Willows Shadow Dresed In Blu
Mama Rookie - The Queen
Ch Shadow Hills Sliver Breeze x
Jen-Ver's Shadow Of Darkness
October 31, 1991 - August 15, 2006
There may be no words to describe exactly what Rookie meant to us over the years she graced our lives, but I can surely find words to tell her story the best I am able.
A beautiful and elegant bi-blue daughter of Ch Shadow Hill's Silver Breeze,
Rookie measured 14" when she arrived, but in later years shrank to about 13.5".
If she could have been measured in terms of attitude though, she would have
easily towered above all other shelties who have ever come to pass. She
possessed a Sheltie spirit larger than all others I have ever known. Not only
was she the absolute ruler of all other dogs that passed through our doors, Rookie also eventually
came to rule the human members of her pack as well. Sometimes with disdain,
sometimes with quiet mirth, Rookie kept us all in our places.
Coming from some of the most influential lines in contemporary American Sheltie history, Rookie was sound, sweet, and with a disposition that has never been matched. Hers was a health, structure and temperament to be desired and meticulously maintained, and she proved herself a bulwark of considerable strength against which Ailea has rested, going on five generations removed. My early years as a breeder may have used different pedigrees and bitches, but it is Rookie who now bears the honor of becoming what was Ailea's foundation.
Born
October 31, 1991, Rookie lived with us nearly twelve years. Not just our
foundation, Rookie was an exceptional mother and the best puppy nanny you could
imagine. During the time she was with us she raised two litters of puppies of
her own, and then nannied every other puppy we ever had. In 1997, when Taylor
whelped a litter of nine the day after Christmas, Rookie was there, helping all
the way. As her best girlfriend, Taylor, labored with delivering the whelps,
Rookie kept vigil and assisted in clean-up and stimulation as each new puppy
arrived.
Many times I was asked "Where did Rookie get her name?" and so I tell the story as it was told me: Rookie was first a Sheltie with a collie breeder who was also in training to join the Highway Patrol - a "rookie" in her own right, and I suppose it seemed appropriate at the time to give the handle "rookie" to this little blue girl. Given that her early beginning was as a collie chew toy, it is a huge credit to Rookie she remained throughout her life such the diamond in our crown.
Pictured here Rookie is playing with three of Taylor's puppies (that infamous nine-puppy litter), and even unto the end, Rookie was nanny to her great-great- and great-great-great grandsons, Quinn and Cole, respectively. And if you were to see Rookie as a senior rollicking in the yard with the younger Shelties you would have mistaken her for one much, much younger than she was.
Rookie excelled in temperament, health, structure and balance, with a good front which has shone through in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren alike. With beautiful planes, outline and poise, she was always a very much loved and welcomed member of our family. We held and loved her as long as she lived, and will continue to love and miss her - unbearably, immeasurably - until our own last days.
Though I have
hundreds of photographs of Rookie, one of my favorites is of her sitting on the
sofa in my living room beside my friend, Nancy, ears forward, on high alert.
Nancy had a tiny girl who was struggling to survive that 9-puppy litter, tucked
down in her sweat shirt, helping keep her warm against her own body. Rookie was
so concerned about the puppy she would not leave Nancy's side until she saw the
puppy safely returned to the whelping box and Mama Taylor.
Rookie grew from a vibrant, vivacious, energized youngster into an elegant senior, and to her final day was the absolute epitome of what a Sheltie bitch should be. It is with Rookie in my mind I have judged and continue to judge every Sheltie I meet. Her fifteen years were long and well-lived, but far too short for me.
God bless... God rest... and God speed, my beautiful Queen-
A Sheltie Good Morning
When I awake
each morning she is there
Her warm tongue, satiny smooth,
strokes my cheek in daybreak greeting,
the happiest 'hello' I will ever receive.
Her paws rest
upon my chest in quiet patience,
her eyes already a-gleam with mischief,
her tail twitching like a cat's.
The moment I
stir she bounds from the bed and dances,
laughing wildly at my morning cobwebs,
and she chases me through the house and to the door,
a madcap race.
The door I open
for her happy body
and she bounds through the gap,
racing down the steps to pause and glance back.
She speaks to
me once,
an invitation to join her in her frolic on the wet grass,
and then she is gone in a dash,
exploring the secrets of the early morning garden.
By: Amy C Butcher,
Ailea's Place
Copyright 1996, all rights reserved.
Written in honor of our Rookie,
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