Cadence Dr. Simon Tam
"Simon"
Shetland Sheepdog
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Simon's gotcha day is one I haven't been able to live down from the husband, as I nearly cleaned out his savings account to purchase him, and only had to keep a clean house for a week with persistent whining to achieve it. I haven't been able to do this since; the poor husband learned his lesson too quickly.
Simon was THE cutest puppy I ever did see. At the time, unique colors and uncommon markings were my jam and thus; I did purchase Simon purely for his looks. Usually, this ends badly for most people, but luckily his flash and good temperament make him a winner. For the most part, his little negative quirks are small: bark control is something left to be desired, and my other dogs wish he wasn't so pesky. However, Simon is one of those rare naturally good dogs. Husband jokes that when we got him he was one of those "out of the box, good to go!" dogs. Simon is a parvovirus survivor. |
AKC# DN20118505
Sex Neutered Male Color Sable Merle w/ White DOB December 11, 2007 Simon did have a small goal of doing agility and obedience when he was younger, but he wasn't really interested in those ideas of mine. His early onset arthritis, with his homebody ideals, turned him into a pretty companion. |
Simon's Gallery
BORK
bork
b...o...r...k
December 2007 - August 2021
Simon was probably my introduction into AKC dogs. He was my first AKC dog (though never registered) but not a properly acquired one. By that I mean he was 'found' in a Petland Store, of which I cleaned out my boyfriend's savings account for this immediate gratification. I even cried as we left the store because he cost $200 more than I anticipated. I kept our townhouse spotless to get him... for a week? By the way, said dorky boyfriend still married me years later, if that was being questioned. Apparently my 'dog crazy' warning lights were never strong enough.
BOrK!
I wanted to try to get into performance events with him, but uh, this dog was beautiful... yet the only bright thing about him was his china blue eyes. Easily mastered the basics like crate training but he could never figure out how to sit for a cookie. However waiting for permission before going through doorways? Nailed it. You had to have patience with him, his Hamster did what it wanted on the wheel. He also had a very "I can do it by myself" mentality + the athletic ability of a brick, so when trying to get in cars he would avoid your attempts to help - meaning half of the time he'd miss the target on the vehicle and would fall on his face. At one point I had to save him from drowning because he couldn't swim in a slow moving creek.
bOrk!
He got along with everyone and everything, according to him. In his younger years I'd find him curled up with my flock of house rabbits when I went through that phase. He wasn't quite the smoothest man among other dogs, some could find him pesky even though his offense was doing 'nothing' at all - couldn't have been his tendency to 'fun police', he was innocent if you asked. Absolutely zero herding instinct, and wanted nothing to do with livestock, or anything outside of the yard to be honest. He wouldn't even go trail riding with me, and would run back to the car and sit and wait until I was done. Homebody for sure!
boRK!
Simon is currently featured on Dog Coat Colour Genetics in the Merle (continued) section. Though sable merle isn't what I consider a rare color in this breed, his distinct pattern is what made him noteable (most just look like diluted sables). I did bring him home purely because of his cosmetics.
BORK!
If you haven't caught on. He also never shut up. I could never get him to speak on command, no matter how much I teased him, but man did he make sure you knew about his presence at the most inappropriate times. If he felt even slightly cheated out of something he got sassy real fast and even made sure to get the last word in. Cheeky bastard.
borK!
Fun fact! In 2019, the vet clinic I worked for (nearly 8 years) at the time refused medical treatment for him, and they fired me the same day because I was going to take the day off to take him to another clinic (I made my own schedule, it was part of my deal for working for them, so I was going to reschedule them for a different day - typically not a big deal). Instead, they wanted me to wait until after I was done working (6-8 hour wait) to take him somewhere else. He had critically injured himself, was practically bleeding out, and yet they were okay with him sitting in a crate for half a day with no care? We actually tried to take them to court over it but never found the right lawyer.
bor...k!
At nearly 15 years old, his major job was sleeping in front of the surround sound box so you could never adjust the tv's volume, but also alerting all the dogs in the morning when it was time to wake up and when it was time for food. He loved to be massaged by your feet and would heavy lean into it. We will miss these small things. I am sure he's at the bridge using the song of his people to the very best of his ability, and I hope he found his partner in crime from many years ago (previous Sheltie, Kaylee) to keep him company until we're reunited.
BBBOORRRKKKKK~!
bork
b...o...r...k
December 2007 - August 2021
Simon was probably my introduction into AKC dogs. He was my first AKC dog (though never registered) but not a properly acquired one. By that I mean he was 'found' in a Petland Store, of which I cleaned out my boyfriend's savings account for this immediate gratification. I even cried as we left the store because he cost $200 more than I anticipated. I kept our townhouse spotless to get him... for a week? By the way, said dorky boyfriend still married me years later, if that was being questioned. Apparently my 'dog crazy' warning lights were never strong enough.
BOrK!
I wanted to try to get into performance events with him, but uh, this dog was beautiful... yet the only bright thing about him was his china blue eyes. Easily mastered the basics like crate training but he could never figure out how to sit for a cookie. However waiting for permission before going through doorways? Nailed it. You had to have patience with him, his Hamster did what it wanted on the wheel. He also had a very "I can do it by myself" mentality + the athletic ability of a brick, so when trying to get in cars he would avoid your attempts to help - meaning half of the time he'd miss the target on the vehicle and would fall on his face. At one point I had to save him from drowning because he couldn't swim in a slow moving creek.
bOrk!
He got along with everyone and everything, according to him. In his younger years I'd find him curled up with my flock of house rabbits when I went through that phase. He wasn't quite the smoothest man among other dogs, some could find him pesky even though his offense was doing 'nothing' at all - couldn't have been his tendency to 'fun police', he was innocent if you asked. Absolutely zero herding instinct, and wanted nothing to do with livestock, or anything outside of the yard to be honest. He wouldn't even go trail riding with me, and would run back to the car and sit and wait until I was done. Homebody for sure!
boRK!
Simon is currently featured on Dog Coat Colour Genetics in the Merle (continued) section. Though sable merle isn't what I consider a rare color in this breed, his distinct pattern is what made him noteable (most just look like diluted sables). I did bring him home purely because of his cosmetics.
BORK!
If you haven't caught on. He also never shut up. I could never get him to speak on command, no matter how much I teased him, but man did he make sure you knew about his presence at the most inappropriate times. If he felt even slightly cheated out of something he got sassy real fast and even made sure to get the last word in. Cheeky bastard.
borK!
Fun fact! In 2019, the vet clinic I worked for (nearly 8 years) at the time refused medical treatment for him, and they fired me the same day because I was going to take the day off to take him to another clinic (I made my own schedule, it was part of my deal for working for them, so I was going to reschedule them for a different day - typically not a big deal). Instead, they wanted me to wait until after I was done working (6-8 hour wait) to take him somewhere else. He had critically injured himself, was practically bleeding out, and yet they were okay with him sitting in a crate for half a day with no care? We actually tried to take them to court over it but never found the right lawyer.
bor...k!
At nearly 15 years old, his major job was sleeping in front of the surround sound box so you could never adjust the tv's volume, but also alerting all the dogs in the morning when it was time to wake up and when it was time for food. He loved to be massaged by your feet and would heavy lean into it. We will miss these small things. I am sure he's at the bridge using the song of his people to the very best of his ability, and I hope he found his partner in crime from many years ago (previous Sheltie, Kaylee) to keep him company until we're reunited.
BBBOORRRKKKKK~!