
“Thanks so much to everyone at TOAH for choosing our dear 12-year-old Labradoodle, Shelbie, for Pet of the Month! We are grateful to everyone one of you for all of your love and support of Shelbie through her yearly visits and her home away from home when we have needed you take care of her. We appreciate you all so much!
I’m not sure everyone at TOAH remembers how we met Shelbie. We were blessed to rescue her as a puppy through Pet Rescue by Judy, and our dear friend, Karen Marino (who has since passed away, but was working at TOAH when Shelbie was examined by the vets…. thank you Karen….we miss you dearly).
Our oldest son and I had been very interested in finding a Labradoodle and Karen told us about Shelbie. We were only going to make the visit to see our first Labradoodle, but everyone knows how that story goes. Our youngest son could actually fit in the kennel with Shelbie at our visit and his arms were tightly wrapped around her body for thirty minutes. This cute scenario of course brought her more attention and other people were ready and lined up to adopt if we decided to go home.
Well, we did go home and Shelbie came with us…… and we are forever grateful for that decision we made twelve years ago!
I think everyone needs to nurture at LEAST one dog in their lives and I’m sure our world would be a better place because of the love you share with your furry friend! Shelbie reminds us daily of so many important things and teaches us new tricks as well! She reminds us of the importance of being active as she still walks us two to three miles a day! I know part of the reason she is so healthy is because of her love for exercise! Remarkably, she has been able to maintain her same weight her whole life!
Shelbie also reminds us of the importance of family and her love for eating dinner together as a family. She is a grazer and her dry food is available all day, but on most days, she waits to eat when we all sit down for dinner. She can sometimes be heard adding to our family conversations with her humming and we know she is feeling very content and loved.
Shelbie does love us unconditionally and prompts us to do the same. She has the ultimate ability to forgive and forget that we all long to possess, yet at the same time has this protective gene like a mama bear protecting her family……probably because she knows she is a family member and that’s just what you do for family.
Shelbie is happiest, I know, when we are all together and we are thankful she will be in many of our favorite memories through the years as our boys were both growing up in Winter Springs. We are happy she has been a part of many of our road trips too as I know she still thinks we are all just in one big kennel together enjoying each other……and that’s one of the most important things she has taught us. Life is short. Cherish every moment and each other!”