Meet Archito!!!

When we lost our Doberman, Raven, earlier this month our home felt so empty. One evening while sitting on the front porch, I noticed several of our neighbors walking their dogs and my heart ached so badly that I ran inside the house crying. Yes, I did plan on getting another dog or puppy when I was "ready", I really didn't want to rush into it. When I mentioned the crying incident to both Carlos and my sister, they both said the same thing: "Lynne, it sounds like you're ready for another dog."

I was hoping to find a dog at one of the local shelters, but they seemed to be full of mostly pit bulls and pit bull mixes and I was afraid such a dog might hurt our cat, Jeter. Also I wanted something smaller and less agressive, because both our home and yard are definitely what one would call "cozy" and I didn't think a large dog would be happy here. And I simply did not want an agressive dog. Although Raven was a Doberman, she was very sweet and gentle, and also very petite for her breed. We were very fortunate with her.

So we searched a bit and found this cute little guy. He's a Sheltie aka Shetland Sheepdog. We had one a few years back and enjoyed "Archie" so much that we decided to get another one. Carlos named him "Archito" (little Archie) in honor of our former dog.




He's six months old and he's soooo smart! I've always loved Shelties, especially their long noses:



He's slightly smaller than our cat and our vet doesn't think he is going to get much bigger, so I'm sure Jeter is going to be happy about that.



This little guy sure keeps me on my toes; he has lots of energy. The last time I raised a Sheltie puppy I lost quite a bit of weight trying to keep up with the little pooch. That's another reason we decided to get another Sheltie. I'm happy to report that so far I have lost four pounds on the "Shetland Sheepdog Puppy Diet and Exercise Program"!