her for a 2-3 mile walk every morning and after supper we go for a 3 mile walk or a 5 mile bike ride. We hold on to the leash and she runs alongside my husband, Daniel, and I. She is so good walking and running on the leash. She is so well behaved now that we can go for walks and bike rides with her off leash as well. She loves to swim in the ditch (we have had so much rain this summer) and we also walk her down by the river along our farm and let her play, swim and cool off.

This past winter I purchased some snowshoes and we would be out every day regardless of how cold it was, walking in the snow for an hour or more. Shila loves the snow and cold, and considering how long and snowy the winter was, those snowshoes were used often and with love. Her favorite toy is the Kong Wubba. She squeaks the heck out of that thing and is always ready to fetch it. She also has fun playing with the calves in their pen and of course, chasing cats. She has also had a couple of encounters with skunks. Thankfully she only caught a mist of the spray. After a good shampoo and rinse which she desperately wanted and appreciated she was good to go. Supreme Odour Control shampoo really works!!!! Every couple of months she has a play date with the neighbour's golden retriever, Tucker. We dog sit for them and they dog sit for us. They are quite the golden pair.

I cannot say enough about how much joy she has brought us. She is so beautiful and has an incredible personality, her face says it all. She is very playful and she can be so silly with her antics, she has us laughing. And yes cuddling with her is the best. That she feels safe in our arms, that she loves us, we are her Mommy and Daddy, well words cannot even express. We feel like she is a Godsend. And to think out of all the dogs I viewed online, she was the one that tugged on my heart strings. I could hardly believe that on the Saturday when we first met her, I fell in love with her instantly. I had to have Shiraz. We signed the papers that day and were able to take her home. It all seemed to happen so fast. I saw her picture on a Thursday and welcomed her into our family, our hearts two days later. She has changed our lives. I saw a quote a few days ago, it said, "A dog may not be your whole life, but a dog makes your life
whole". She has filled our hearts to overflowing.

I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you.

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