This week we feature Zion's Sun Devil, an ISSR Shiloh Shepherd, NB3 brown sable plus.
Her people just call her Sunny.
The ISSR Shiloh Shepherd is a rare breed started by Tina Barber; Sunny came from Tina.
You cannot buy a real ISSR Shiloh Shepherd from a pet store, you have to go
through a breeder.
Sunny's person-mom says that all Shiloh's have good temperments and like kids, and
Sunny is no exception. She writes,
"I really believe kangaroo was added to this dog. Springing straight up
in the air when happy is a common trait. Sunny's bonked her head on our
ceiling a few times. These dogs are extremely smart, and doesn't take too much to train
them. When I'm on the go she is right there with me. If I try and do
something she will try it to. This is my first dog, and I must say I got a great
one. When I stop she flops down and rests. I'm a stay at home mom, so she's
with me all day.
"They don't need to talk, they'll let you know exactly what they want.
I taught her to ring a bell to go outside and go potty. She picked this
up very quickly. By the end of the first day she was already ringing the
bell on her own. I was cooking dinner one night and had the over head vent
on, and couldn't hear her ring the bell, so she ripped it off the door and
brought it to me.
What Sunny looks like when she doesn't want to listen to you
"She's an odd one for toys. I'd say her most favorite toy is my 8 year
old daughter Sasha. Sunny is almost double her size yet still so gentle
with her. She even sits still and lets my daughter dress her up, which I
cringe at. I keep telling her she's a shepherd and not a poodle, but kids
will be kids.
"Sunny loves balls and squeaky plush toys inside the house. She's
strickly a stick girl outside, or any of Sasha's toys that might be laying around.
She loves soccer balls, but will pop them if she picks it up.
Sunny's favorite thing to do is to go for a ride in the truck. All you
have to do is pick up the keys and she will pole-vault straight into the
air. She wouldn't need me if she had an opposable thumb and could drive
herself, lol.
"What trick I like the best is her thievery. She can pick pocket you
quicker than you know what's going on. Tissues and cash get stashed in her
crate. So stuff your jacket pockets full of cash when you come to visit me,
lol. By the way, this trick was self taught. I can't take any credit for
it.
"You have to be careful what you do around these dogs, because they learn
from example. You know that saying 'Do onto others as you would have them
do onto you.'? Well, that REALLY applies here. In June it was hot, so when
I was finished hanging the clothes in the basement and went upstairs
Sunny didn't follow me. She just laid there panting on the cold cement
floor. So I left her there. An hour later when I was ready for bed I turned off
all the lights in the house, and opened the cellar door, and called to her
'Time for nighty night Sunny.' Nothing, not even the sound of toe nails on
the floor. So I call into the blackness of the cellar, but this time a bit
more louder, and more assertive. 'I said time for nighty night!' Little
did I know she was standing on the top stair the whole time and she let out
this huge bark and shot by me like lightning. I screamed my fool head off
and turned on the lights. There she was on her bean bag smiling from ear
to ear. My dog was thrilled that she scared the living poo out of me! I
was upset with this behavior and was telling her this wasn't the way proper
young ladies behave. Just then my daughter comes down the stairs,
annoyed we had awakened her. I told her why I had screamed like that, and do
you know what my daughter said to me? 'What do you expect mom, you do it
to daddy.' I guess I'm the one who doesn't behave properly."
