Hi all – Shelby here. It has been ten weeks (Ten Weeks! Can you believe this!), since joining my forever family. The past two weeks have been filled with joy, but also sadness and I have learned a lot about being the puppy of the family.

We had a very good Christmas; the best part being that Mom and Dad stayed home with us all day. We had snow and ice that day and I had my very first run in the snow. It was cold, but it was so fun trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue and skidding across the icy patio! Oh, and Santa brought us very fun presents! New squeaky toys, new balls to chase, and new and yummy treats! I guess we are a bit spoiled!

The week after Christmas we headed back to “the cottage” in Nye Beach. It is fun going back to a place we’ve been, where we know where the food and water bowls are, and that we would be going to the beach to chase seagulls! We arrived on Friday during a big storm with lots of rain and wind, wind so loud we couldn’t hear the ocean. But we were safe in front of the fireplace, and we stayed toasty warm. On the way, we made a stop in a place called Turner to see Mom and Dad’s friends Mary and Jack, and their puppy Miss Foxy Lady. This was so much fun and Miss Foxy looked just like us – well mostly she looked like Lincoln and could have been his sister. Then it was on to the beach! That first night, Dad tried to teach us how to walk up the stairs to go to bed, but we would have nothing to do with this, they were too steep and scary. Only Porsche knew about stairs and ran up easily, while poor Dad, really got a workout, carrying the rest of us up the stairs one at a time!

Saturday was the best day of all our beach days I can remember! The sun was out and we all went to the beach! There was no wind and we ran and played with Porsche leading the pack. Mom and Dad kept me on my long leash, because you know I am still learning to come back. But, the other three pups were free to run and I did pretty well keeping up with them even on my leash! It was early in the morning and there weren’t too many people and only a few other puppies on the beach. This is probably good because I am still learning the “No Bark” rule! We played for a long time and walked a long way. When we came off the beach, Mom and Dad took us on a walk around Nye Beach. The shops were just starting to open and lots of people waved and smiled when they saw the six of us. I guess they had never seen such a big pack of ShihTzu puppies before. Porsche was our leader and would go into the open doors as if she belonged there and likely she did. The people were nice and gave us treats, but none were as good as the treats from Mom and Dad. We had a really great day and Mom and Dad’s friends, Mary and John came to stay with us for the holiday.

But when we woke up on Sunday, something didn’t seem right. When Porsche woke up she was sick, she wouldn’t take any food (which was not like my big sister) and even water made her sick. We could tell Mom and Dad were very worried. They ran to the store and bought some baby food and some rice thinking this might help, but she had no interest. They called the animal hospital in Portland about what was happening. Nearly all day, Mom sat with Porsche in the rocking chair in front of the big glass window, so Porsche could watch the ocean. Mom talked softly to Porsche about how brave she was and how Beemer was waiting for her when it was time. Beemer was our older brother who died from acute leukemia four years ago, just before Lincoln came to our family. I didn’t know Beemer, but sometimes Mom tells me I do things just like Beemer did – she says sometimes she thinks “I am channeling” him. I’m not sure what this means, but Mom always says this with a smile. My big sister Porsche, looked so small and fragile and my Mom was so sad. Telsa, Lincoln, and I, all stayed close and it was a quiet day, even at the stroke of midnight that began the new year it was quiet, although Mom and Dad made sure to kiss and we all got kisses too.

Mom stayed up all night with Porsche holding her, reassuring her and comforting her. Porsche was very weak and Mom said her heart was racing. At times her breathing was so fast, but she calmed down when Mom would comfort her. We were so worried for our sister. We stayed at the end of the bed and were being as good as we could be. Mom finally dozed a little around 8am, but close to 9am she noticed Porsche’s breathing had changed. Our Mom is a nurse, so she knows to watch for these things. It was minutes later that Mom woke Dad to tell him their sweet girl was gone. I went to give Mom a morning kiss and her cheeks were wet and salty, I hadn’t tasted this on my Mom before.

Mom and Dad took us downstairs and then outside, while Porsche stayed in the bedroom. I really didn’t understand what was happening and I kept looking for my sister, but I couldn’t find her. I went from bed to bed and room-to-room, I stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened, but I couldn’t hear her. We had one more day at the beach, but Mom and Dad decided it was time to come home. The car was all packed and we were ready to go secure in our puppy area. It was then that Mom and Dad brought out Porsche wrapped in her favorite blanket. She looked like she was sleeping, but I couldn’t wake her. We laid next to her on the way home and we were all very sad. Mom held all of us pups and explained how Porsche had crossed the Rainbow Bridge and was now with our oldest brother, Beemer, and was now running free. The thought of this made us happy, even in our sadness.

Mom and Dad have received many notes about Porsche leaving for the Rainbow Bridge and our neighbors and friends have been so thoughtful and caring, one neighbor even bringing us a yummy cake with a likeness of Porsche on the icing. I need to remember not to not bark at them the next time we are out walking, they have been so very nice.

This week we have been learning what Mom calls a “new normal”. Mom and Dad have been sad and are missing their oldest girl, and every morning and night Mom and Dad give us extra love and kisses. It has been hard. But I have learned something important through this. I watched both Mom and Dad take care of Porsche when she was sick and I watched how their hearts hurt once she died. I learned about unconditional love from my Mom and Dad this week and how much they love each of us. Through all this heartache I now understand how much I am loved and why I am a very blessed little girl.

Good night friends. More soon..