A Dog's Life - my first blog

I am such a lucky dog, and now I have my own blog!

My name is Ayla - I have had several names, but this is the one I like best. "Ayla" is the main character in Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series. The character Ayla lost her home several times, by accident and by rejection, but in spite of this she becomes a powerful figure, and my special person Sandi thought that I deserved the name. "Ayla" also means "circle of light around the Moon" in Turkish, and I like that.

I remember being taken to an animal shelter in Durham and being left there . I was pretty scared and I didn't feel well - and I was really hungry. After a few days Sandi and her friend Carolyn came and visited me. Then one day they came back and put me in a car. I hadn't ridden in cars much and I remember I threw up. They thought I had found a home, but that didn't work out, so I came back to Sandi's house. I've been there ever since. Sandi, Herman and Ruby decided to keep me in their family in January 2006. I am a lucky dog.

People tell me I'm an English Shepherd. I wasn't sure what that meant until this past Saturday. Sandi took me to a farm where they were having an English Shepherd Gathering. There were around 25 people and almost as many dogs, and they (the dogs) looked like me! (but most were smaller!) Not only that, but I was supposed to do a tracking demo. I love tracking and I think I'm pretty good. Sandi said that she was very proud of me. I hope we get to go to the Gathering again next year.