Welcome to Star's Celebration of Life Website!
February 23, 2015 to November 25, 2025
This is the New Star Website, Click here to go to the OLD Star Website
(Please be patient, there are a lot of photos here and depending on your Internet speed, it could take several minutes for the images to load)
To all of Star’s Fans who have followed her, this is for you!
Official Stuff: Romyldale Shetland Sheep & Sheepdogs, (romyldale@yahoo.com)
Dad: GCH Leigh-Hi’s Manhattan DN11218701
Mom: Romydale’s Lyonnesse DN27919002
Star’s Birth Name: Ariel DN42505308
In July, 2015, good friend Angie and I drove up Leroy, Michigan to see a small Sheltie, we were very concern if she would be able to go up steps as I lived in a two-story home. I had two previous small Shelties and both had problems going up stairs. As we pulled up we started laughing, here was this tiny little thing running up the outside stairs with the bigger dogs. Clearly the stairs weren’t going to be a problem. I have to say I never went looking for small Shelties, they all seemed to find me.
Misty Nicki
When we picked her up she was just a fuzz ball.
She made me laugh for 10 years. Before I even started looking for a dog, I knew I wanted to name her “Star”, so from day one with me, that was her name. Little did I know what she would turn into. Later my friends would say most guys get trophy wives, I got a trophy dog. She liked to cross her legs when she relaxed.
Angie was visiting from California, she would hold and love Star. Me, on the other hand was trying to do some training. She clearly liked Angie more than me. Boy, was she surprised when Angie went home and she was left with me. She tested me for a few weeks, but soon she warmed up and was easy to train except for one thing…
Digging up those gophers! I had a beautifully manicured backyard. Star could totally destroy a square yard of lawn in a few minutes. Didn’t matter how long I put her in the timeout cardboard box, she just kept digging. Star loved to go to McDonald’s and get the last bite of my double cheeseburger. So one day when I was at my wits end, while she was in the box, I went and got a burger, came back and ate in front of her and didn’t give her a bite. That was it, no more digging. I just had to think like a dog.
Star’s best friend was Callie, a very large female Sheltie. Callie belonged to friend Dawn. Dawn had gone with me one time to look at Shelties, but by the time we got to the Breeder’s home, the tan female I wanted was gone, purchased just before I got there. The breeder wanted me to buy a black and white male, but my heart was set on a tan female, so Dawn bought the dog, that became Scuddy (normal size Sheltie). I got Star a couple of months later. Star fell in love with Callie, and Scuddy fell in love with Star. But they all had a great time playing together.
Hold down the Control Key and Click here to see short video of playing on the stairs (takes a while to start)
One day I was at the computer and she started barking loudly in my bedroom, I went to see what she was barking at and I started laughing. She had found a mirror resting on the floor behind the bed, I guess it was the first time she saw herself. The next day I found her licking her reflection on the mirror. I was laughing again.
A few years later the city I lived in decided to start running a lot of traffic down my street, so I put my house up for sale. It sold in days and I had 30 days to get out. One day when I was packing up Dawn stopped by and asked where I was moving to, I said probably a motel, she said no way, you’re coming to live with me. So Star and I went to live in Dawn’s downstairs unit. She lived on the lakeshore so I was forced to look at the sunsets over Lake Michigan for a year while looking for a house. It was wonderful, Star loved it, she lived with her best friends and the three of them would go down to the beach and run along the water’s edge.
In the winter I was driving to California to spend time with Angie and friends I grew up with. Star quickly became loved by many on the way to California, and people I saw. One day when walking along Los Feliz Blvd in Los Angles this guy leans out his car window and screamed “I want your dog”. At first it bothered me, as I thought he wanted to take her from me, but after more comments from strangers I realized, like me, they thought she was beautiful. That’s when I decide to put up this website. And so this website began. People everywhere fell in love with Star. She was always welcomed in people’s homes.
She loved the snow, and chasing the snow out of the Snow Blower.
As pretty as she was, her demeanor was even more wonderful. She was a sweet gentle sole who was exactly what you wanted her to be. She never tried to escape, we go for a walk without a lease and she would just stay beside me unless I told her is was OK to run around and then she stayed within 20 feet of meet, running ahead looking to sniff pee-mail. She wouldn’t run crazy inside people’s homes unless there was another dog to play with. Outside she loved running with other dogs, large or small, it didn’t matter.
Over the years she made me laugh and smile daily, being with her was a pure joy. I never got tired of how beautiful she was or daily brushing that beautiful hair. She tolerated baths, but loved it afterwards, the evaporating moisture cooled her and she would just run and run until she was out of breath.
Star and I traveled a lot. Star has friends in Florida, Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and several in California. Ginger was her best friend in Southern California. And here with Angie at Griffith Park Observatory with the Hollywood Sign in the background.
A week after Star passed, my cousin Loring got together with her friend, local artist, Hillary Leben, and she drew this light-hearted picture of Star with her goggles on, out for a bike ride.
In the Spring of 2018 I got an power-assist eBike (you have to pedal). I I built a wood box and mounted it on the front. In the last seven years Star and I put 4100 miles on that bike. Star would wear “Doggles” (small goggles for dogs). Pretty much, if it was over 70 degrees here in Michigan, we took a ride. Many summer days part of our ride would take us through Kollen Park, on Lake Macatawa in Holland, Michigan. Everyone would smile, many would yell out compliments. I will miss those days the most, they were just plain ole fun!
Star was different than most dogs. She didn’t inhale her food. She’d take one little bit at a time, sometimes picking up a piece and dropping it on the floor, sniff it, and then eat it. Always food picky, sometimes she’d wouldn’t eat table scraps, and the other dogs would finish it off. After she became an adult, she didn’t like looking at herself in a mirror. She was the only one who didn’t think she was beautiful. Star wouldn’t chase a ball, or chew up dog toys. The only game she would play is chase. So for the last several years she made me run up and down stairs, in and out of rooms. I’m 77 and in pretty good shape, probably thanks to her. The one exception was this toy, given to her by the breeder the day I picked her up. She never damaged it, just carried it around once in a while, suspect it smelled like Mom.
Friend Jim Brandess, an artist in Saugatuck, Michigan painted this oil portrait of her and it hangs in my Living Room, along with many photos like the one on this website insures Star will be in my heart forever.
Yes, I spoiled her like crazy. I think this is our favorite photo together, July 4th, 2024
My favorite moments with Star was usually when she'd sleep in my arms.
Thank you for visiting here. Let me know if you have any comments you’d like to share.
For more photos and friends, please visit Star's old website below (see Red type)
I moved my website about a month ago, and paid for three years, so this Memorial will be up for a while.
This is the New Star Website, Click here to go to the OLD Star Website
The next time you see me, be sure to ask for an Official Fan Club Card!
Thanks for visiting! - Site Established January 10, 2017 - Last Updated December 1, 2025