Happy Birthday, Shotzie ~

Yesterday was my dog’s birthday. Shotzie Jane McIlwain was born 2 years ago on June 8th. I adopted her on August 12, 2006, at 9 weeks old. I have always wanted a Beagle because I think they are the cutest dogs and seem to keep that puppy look about their faces even as adults. Shotzie has a beautiful face and has really nice markings. She’s black, white, and tan with red ticking on her legs. She was born with a crooked tail at the end, which used to be very noticeable but as she’s grown and the tail has thickened, you wouldn’t know it unless you feel it. One other interesting thing about her is that she does not bark. She has never barked since I’ve had her. She will whine a bit from time to time if she’s outside and wants to come in or something like that, but has never uttered the first bark. That's fine with me though because Beagles tend to have a pretty obnoxious bark. She got her name in a funny way . . . . I saw some reruns, years ago, of the Bob Cummings show, which was an old black and white sitcom. Ann B. Davis, who played Alice, on The Brady Bunch, was regular on the show and she went by the name, Shotzie (as best I remembered). I thought that name was really cute and always thought it would be a good name for a dog. When I got my beagle, I went through a gazillion names, as I always do when I name a pet. She was gonna be Dotty, Millie, Midge, Penny, and lots of other names. I was watching an episode of, That 70’s Show, one evening right after I got my dog, and the dog on that show was called, Shotzie. I got so excited and was immediately reminded of the Ann B. Davis name on Bob Cummings, and decided that would be my dog’s name. I explained this whole thing to my son, and he thought it was a great idea too. Shotzie it was! I also make it a practice of giving middle names to all my pets, and I gave her the middle name Jane after my mom, Mary Jane. Jane is a great middle name and sounds good enough with Shotzie that I could call her the double name if I so desired. Well, when I took her to mom’s to show her off and brag about her cute, clever name. My mom, who knew the Bob Cummings Show very well, told me that that character’s name was not Shotzie, but it was Shultzy. Well, we all had a really good laugh over that but I couldn’t change the name because Shultzy would be more suitable for a German breed, such as a Dacshund. Anyhoo, we left her name Shotzie and it suits my little girl to a tee. This dog is full of personality and is the most affectionate, loving dog I’ve ever had (and I’ve had lots of dogs throughout my lifetime). She sleeps with me at night and always has to be under the cover and right up next to me. She’s not a bad bed-feller at all. She was fairly easy to house-break after I quit trying to wee-wee pad train her. I think those pads are the worst idea ever for house-breaking a puppy. I would put the pad down and within minutes, Shotzie would grab that pad and run through the house at break-neck speed with it flying behind her like Superman’s cape! She always thought they were for her amusement, rather than their intended purpose so I put a halt on the wee-wee pads and started going outside more often. Beagles tend to be very stubborn breeds and Shotzie is no exception. I kennel-trained her with the intention of eventually allowing her the run of the house as she matured, but I quickly learned that she had some serious separation anxiety issues. When left alone, she always destroyed something. Many things have been destroyed over the past 2 years. Lately, I’ve been trying to let her earn my trust by leaving her out of the kennel when alone, for short periods of time and gradually allowing more time out. So far, she's doing pretty good. The other day, however, I left her out while I went swimming for a few hours, and the urge to invade my son's lair must have overcome her because when I drove up, I noticed his window blinds were boogered up, but didn’t really think much of it. When I got in the house and looked around, I was just about to praise my little angel girl for being so good, but I found an arm to some action figure laying in the den floor. Action figures belong to Brandon and they are off-limits to Shotzie! I scolded her a little but she didn’t care. Yesterday, I left her again to go swimming and came home to find an action figure body laying in the hall floor, and just so happens, that body belongs to the arm I had found previously. Needless to say, Brandon was not happy to learn that she had invaded his space, but he just needs to pick up his messes and leave nothing to tempt my little angel into “devilocity” (made up word).

Shotzie is a real joy to me because she’s right by me most of the time and is a couch potato just like me. She loves me unconditionally, and is always glad to see me, even if I’ve only been outside the door for 5 minutes. She is also quite a clown and keeps me laughing. I’m looking forward to many years with my little doll doggy!