Shelby's Modeling Career

Shelby's modeling career began a week ago. A local dog shop had a sign for the Hyde Park Living magazine seeking dog models. Meghan and her mom took Shelby and Meghan's mom's dog Luna in for the casting.

My take:
Everyone's modeling career has to start somewhere. But I am not sure the phone will be ringing from these pictures.

The newspaper people dressed Shelby up as a life guard and Luna as an Elvis Presley dancer - I mean sailor.

This 1st picture of Shelby has a "Spud McKenzie" feel to it:


Baywatch beware!


Shelby's "Go To" Pose (aka Magnum)


Luna is off to her 1st "Sock Hop"


Cute Doggie!


Shelby and Luna couldn't get along any better. They seem to be best friends already and play together all the time. For all the reasons I am glad we got 2 cats to play together, Shelby must be excited to have a playmate!

Shelby Photo Shoot!

OK - so it's been a while since Shelby got a blog about her. So here's the start of her modeling career - a photo shoot!

Doggy Surgery

Poor Shelby Dog. She had to have another tumor removed. Doggy-doo got another mast-cell tumor, but fortunately once again it was Stage 1 and removing it should do the job.

Shelby doesn't really understand what was going on, why she couldn't eat for a day (for surgery) and then why she had this stupid bandage around her. She has now had the bandage removed and has a lot of energy. Unfortunately she isn't supposed to run for 5-7 days, which will be impossible.

Instead of saying, "Shelby, don't go crazy" I have been telling her, "Shelby, don't have cancer!"

Vacation - Take #1

Well we are on vacation for the week, which means Shelby had to go to camp. Here is a letter I wrote to Shelby to make the transition easier:

Dear Shelby,
We just dropped you off to go to Camp Julie and I already miss you. When we got home the house seemed so quiet without you. Even though you never say a word I miss talking to you. Stay strong, we'll be home soon, and stay off those carbs (loaves of bread).

Love,
- Tom

P.S. - Be sure to thank Julie for taking good care of you with some licks.

Shelby Derby

I could write some whimsical story about how Shelby ran in the Kentucky Derby this weekend and won. I could have a great back story about this race being the climax of yet another career change. And I could tell you how proud of her horse racing skills we are. But I won't. Instead I will just tell you how great Shelby is for putting up with my humor.

Go Doggy Go!


P.S. Props to Dale for a great concert and an awesome party at the conductor's house. Had a great time!

Shelbylock Holmes

I highly reco reading my last post "Stop and hear the music" if you haven't already.

However I did want to give you an update on Shelby. We are so proud of her, she has changed careers once again and is now a member of the Scotland Yard. She is using her keen sense of smell to solve crimes.


(BTW this is some of my best work since the Four Seasons of Shelby)

Shelby Blog

Bark bark bark
woof woof
(wag wag wag)
lick lick
ruff ruff
*sniff *sniff *sniff
whine whine whine whiiiiiiiiiiine

(wag wag wag)

- Shelby

Shelby at the Frog Pond

Shelby dedicates this performance to her family in Costa Rica who couldn't be around to see her in her finest.

Shelby Gets a Job

As you may have heard, I have been looking into modeling Shelby. A friend of mine (and fellow blogger Ivette) models her cat, and I know Shelby would be so beautiful on a bag of Iams dog food, or better yet in a commercial where she could eat something or be sleeping (she is really good at both of these things).

However things in our house have been a little uncomfortable ever since I brought this modeling thing up. Whenever I mention it to Shelby she runs into her room and locks the door. I assumed she was mad at me or was crying in there due to the pressure of having to go to work again. But, as it turns out Shelby had been using that alone time to start a business of her own. She has been taking business courses thorugh Trump University online, and has been writing her own business books (click on the image to the right).

It turns out that she is a very successful author, using her doggy wisedom to corner the business book market. And best of all, since she is a dog, she doesn't have to pay taxes on any of her income from the books!

We are so proud of her!

Cold Spell

It has been freezing this week. (Just in case you haven't seen enough Shelby pictures lately!)

Shelby vs. Playstation

Guitar Shelby 2:
Shelby is an amazing guitar player. She has mastered "Freebird" and "Sweet Child of Mine". I am worried that she is getting addicted because the rest of us were upstairs wondering where Shelby went, and I could hear her playing downstairs, feverishly, and late at night.

Shelby It Up
Shelby has a unique style of playing the dance game. At first I thought she wouldn't be any good, but having 4 legs makes her a formidable opponent. She has been known to sabotage other people dancing by getting excited and jumping on their pad. She will do anything to win.

Merry Christmas!

Shelby is really excited to wish you a Merry Christmas!



It's pretty cool here in Costa Rica, like 70s at night :)

Live Strong Shelby

The picture to the left is an old one of Shelby sleeping with her head in her food bowl. Now that Shelby has been living with us I can see how this might happen because she wants to eat as soon as she wakes up.


As many of you probably know, Shebly had a mast cell tumor removed last week. A mast cell tumor is cancerous, and comes in 3 grades

Grade 1: Removing the tumor completely should prevent the cancer
Grade 2: Even with removing the tumor, cancer may spread if the area is not radiated, or the dog under goes chemotherapy
Grade 3: Severe cancer, dog is expected to live 4-5 months

We were pretty worried, all of the reading online about these tumors only made us more concerned for Shelby. The GOOD NEWS is that Shebly's tumor came back grade 1 and she should be fine!

So Shebly has plenty of days left to steal my shoes, lay on my clean clothes, shed in the house, and wake us up at 5am to be fed.

These tumors are apparently common and can be found on puppies as well as adult dogs. Please check your dog regularly and use this site for some helpful info: Mast Cell Tumors

Shelby the Person?

While sleeping in this Saturday morning, I was thinking how great it would be if Shelby was more like a person. I mean she'd still look like a dog, but maybe be able to walk on two legs and talk. What would she say? What would her voice sound like. But really I wanted her to be a person this morning because it would be awesome to wake up and have her make us pancakes. I thought that was the funniest visual this morning, and I really did want it to come true. I also decided that if Shelby was a real person I would want to square dance with her. I am pretty sure we'd be on Letterman or some TV show like that.

Blog Props

Let's be clear, I am quite obviously late to the game per se for this blogging thing, however I have been interested in creating one for some time. I am usually pretty bad about emailing friends and keeping in touch back home (Boston) so I figure maybe a blog would be a good idea. Though quite clearly the tipping point in all of this was the fact that Dale has a blog so popular that I think even Mark Cuban himself has visited. So NET here I am, blogging (how's it going so far?) Actually I felt like I needed a starting place to blog, and the fact that I am now a home owner seems as good as any (hence the name of the blog).

So this is the end of month #1 in the new house with the fiancee and so far so good. Meghan and I have survived 2 weeks of her parents staying with us, untold number of bird heads being left in the yard by a carnivorous hawk, and the fact that we now have a dog. I introduce to you the "Four Seasons of Shelby" -

So check back for the random updates of a new home owner like learning to cook corn on the cob, staining a deck, the not so invisible - invisible fence, and everybody's favorite: Softball updates.