Kimmi

Kimmi is such a character. Kimmi started her life as a show dog like Marcus. The problem with Kimmi in the show ring was she was not within the sheltie standard. By the time she was 1, her nose was way to big for a sheltie, and she was a little to tall as well. When she was a puppy she was fine and placed in a few shows. Kimmi was retired at a very young age, and it was hoped that she could be used as a breeding bitch. This did not work out, because Kimmi, although a wonderful mom, would suffocate her babies. Kimmi spent a lot of time in a city that actually allows (trust me I was stunned when I read about this too), neighbors to shoot or take whatever means to “quiet a barking dog.” Shelties are barkers, and loud annoying barking at that Folks who had had her apparently scolded the dogs when they barked and insisted on quiet. Kimmi seemed to want to be certain that she and her puppies were quiet, so she would lay on them to keep them quiet. This resulted in her suffocating her pups. It broke my heart when I heard this. Kimmi came to me the same time Marcus did.. She was the most timid animal I had ever seen. She spent her days crouching beside the couch. It took months for Kimmi to feel comfortable enough to come out and interact with me. It has now been 2 years and she is the one I cannot get to lay still. She chases the other dogs around the house, barks and wants to play all the time and has taken on the “alpha” female position. She is very good at it, and steps in whenever Marcus and his son fight. The other dogs also protect her fiercely if they think she is in trouble. I recently added another "kid" to the pack. At first Kimmi was not quite sure what to do with the newest arrival. It's been three weeks now and Kimmi finally understands that Fancee is here to stay. Although Kimmi is not as protective of her as are the others, she does like to sleep near her during the day. She comes running if Fancee makes a noise (especially if I accidentally step on Fancee), and will check Fancee over to make sure she is ok. Once she is happy with everything she will lay near Fancee just to make sure all is ok I find it rather funny that Kimmi is the youngest female in the group, but acts like the "little mama" to all the kids. Kimmi has also decided she needs to be up on the bed at dinner time. Dinner is when they get chicken and broth on their food. Kimmi was going from bowl to bowl to see if anyone had any goodies there, since she scarfs down her chicken and broth and leaves the kibble as a last resort. The other dogs were not very pleased with her foraging in their bowls. Now Kimmi has joined Marcus on the bed so she can survey the bowls from above. Too funny. I think Kimmi knows she is safer up on the bed, then down on the floor near the others food.

Kimmi has recently decided that Fancee is getting to much attention,. If Fancee is being loved on Kimmi wants a piece of the action too. She will "limp" up to you just like Fancee does and stare at you. If you do not immediately pay attention to her, her limp gets a little worse. She sure knows how to play the game

June 2006, Kimmi's long time companion of 8 years (Marcus) passed this month. The day we had to have Marcus put to rest, Kimmi went in and jumped in his kennel and laid her head on his backside. She always did that when Marcus was in the hospital. She and Marcus were called "The old married couple" by all who saw them together, including the hospital staff. Kimmi is grieving pretty bad for her "hubby", and will sit near his bed and "talk to him" like he was still there. I hope Kimmi will get over this in time. It was 8 years that these two were together. My dear alpha Kimmi, now is the mom to all here.