life with shamus

sooo....this is the first time i've been able to sit down and write about my adorable, sweet, smart, hellion of a puppy!
taylor and i had been looking at miniature australian shepherds for about a year off and on, but after an awesome weekend in denver with adam, jamie, liz, and the smith's dog luna, we both decided we were 100% ready. we got home from denver last monday, immediately got on the net to 'seriously' look for our dog, and just couldn't find the perfect one....but pretty much at the same time we both perked up at the thought of getting a full size aussie instead of a mini. it was sort of a 'duh' moment for both of us. since we were so ready to be pet parents, that extra 15-20 pounds really wasn't an issue anymore, and regular aussies seemed like the better choice for a number of other reasons. so i googled australian shepherd breeders in kansas and missouri, and ran across our man! the perfect color, ready the next day at eight weeks old, male, about $400 less than most of the other breeders we were looking at and only 3 hours away! everything on our list! we called and arranged to meet in macon, missouri the next day. i skipped class for the second day in a row, got in the car, and came home 5 and a half hours later with a dog! it all happened so fast but it was just too good to be true! and when we saw him, it was even better. Shamus O'Toole McCue Hartley rode home on my lap, sweetly endured the longest, most indecisive trip to petsmart ever, met my mom and dad, slept through the night in his kennel, and became the love of our lives!!

over the six days we have had him, he has:
 - been taken outside probably 100+ times, and pees EVERY time
- visited three vets to pick out his fave, then made his parents extremely happy by deciding to be painfully tired during his actual vet visit so that he seemed like the best dog ever but really he was just half passed out
- been dragged on about eight walks where his herding instincts run rampant so he runs right into your ankles....and me being the paranoid first time puppy owner seriously thought he was blind....thank god i was just dumb.
- been the pickiest little dude ever with treats, we had to go through four kinds to get it right. snob. :)
- made his mom talk to people in her "dog praise" voice on accident...
- had two play dates with gus, my family's 11 year old moron of a dog who is scared shitless of this 9 pound puppy who herds him around the back yard and steals his kong.
- made an appearance at the UMKC law softball tournament, therefore making taylor and i the most popular people there
- visibly grown. a lot. he won't be small for long at all!
- been liking me and taylor equally!! yes! i was so nervous i'd be second in line to my dog whisperer of a husband :)

he's a TON of work but so worth it!

posing for the camera. really, he does it!

please ignore my strange bang-thang.

p.s. my name is pronounced "shay-miss" or "shay-mus". i'm not a female orca whale named "shamoo". it is an alternate spelling of the irish name seamus, the gaelic equivalent of james. yeah, i'm a bad ass.