Sunny and his Favorite Toy

 

Sunny has decided my leather sandal, with my foot still in it, is his current favorite chew toy. We were enjoying a peaceful rest in the garden when Sunny discovered his new toy.  After gently disengaging my foot from his teeth several times to no avail I had to go back in the house to get him his real favorite toy.  As you can see, he is not impressed!

Time to rest after the backyard patrol

 

The weather lately has been really pleasant and we have been taking advantage of sitting outside with the dogs.  Usually Sunny is out on the grass, walking around and checking the fence line for intruders. He loves to roll around in the grass and then will sit under the maple tree in the shade.  When the sun isn't blazing down and heating up the patio stones, he will sit by one of us and simply watch what is going on.

Sunny Patrolling the Backyard

 

In Sunny's previous home, he was assigned the role of yard patrol - keeping an eye out for visitors (human and furry) walking by the fence. Our back yard has a high fence with limited visibility to the other side but Sunny is determined to patrol our yard at least once or twice when we are outside.  The other two dogs stretch out comfortably on the lawn watching Sunny walk by, wondering why he isn't "chilling" with them. 

Sunny's new leash

Every time a new dog joins our family we have always gone out to buy a special leash that matches his/her characteristics.  Madi, our little princess, has a purple leash with silver designs to match her fancy little prance when she is headed out on our walk.  Seumas was our first male puppy (only puppy actually) so he has worn his deep blue leash for the past 11 years.

It was a different scenario with Sunny.  About 3 years ago I was drawn to this beautiful leash when I saw it at the pet store.  We didn't need a leash and it would have been too big for any of the dogs we already had but for some reason I had to buy it.  I put it away in a box for safe keeping and there it sat.  When Sunny arrived at our house I knew this leash was meant for him.  The orange backing goes well with his ginger coat and the leash has yellow circles mixed in with the other circles that remind me of little bright suns.
 

Sunny meets his new furry siblings

 A large back yard is a great place for Sunny to get to know his two new pack members. Seumas, the elder, is in the middle and Madi, the "baby" of the family, is to the right.  They welcomed Sunny in right away but he was a little wary at first.  Seumas wanted to keep sniffing Sunny's face but Sunny decided that was a little too close for comfort!  But they all had a chance to enjoy some fresh air and a wander around the yard.

Sunny joins the family

 

On July 7, 2023 we met Sunny for the first time.  Sunny is a handsome 7 year old sable shetland sheepdog (sheltie) who was being re-homed and looking for a loving family. We lost our 17 year old sheltie Sophie earlier in the year and had a hole in our hearts and our home.  We had seen Sunny's photo on the rescue site facebook page and we thought he would be a perfect fit for our two shelties, aged 5 and 11. We had the opportunity to speak with his owner, who introduced us to Sunny and described Sunny's history over the past few years.  As soon as we saw Sunny's face we were hooked!