Fanny

"There are two kinds of Shelties, those who are just like Penni, and those who are just like Fanny." - Merja's father.

Fanny is my first own dog, taken purely as a companion and she is fulfilling that role magnificently. We used to compete in agility, but due to some complications during her neutering she is on constant medication and the doping rules of Finnish Kennel Club prevent her from racing ever again. She stills comes to train agility with Penni occasionally and enjoys those moments to the fullest.

Fanny is probably the gentlest soul on Earth. She is loyal and loving to her own people, often sitting on my lap and softly pressing her cheek against mine. She is also a very conservative and sensitive dog who doesn't take changes well. Furthermore, she reacts strongly to surprising noises. She can make faces and is extremely good at looking terribly sour. She uses this expression to protest when Penni is getting attention or private time she deems should be hers instead.

When Fanny was younger I tried obedience with her. She thought this was beneath her and never got the spark for the sport, so I let that matter rest. Instead, we did do canine freestyle for a couple of years and Fanny seemed to enjoy that. However, she needs constant praise and reassuring to know she is doing well, so I never got to compete with her. Nowadays she is retired from all activities and spends her time as our all-seeing-and-disapproving-eye. Her favourite past times are long walks and eating. She is rather passionate about eating; anything will do like a broken shirt button if it happens to drop from the table.

Fanny is also quite vocal. She doesn't bark, relying more to howling, wailing and whimpering. She can't help but to let out a long cry when she sees my mother, whom she loves above anyone else. She also herds my father to the dinner table with a lot of sound effects when we are visiting them. I hear she has inherited this trait from her father who, too, was quite artistic at times.

Fanny has spent some wild time in the breed ring. She is the only dog I know to earn a really wide range of critiques from the judges all the way from excellent to disqualified! I gave up showing her as an absolutely pointless thing to do, except to get a good laugh. Furthermore, Fanny didn't enjoy being showed at all, since she harbours a healthy mistrust for strangers and hated having to stand for the judge.

Fanny might not be the perfect sheltie, but she is greatly loved. She is also our source of a constant humorous, albeit bitter, relief. There are Fanny stories, tales you can find from the Sheltie Journal, telling about her unlucky ways. For some reason Lady Luck is constantly against her and the most unbelievable hardships tend to fall on her: she once walked through an absolutely harmless-looking bush and ended up so covered in burrs that she is unable to move her poor legs. That's Fanny's life, that!