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SUCCESS STORIES
The
following are letters we have received from the wonderful people who have
adopted our rescue dogs. It is so rewarding when we bring together great dogs
with great people!
If you'd like to join us on
Facebook, you can add your own success story there.
POSEY - Formerly Kimber, ADOPTED July 2012 -
April Success Story of the Month. Like all of our pets, we have named
her after the SF Giants all star catcher Buster Posey. She certainly is
living up to the name. She adjusted quickly to our other dog and is
getting used to the cat, who has taken it upon herself to show Posey
who's boss. We found out she loves to swim, although she does not like
the beach because the birds and the
shadows mock her there. She has a bad habit of trying to jump high and
prune our tree's so we are channeling that behavior into agility
training. She cries in happiness every time we let her out of the kennel
and she is simply the best thing to wake up to in the morning. She is my
constant running companion and we will soon be doing a marathon. She has
a new best friend to play with every day who is a friends dog adopted
from the shelter last year. Her training is going well and every day my
goal is to tire her out both mentally and physically, which tends to do
the same to me. We couldn't be happier with this sweet girl and we thank
BC Rescue for all of the hard work, time and money you put into saving
these dogs and giving them the chance they deserve to find their
permanent home.
With love,
Cassandra, Justin, Reuter, Maysey and Posey
Tippy with Maggie
It's been 1 year
since we adopted Maggie (she was called Maree) from
Border Collie Rescue and I thought you might
appreciate an update. Maggie was one of the 16 dogs
taken in by Border Collie Rescue from a rancher who
had way too many dogs and couldn't care for them
properly. Many of these dogs were very
under-socialized.
- Miss Maggie, Magdalena, Magpie, MagMags and
Maggie are all of her pet names.
- She flew through all of the dog training
classes, thinking about each lesson, and doing
her best to respond and obey and won the prize
for staying on command the longest!!!
- She finally learned to potty outside and
hasn't had an accident in the house at all since
then- yeah!!!
- She loves going on walks, and is in her
height of glory when she and Tippy do "run-runs"
in big sweeping circles in the front pasture.
She flies like the wind, tucks her tail under
her and is so aerodynamic that she goes faster
than the speed of sound!
- We've discovered that she is petrified of
thunder and wind and loud booms in the distance.
Yet, she is working through those frights with
us and is getting better and better. These
sounds no longer make her tremble so hard you
can not even feel the heart beats, but just
fluttering. She has now learned she can be
frightened by the sounds, but we are there for
her- and she no longer grips the floor with her
toenails in fright when the sounds occur.
Instead, we know she is startled and frightened,
but she is reassured and and waits for the
sounds to disappear- good job Miss Magpie!
- One of her favorite times is watching
"Jeopardy" on the couch with her Dad and
brother, Tippy Toes!
- She LOVES it when we have company over, is
very social, friendly and embraces strangers
with a happy, confident tail wag and now makes
eye contact with us and our friends. This is a
GIANT accomplishment and we are so proud of her!
- She also became taller after about 4 months.
It happened literally overnight. And we realized
she finally understood our house was a safe
place and she allowed herself to relax and stand
up straight. That was a landmark moment- and
we're proud to say she remains now just about 1"
taller than Tippy.
- She no longer shirks when we, or anyone,
reaches out to pet her- even if a new person
pets her on the top of her head :)
- And she no longer has nightmares. Instead,
she sometimes wakes us up in the middle of the
night because she is snuggled down in her fleece
line basket, snoring!!!!!! And we just giggle,
smile, and go back to sleep.
- She has recently started giving us kisses on
our hands. She is still not sure about giving us
kisses on our faces, but she does watch Tippy do
this, and is slowly becoming more confident that
she has tried it once or twice.
- We have giggled many times when she finds
the sunshine on the floor, and uses her paws to
try to move the sunshine spot to another place.
What a smart little wonder she is.
- She and Tippy LOVE taking sunbaths in our
laundry room after breakfast, as well as enjoy
sleeping in their downstairs baskets in front of
the fireplace. And of course, she sometimes
snores even in that basket. Tippy has been known
to look over at her when she is snoring, and
then we all just smile and laugh!
- We love her dearly and are so glad she has
come into our lives.
Thank you again for fostering her which allowed us
to be able to find her and adopt her. I've attached
a couple of photos so you can she how happy she is.
Dear Border Collie Rescue of Northern
California,
In August 2008 with very heavy hearts we had to
have our older Collie "Lefty" put to sleep, his
bone marrow wasn't generating any red blood
cells, he was severely anemic and finally his
liver gave out. We had two older Queenslands and
decided we would wait before getting another
Collie. We only made it two weeks, then decided
we had to have another Border Collie. We wanted
an adult rather than a puppy. We contacted
Jeanne up in Chico, she had lots of puppies but
only one adult at the adoption site. We decided
we would go look anyway. It was a long drive
from Greenwood to Chico. When we got there we
said look at all the puppies. The first one we
looked at was in the first cage, her name was
"Sydney". Her story was that her litter had been
dumped by a canal, she had been attacked for she
had bite wounds all over her neck and was near
dead when they found her. They rushed her to
emergency for surgery and care and of course as
things turned out she made it. We looked at a
lot of puppies, they had us in a play area and
would bring one puppy in at a time for visiting.
Of all the puppies Sydney would continue to sit
right next to us. Then they had Sydney and
another pup name "Phantom" playing in the pen
with us, but the end result was always the same
Sydney would came back and sit by us. I told my
other half "David" that Sydney was picking us, I
had been watching the website for sometime so I
know she had been there awhile and no one had
picked her. So it was decided, no we didn't get
an adult but Sydney needed a home and she was
telling us just that. The ride home she layed by
or on my lap the whole way. We renamed her
"Cindy" and in the weeks and months to come she
was very shy and timid. I got her out as much as
possible trying to socialize her as we wanted a
companion and family dog. To this day Cindy has
become a wonderful friend and companion. We go
hiking, horse back riding, bike riding. She came
out of her shell and became a well rounded dog,
she also loves being a house dog. In April of
2012, David's mom (Karole) moved in with us. She
has stage 4 cancer and we moved her to the whole
upstairs as her living area. Cindy being as
friendly as she is would go upstairs
periodically to check on his mom. But for the
last several months Cindy has spent all day with
his mom while I was at work. When I would come
home then of course Cindy would be with me. A
couple of times in December and January at night
while I was home, Cindy decided to leave me and
David and go up stairs and be with Karole. She
would put her nose up to Karole's mouth and gaze
into her eyes like she was trying to tell her
something. Two weeks ago we rush Karole to
emergency, her cancer was advancing along with
some other additional health problems. In hind
site we all now know Cindy was trying to tell
all of us something. Her innate ability to
detect things that we couldn't, we find
absolutely amazing. To this day, Karole is doing
very well. Cindy has become the best dog ever.
We love her so much and can't believe how much
she has enriched our lives. We are grateful for
the Border Collie Rescue for saving Cindy. She
will be turning five this year so we know we
will have many good years with our dear friend.
I am enclosing a picture of Cindy and me at the
Festival of Lights Parade in Auburn in December
of 2012, just look at Cindy smile! She is a
happy dog and makes everyone smile!
Marianne Langton, David Andrews and "Cindy"
Two years ago,
we adopted Cody from Border Collie Rescue of
Northern California. He is the dog on the left,
seen here with his 11-year old "sister" Luna who is
a Border Collie/McNab from local ranch stock (and my
husband Gene). When our old Labrador died, we
decided to get another Border Collie as Luna had
been such a wonderful part of our lives. As an
older couple, we really thought about the young
energy we would be bringing into our home by
adopting Cody. But, we still hike 4 miles each day
through the hills of the ranch so this has worked
very well. I am still in wonder that this little
guy came into our lives. He was found on the
streets of Chico with his brother who also got
adopted through Border Collie Rescue. They were
taken to a shelter and then came to BCRNC -- no one
had claimed them at the shelter -- they were only 4
months old. There is not a person who comes to this
ranch who doesn't remark about Cody. We always hear
the comment, "Boy, did you luck out." He is
affectionate, great with kids, loves playing with
other dogs that visit -- a truly gentle soul. He
even likes the cats! He's very athletic and agile,
and now that Luna is 11 years old, Cody can run past
her like lightning. But because he is so tuned in
to her, once he passes her he still runs but looking
backwards at her. We can't imagine being without
him. Thank you so much BCRNC.
I just wanted to
share our story of how we came to adopt "Brandi" aka
Scarlett in August 2012. We had a female
tri-colored Border Collie for 4 1/2 years. She is
the love of our lives, but my husband was getting
ready to retire and thought another dog would be
nice. We wanted a young red Border Collie. I went
on your site and found "Scarlett". She had been
abandoned in a state park and was severely
underweight. Her yellow eyes caught my attention
and I knew we could give her a warm and loving
home. When we picked her up from her foster
parents, she was so lively and loving. We brought
her home and named her "Brandi". For what she had
been through, she was very people and dog
friendly. In a few weeks we had fattened her up and
her mangy coat had turned into a beautifully full
and silky red. We love her so and so does our other
dog. Thank you to your organization for helping us
find her.
Duke and Lucy
We lost our beloved border collie Sydney numerous years ago and
to this day we have a difficult time even talking about her.
After we lost her to old age (15 yrs old) we rescued Duke the
red and white Border Collie in this picture from Border Collie
Rescue of Northern California. He was wild but oh so fun. Our
rescued Aussie never really played much with him and Duke
was just ready for some activity. Well....we rescued Lucy the
other little Border Collie in this photo from again Border
Collie Rescue of Northern California. She is completely deaf so
we were anxious as pet owners, to see what would be different.
She has given us so much pleasure in life. It was and continues
to be amazing Duke's response to her. He immediately became "her
ears" and they are best friends. If he barks, she barks. She
looks at him and watches his expressions. If he is excited, she
gets excited. We will tell him to go find Lucy and he runs
around the house looking for her. She is only 26 lbs fully grown
and Duke is 69 pounds but Lucy can stand up for herself with
him. She's got a few war wounds to show for it. We don't have
children and our dogs are our kids. We will always get our dogs
from Border Collie Rescue. What a treat our dogs have brought to
our life. Thank you.
We had the good fortune to
adopt Zoey (formerly Gingerbread) from Border Collie
Rescue of Northern California just after
Thanksgiving, 2008. We had adopted another rescue
dog, Dylan, the previous year from a different
rescue organization, and while his fearfulness had
improved greatly over the preceding 15 months, we
knew he needed a canine companion. Turns out Zoey,
being an older, friendly female, was the perfect
match for him.
Zoey was picked up in
early October of 2008 as a stray and spent a week at
the Merced shelter, labeled an Australian Shepherd.
BCRNC found her and before her foster mom knew it,
Zoey had popped out 3 adorable puppies in her van!
Mom and pups were transferred to Terri’s care in
Salinas, Terri having had much experience with BC
moms and puppies. We found Zoey on the website and
began a correspondence with Terri. Zoey had to see
the ophthalmologist as she had cataracts. She
estimated her age to be closer to 8 rather than 5
years. We were informed that we had no obligation to
take her given this medical twist. In fact the
veterinary eye doctor really wanted to keep her! We
were already in love long- distance and said we were
coming to get her.
We drove to Gilroy from
Oakland to meet Terri and "Gingerbread" with our
god-daughter, Alejandra, and Dylan riding in the
back seat. As soon as Dylan saw Zoey lying down, he
sidled right up to her. He sat down against her
belly and has wanted to be near her ever since! We
were fortunate to meet Zoey’s puppies and
desperately wanted to take one home; however, the
puppies were already going to new families.
Zoey rode home in the back
of the car like a queen with Dylan and Alejandra
keeping a close eye on her.
Zoey needed a few weeks to
adjust to her new living situation. One day I came
home to find her on top of the dining room table
shredding newspapers! Another day she was on top of
a table in the living room and managed not to knock
over the photos in their frames. She had heard our
voices in the front yard and wanted to get to us.
Clearly, she was anxious and not happy about being
left alone, even for short periods. Within 2 weeks
we took her and Dylan to Sea Ranch for a very rainy
week and Dylan made sure to lie next to her, usually
bum to bum.
Zoey required some medical
attention in the next month, requiring 4 teeth
extractions and treatment for ear infections. She
was a model patient and recovered quickly. Once she
knew she was home to stay, she developed the habit
of greeting our friends at the door with a
combination of canine chatter mixed with a little
barking. She will carry on with her talking until
she feels she’s made her point with the visitor,
usually bargaining for a treat and lots of pets. She
also loves to come up on our bed first thing in the
morning; if we don’t pet her just right, she bats us
with her front paw till we do! She loves her walks
and howls at us when we pull out the leashes. We
have altered our vacation plans to include Zoey and
Dylan on most of our sojourns as they both love to
go to the beach. (Carmel beach is a favorite as they
love to romp off leash.) A complication of the trips
to the beach is that Zoey gets carsick. We’ve found
a solution: we use an Ace wrap around her chest and
belly (as taught in Tellington TTouch
), a dropper of Bach Rescue Remedy and a doggie seat
belt. If we forget the Ace wrap, she usually gets
sick. (The wrap works like a Thundershirt for dogs
afraid of fireworks.)
Zoey and Dylan love to
rough house together, playing tug-of-war with their
stuffed dog toys though we can see that after nearly
4 years with us, Zoey is slowing down somewhat. She
is the most loving, amazing dog who has been an
absolute joy and an integral part of our family. And
Dylan couldn’t agree more….
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10 Things To Know About Me!
Written by Piper
1. I just finished my 1st obedience class, and won the Puppy Push-Up contest! Really, it wasn't much of a contest - even the pure-bred Border Collie in the class couldn't compete with me. Plus, Mom got to lure me up-and-down with treats, and I LOVE treats and I LOVE moving fast! What fun!
2. I'm not sure what obedience is, BTW. I'm working on training my people, and so far they will pretty much do anything for me if I sit. They also really like it when I lie down quietly during breakfast. Sometimes I get pieces of toast for doing that - they're really easy to train!
3. I LOVE Ripley, my new dog buddy. Sometimes he's like my boyfriend: we'll lie down nose to nose and kiss. He also lets me play really rough, which I LOVE. Every once in a while I annoy him, though, and he'll snap me across the nose. But I can be a pill sometimes, so I guess it's OK. He always lets me play again right away. He's just the best-est Border Collie EVER!
4. Speaking of animal buddies, I love the cats here too! One of them intimidates me, though. All he has to do is meow at me, and I back off. The other one is really nice, and we have fun sniffing each others' butts. They're not as easy to train, however. I keep hoping they'll run and play with me but they won't. Cats are weird that way.
5. I'm learning to "retrieve." [I think that's what my people call it.] For some reason, they don't like to play chase, and want me to bring them things all the time without switching back and forth. [That's what Ripley & I do, and it's great fun!] But since I love to play, I think this is a game worth doing.
6. I'm learning that new people and places are generally good things, but I admit they still scare me at first. People are so unpredictable, you know! But it seems like everyone I meet these days has yummy food and gentle hands. I think I'm starting to revise my opinion of strangers...
7. On that note, my people are AWESOME. I get yummy food and treats all the time, and they pet me in all the best places (I LOVE having my ears rubbed), and they take me everywhere. We even went camping last weekend! I just feel safe with them, which means I can be ME whenever I want! It turns out that I am still learning who I am...some days I'm a total puppy and I just bounce around everywhere. Other days I even surprise myself with my calmness and maturity. Funny!
8. Even though this is a pretty common dog trait, I have to say it: I LOVE to smell things. I can stay still on a spot for hours. There are so many delicious scents out there! Why rush through them? My mom says that we may take a "nose work" class. I'm not sure what that means, but if it involves smelling things, then I'm in! I bet I'll be pretty good at it, too.
9. Oh, I think you'll be happy to know that I've put on a bit of weight. Not a lot, mind you, just enough to make my coat all shiny and my body sleek. Apparently I'm really cute, if my people are to be believed. They just love my eye-liner (I hear that all the time), and they think my spots are cool. Me, I just like that I feel good!
10. This one is the most obvious, but I had to save the best for last: THANK YOU. Thank you, Adri, for taking me in and helping me feel safe when the world was just crazy. I was really scared, and you were there to help me feel better. You and the rest of the BC Rescue group are my angels. I am so lucky.
Sincerely,
(and with lots of licks and dancing paws)
Piper
PS (Written by Darlene)
Dean and I thought you'd enjoy another update on Piper. =) It is truly amazing to see how she changes every day. Our biggest challenge is teaching her to come, no matter what, but we realize that it will probably be a process with her. One day at a time, and lots of games (puppy-in-the-middle, the name game etc etc). Anyhow, hope you are enjoying your summer, and that you've been able to help other dogs since we saw you last. Thank you so much!
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June 23, 2012
Dear Border Collie Rescue,
In September of 2011 we lost our
beautiful dog of 13 years to cancer. We were beside ourselves in grief.
She had become my boyfriends velcro dog since he works from home, and
the loneliness of her absence was unbearable. We had both been combing
many rescue sights and going to adoption days at local shelters to find
another dog, not to replace Goldie, but to save a life and help us move
on. Every time we would come back without a dog it was discouraging.
Nothing was clicking. We didn't want to jump into anything. While
surfing the internet we discovered the BC rescue of NC. There were
several dogs that captured our eye, especially this beautiful, unique
looking dog named Beau. We filled out an application and were contacted
that evening by Jeanne. She said she had a couple dogs that seemed to be
a perfect match for us and she would meet us half way in Yuba City. We
made the trek to this great pet store/training facility where she
brought 3 dogs for us to look at. She brought each dog out individually
to this huge grassy area for us to spend time with. In the end, Beau
stole our hearts. He was the perfect match of energy and love.
Beau fit in from the very beginning. He loves to go everywhere with us.
He travels great in the car and is Dave's perfect companion while he
works at home. He loves the dog park and works tirelessly to please. He
is so gorgeous, everyone comments on how handsome he is. A couple months
ago, he started displaying some aggression toward certain people,
circumstances. We hired a great personal trainer that is teaching us how
to be the leader and let Beau know we have it under control. He has done
great!
We are so grateful for all the work BC rescue does and to Jeanne for her
amazing dedication and finding us such a wonderful companion. Beau
helped us through such a hard time, and has and continues to bring us
great happiness. Beau goes to prove that "One man's trash is another
man's treasure."
Thank you so much,
Debbie and David
February 20, 2012
We finally got some snow and Nala (formerly Daisy)
just loves it! We took her snowshoeing for the first time last week
and she thought that was great. We started a new class at a
place in Carson City that just opened up. They have the regular
obedience classes and then have classes to get the dogs ready for
agility, therapy, etc. One of the assistants at the vet has
Australian shepards and she teaches classes there, and she told us
we should take this class we are in now called Focus. It shows you
how to work with your dog in a non-verbal way to get them to control
themselves and also commands to have them focus on you, which will
be of use in all the later classes. Nala learns very quickly of
course being a BC, and Curt works with her a lot at home as well.
She is such a great girl and definitely keeps us hopping, but it’s
a lot of fun.
We went to Palm Springs and rented a
house with some friends that also have dogs, so that
worked out really well. She is great in the car and PS
is really dog friendly, so she got lots of socialization
in. We also took her in the pool and showed her how she
could swim – she wasn’t thrilled! She still loves her
crate so that worked out really well for the rental
house.
February 20, 2012
The
photo attached I've titled "puppy love" because Sophie & Milo (formerly Huey)
are truly in love. They play all day and snuggle at night and in the morning.
Sometimes they even eat out of the same bowl and share treats. Sophie has been
an extremely tolerant big sis.
Milo is really good overall. He learns really fast and listens well. We are
very happy to have him.
Milo is just loving Lake Tahoe and his forever family. He still hasn't gotten up
the nerve to swim in the lake but I don't blame him. As soon as it warms up a
little, I'm sure he'll be a swimmer.
He does have fun watching Sophie swim and he will go in up to his belly after a
stick or pine cone.
 
November 28, 2011
Hi BC Rescue!
We adopted 9 month old Hamish (now called Murray) on
April 1, 2011. It has been 7 months and we're all doing great.
After some months of some separation anxiety issues,
which were pretty tough, Murray is doing great. He didn't know what toys were,
was scared of anything with a squeaker and didn't even really know what to do
with a chewy. He was so serious and afraid of everything, but within a month
everything was different.
Murray is fantastic will all other dogs. We go to the
dog park almost every day, and even aggressive dogs he laughs off with a
signature humor (like his namesake Bill Murray). Any dog that wants to play like
a puppy gets 55 lbs of excitement! I tell people at the park he's having a
second puppyhood. He LOVES his cat Miller (who looks suspiciously like a BC),
and tries really hard to make the other cat like him as well. As with most dogs,
the cat that doesn't run is special, and luckily both of our cats are willing to
chill with Murray (or too lazy to run?). As long as he gets a good run next to
the bike on the bike trail or a good time at the dog park or dog beach every day
or so, he's a model dog.
Murray wasn't great at being alone, but with some
incremental training (starting with 10 minutes and going from there), he's now
totally fine by himself - no crate needed. He's also great at going to work with
Mom at a photo studio. He greets clients and goes to his spot to hang out, the
flash doesn't bother him at all. Even with our weird schedule, not really waking
at the same time every day, he's figured us out and worked in great. He'll sleep
in if he sees that's the theme of the day, stay up a bit later if there's guests
to hang out with, or go back to being a "normal" guy who wakes up early too.
He's not much for the ball, and his best trick is a
fantastic head tilt back and forth if you ask him nonsensical questions. He's a
born good listener. He pretends to know so much English. We've done a few
training courses, which any BC owner will attest, he was top of his class. He
came to us with a docked tail from his prior situation, but he does have one
little bit of "fringe" left from what would have been an amazing BC tail. So now
he when he gets happy he wags a long little 5" length of hair quite furiously.
Murray is only a year and a half at this point, and I
can honestly say that I'm so thrilled we get to know this amazing guy for many
years to come. Northern California Border Collie Rescue was amazing at helping
match us with the perfect dog. Their years of knowledge of Border Collies helped
them understand how sweet Murray was and helped him find his home here.
November 10, 2011
A success story from TAZZY's new owner:
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I was a
lonely and solitary child, living three miles from the nearest
neighbor. My border collie ¨Bess¨ did her best to bring me up,
taking me out ¨sniffing down gopher holes¨ for entertainment. Fast
forward 50 years and I was once again looking for a great companion.
This time my companion has to get along with the cats, cope with
the small flat in the city, go to the mountains, go to work with me
on the ranch and hike with me. A tall order. My introduction to ¨Maise¨
was not encouraging. She hid. Other collies at the foster home
piled on top of me. She crawled behind the patio furniture. On the
leash she tried to refuse to leave the yard. I spent half an hour
convincing her to move 70 feet up the trail. At the top she bolted
away from my partner Donald. Her blue merle coat stuck out in odd
directions making her look lopsided. Back at her foster home she
ignored both of us and hid again. I talked it over with Donald.
Were we willing to commit to this scared dog? I almost said no, but
a couple of things kept coming back to me: when she arrived at her
foster home she wouldn't play, but now two or three weeks later she
was showing the first signs of playing. She bonded with both foster
parents, so she could be socialized. In the past I've done well with
scared animals. Donald and I said Yes and her foster father loaded
her into the car. After much discussion we renamed her Tazlina or
¨swiftly running river¨ in an Alaskan native language.
Two and
a half anxious hours later we arrived at our San Francisco house.
She was so scared she could not navigate our front stairs and fell
three times getting up them. The stairs were such a problem that I
had to carry her down them the first three or four times. She
bolted from people on the street, especially child sized ones,
trembling in fear. She refused to go potty for more than 48 hours
because she didn't feel safe. We walked, and walked, and walked
until she finally felt safe enough, and desperate enough to do her
business. She ran away from other dogs, even tiny ones, with her
tail tucked between her legs, hitting the end of her leash running.
Later, at the ranch, the horses scared her into repeatedly jumping
-into- the car through an open window. Her terror of strangers
and especially children led her to bolt to the end of the leash when
she saw a pedestrian across the street. We have a grammar school
playground across the street from us. We quickly learned not to try
and walk her during school hours. She growled at both Donald and
Marty in the first week, warning them away from her nice safe crate.
After
the first day or two Tazlina had two things clearly in mind. I was
her “person” and I had given her a job: learn to live with me and
my “pack”. As far as I can see there is nothing that a border
collie loves more than a job, unless it is her ¨person¨. She has
worked incredibly hard to become the dog that I want her to be.
She
quickly learned to navigate the stairs, both front and the more
scary open back stairs. She spent days getting used to Uncle
Marty's flat and then she took advantage of the fact that she
could see a very busy street from a very safe window. At first she
just sniffed the air coming through the window, then she leaned her
head out it and watched the street. Eventually she graduated to
sitting on Uncle Marty's steps where she could watch people (and
dogs) go by. At home she listened to the noise of the school all
day long.
As I
write it is exactly two months since we picked Tazlina up. To say
that she has made progress would be a huge understatement. Almost
every day we see her gain confidence and we see joy come into her
life. She no longer runs from children unless they are in the act
of shrieking, and even then she will walk down our street with a
slack leash as long as the kids are not actually on the street.
Today she calmly walked past an entire group of very small, but
quiet children. She greets strangers with either a tail wag and an
upraised head, or if she really doesn't like them she ignores them.
She has learned to sniff noses with other dogs, and yesterday she
spent half an hour in a dog park watching other dogs play without
cowering.
She
greets all three of her human “pack” members with huge tail wags
that bend her body in two, licking their ears if they let her. She
gives little twirling jumps of excitement and pleasure and races
around whenever she is especially excited, usually at the Ranch or
the beach. Her lovely grey, black and white coat is now glossy and
lies flat along her body.
Training her has been a pleasure. She is -so- eager to please.
This evening we worked on the command “way out” to tell her to move
further away from me. Her eyes sparkled, she wiggled and danced as
she moved one more (small) increment further away. In addition to
“way out” which she sort of understands, she is confident in: sit,
down, come, stay, wait, go in the other room, load up, off, NO,
that's enough.
We
think that Tazzy is our “perfect dog”.
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November 8, 2011
My husband and I adopted Patch
Adams (now Tuco) on May 21, 2011, and since day one we have been
absolutely
smitten with him!
It has been a learning experience for all of us, and a lot of work, but
Tuco is everything we could have asked for and more.
He is sweet and energetic, with a herding instinct like none I've ever
seen before, and he is fast as lightning.
He loves to play chase, fetch his ball, and show off his tricks like
weaving through our legs and jumping through
hula hoops!
We took him for a herding instinct test, and even though he's still a
puppy and had never seen a sheep before,
he knew just what to do. It
was pretty amazing to see.
He is such a smart dog, sweet and loving, who loves to meet new people,
especially kids.
And he never says no to a good
belly rub!
Would love to hear how other folks who adopted from Tuco's litter are
doing-
could be fun to set up a little
family reunion.
Thank you for bringing this wonderful little pup into our lives.
October 28,2011
It's been a little over a year since I adopted Callie (formly Tally). She became
a family member immediately, becoming the ears for Fetch our 13yr old border
collie, who became deaf just abt. 2 yrs ago. (Fetch, by the way we got from
border collie rescue 9 years ago.) Callie makes everyone she encounters smile,
with her one of a kind looks (1 ear always up, 1 ear always flopped down) and
ever-ready to play personality. We are taking agility classes and sheep herding
lessons and of course she's amazing at both. I retired this April, so now I have
lots of time to camp and hike with the dogs. Her spirit makes every day with her
a joy.... thank you.
October 22, 2011
We
adopted Star on January 29, 2011 and she was just a few days past 3
months old. We have been truly blessed with our Abbey (Star) in our
lives for the past 7 months. Her one year birthday is coming up on
October 26, 2011. She adjusted well to our home and family (the cats
were an issue at first). One of our cats "Lemieux" does not like
being chased or played with and keeps to himself pretty much now that
Abbey is in "DA" house. Our other cat "Nabby" does not seem to mind
the chasing, the playing and pretty much enjoys (tolerates?) Abbey.
She LOVES the FRISBEE, any kind of Ball, Tug Rope, Squeaky Toys,
Flashlights, and Laser Lights. We hope her brothers and sisters
(Tinsel, Dasher & Noel) were adopted and we wish them a very Happy
Birthday. Abbey was very very easy to train and exceptionally smart.
She starts obedience class next week. I have included some of our
favorite photos of her.
God bless Northern California Border Collie Rescue and Terri.
October 17, 2011
To Border Collie Rescue of Northern
California my heartfelt thanks for the work that you do and the lives of
those dogs that you have found their forever homes. Jade, formally Zoom,
has been in our lives since April 2010. What a joy she has been. Lots of
love is inside this little girl! This weekend we competed in a USDAA
Agility trial in Buellton, Ca in conjunction with the Miniature American
Sheppard Nationals. Jade was entered in seven class with five first places,
two second places, numerous qualifying scores and High in Trial for the
Advanced/PII dogs. She has come such a long way. Who would have ever
thought that she would work so hard for me, love the competition and almost
pack her own bags when I mention Trial!
Thank you so much for bringing Jade
home!
June 30, 2011
Just a quick update on Henny, the goof ball! We adopted Henny two years ago.
He had been hit by a car as a puppy, a vet had set his leg (the x-rays are
amazing!) and there was some concern over how well the leg would heal. I'd like
to report that he is doing great! He has a little scar and his leg has a very
slight curvature, but nothing slows him down! He is a very vocal dog, with his
crazy upright tail wagging a million times a minute! He is such a smart dog,(
tries to get away with a few things,) and we love him so much!! We adopted
another BC this last year (locally) , to keep Henny company after our old lab
died. He looks at us like "Really mom, you think I needed a puppy??"...but they
get along great! Thank you so much for taking care of Henny before he found us
(and thank you to the Yi's who fostered him)!
September 17, 2010
Had to share the latest portrait. My husband is thrilled because in dog
training class we are practicing down stays and that means Ben will hold
still for a photo now...much easier than before. He is doing great. We
just got back from Mendocino a few weeks ago where he stayed with us in the
Stanford Inn hotel, went to breakfast in their lobby and lay under the table
quietly during breakfast even though all sorts of other dogs were coming and
going. He got to play on the beach and he elected to go and swim around in
the water. He loves to swim! We were hiking up at Sunol and when our
Vischla went in - he followed and decided that paddling around was great
fun. He is a bit nervous of the waves but in Mendocino we were on the river
side and it was very calm so he just piled on in and paddled about on his
own. Very cute! He is doing better with heeling and settles when we need
him to...mysteriously, if he is going bonkers border collie style and we
need him to settle we just clip a leash on and put him at our feet and he
goes to sleep. Not sure how that happened but it is handy when we visit
friends:) He still hates the crate when we both have to leave him and I
enrolled him in doggie day care so that we have more options if we go out
for a longer period or something...haven't tried it yet but I suspect he
will love it. He loves other dogs at the dog park. He is very social. Our
only obstacle at this time is we can't leave him alone yet...he drags bath
mats out, still loves to chew shoes and that sort of thing. Yesterday he
grabbed the toilet brush five times! I finally gave up and put int on a
high shelf. Our house has never been so well picked up:)
Thanks again for helping us find this lovely, sweet puppy - he is curled up
snoozing under the edge of my bed at this moment on his back! Ha ha. Such
a puppy thing.
Just writing to let you know
how Lizzie (formerly Demi) is doing. In the year we've had her, she has grown
from a shy little pup into an outgoing, happy member of our family. She used to
be afraid of other dogs but now looks forward to our trips to the dog park! She
is the sweetest little soul, and is probably the smartest dog we've ever had.
She knows all of us (and her toys) by name, and her repertoire of tricks is
quite impressive. But along with those Border Collie smarts there is a bit of
Corgi attitude, and there are times when she gets frustrated because we don't
understand what she's trying to tell us. So we play 20 questions and when we hit
it right she licks her nose! She loves traveling, chasing squirrels in the back
yard, stretching out on the sofa, and chewing through indestructible dog toys :)
People often stop to tell us how pretty she is and ask if she's a designer
breed. We always take the opportunity to tell them about BC Rescue and what a
wonderful experience it has been. We said it before, and we'll say it
again...thank you so much for rescuing her, and choosing us to be her forever
home!
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This is the latest on Flynn, who we
adopted just over a year ago.
Our little boy is not so little
anymore! He's gone from hating water to loving it- he's a great
swimmer! He rides in the car like a big boy and has been cross
country 2 times. (this is especially important as he hated the car
when we got him - he was terrified)
His many travels include San
Francisco, Sarasota, Florida, Joshua Tree National Park and
everywhere in between.
He has his 2 big hikes every day and
2 small walks in between; he stops to say hello to everyone! He's
just not getting good with letting out a "woor!" when he says hi!
He puts a smile on our face and in our hearts every day!
Flynn has fun with his dog buddies
in the neighborhood, and often has them over to play in the
afternoon after their walk; Flynn's neighbor LadyBug the cat just
sits by with a confused look wondering what they're doing throwing
stuffed animals, balls and woobies around.
Can't tell you how happy we are to
have Flynn in our family, he loves everyone! Dog, Cat, horse, and
people, too! Thank you so much for letting us be Flynn's forever
family.
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Jazz (formerly Elwood) has had such a good week that I wanted to
write and tell you about it. He is now so much more sure of himself
at our big dog park and loves his outing there everyday. There is a
stream and a pond and a lot of walking trails in the juniper and
sage -- very pretty place and Jazz knows all the trails by now.
Jazz also knows the big open area where many owners congregate to
throw things for their dogs, and he prances as we get near there to
see who has showed up on that day. As you know, he is easy with
other dogs; he is particular about who he really likes, though, and
makes it clear when he finally finds a dog who meets his standard
for a friend. He has selectively singled out a couple of dog
friends by now, and he runs and plays with those dogs like a puppy.
His favorite dog is Maggie, who is a 28 pound 2-year-old Cocker
Spaniel. We were invited over to her grandmother's house last night
for dinner so Jazz and Maggie could play again (they had already had
a play date at the park in the morning) and they had the best time.
They wrestled and played so much that they both were tuckered out by
the end of the evening. And Jazz tried out Maggie's "Sof-Crate,"
and liked it, so I bought him one today. He already has a wire
crate in my bedroom (which I just keep open for him) and likes that
a lot, but he really took to his new soft crate, too, and thinks
having a crate for him in the living room is a great idea. He has a
nest-bed in my office, too, where he is now while I write to you.
You were so right about him, -- Jazz is the best dog. People at
the park comment on him all the time -- he is so good and such a
gentleman. He has that beautiful extended trot which is so pretty
to watch and all the regulars there know his name and enjoy him.
I haven't done anything yet with formal training, but our daily
outings provide many opportunities and Jazz learns so fast. I don't
think he had training on how to heel, but working with him off-leash
he already will stay right at my side when I tell him. I don't ask
it for long, but he got it within a couple of days (!) and I am
amazed at how quickly he learns. His recall is perfect and his
"wait at the gate" is, too. He is so smart and biddable.
Thanks again for recognizing his great potential and for saving
him for me. I sure love him.
June 5, 2010
Cash (formerly Dash)
He's getting vigorous ball-chasing at the
dogpark every morning, plus
three walks around the nabe. He has made huge strides in his
confidence with strangers, ESPECIALLY at the dog park, and is a lot
more confident generally. He has a platoon of fans around the
neighborhood already, human and canine.
Obedience school starts next Friday and I'm looking forward to it,
though I am
already delighted at how much he knows, how quickly he learns, and
how good his instincts are. Unless he's doing victory laps with a
ball, at which time he cares for nothing else! But that only lasts
as
long as he remembers he has to give me the ball if he wants me to
throw it.
He's a GREAT dog. I'm really sorry he had to wait so long to get
adopted, but I feel
very lucky that he's here.
The quick update is that
Coltrane (formerly Mikey) is just a phenomenal friend and
family addition! He has the sweetest temperament; he
believes the whole world is his friend, and I'm sure he
doesn't understand the word malice. I'm pretty sure we've
never even heard him let out a growl. He has grown quite a
bit, which surprised us, as I thought he was close to full
size when we got him at around 6 months. However, he just
weighed 57 lbs. today! I'm pretty sure he's not heavy: the
vet hasn't said anything, and he has been running anywhere
from 4-10 miles a day for quite awhile. He definitely lets
us know when he hasn't been for a run in a day or so! Of
course, he loves the water, and we run on a levee, so he's
usually down to the shore once or twice for a quick dip
before resuming his run!
Since acquiring Coltrane, we
have "adopted" a friends Border Collie mix. Unfortunately,
he and his wife divorced, he had to move into an apartment,
and after 6 months, he realized it was too cruel to keep the
dog there. So we said we'd watch her (Lily) until he found
someone who could give her a home. Well, after about a week
of that, Lily just sort of adopted us, and she's been with
us ever since. She's about 8 years old, and is quite a bit
more mellow than Coltrane. I think she's been a good calming
influence on him, and she definitely 'mothers' him — it's
very cute to watch.
Anyway, I know we've said it
before, but thanks once again for molding and shaping
Coltrane during his formative time of life. It definitely
shows, and we couldn't be happier with him.
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February 22, 2010
Reba had her best day yet
today, she spent the whole morning before the rain playing with Maverick, Dallas
and Jessie, she runs like a crazy thing all over the ranch and is happy as a
clam !! My horse vet was here today and she saw her a couple of days ago and
couldn't believe the change in just a couple of days, she was truly waiting for
me to come get her and I am so glad I did !! She is wonderful, although for some
reason I keep calling her Bella !! Who knows why, she knows Reba so well but I
guess something in her is a Bella to me, one of my very close friends in England
is Bella so maybe that's why !! Anyway just wanted to let you know how well she
is doing and to thank you and Border Collie Rescue for her !! She has a new pink
collar and her name tag as well as the other tags which I transferred, and
actually went to Petco with us to get them and handled that quite well. I can
open the door to the ranch and let her go out as she pleases when I'm working
in my office and when I call her she come full pelt to me every time. She has
also discovered the creek and, although it's a little chilly, has been in a
couple of times. Great dog, thanks again!
Dakota (Border Collie)
Dakota was adopted at age 8 weeks from border collie
rescue. She was a bright and healthy pup with a brilliant future
in training. No one would have known or even suspected the
health issues to come. She was brilliant in puppy training
(foundational/groundwork in agility and sheep herding) and
showed an extremely promising future in any performance sport.
By 4 months of age, it was apparent that something was
wrong. Dakota had lost a substantial amount of her fur on her
eyes and legs; she didn't appear is if she felt well and she
appeared uncomfortable a lot of the time. Despite very good
nutrition, she was weak, sickly, thin and did not appear
healthy. She was initially treated for an array of skin issues,
however, the fur continued to fall off. Vet appointment after
vet appointment provided no cure for her skin issues. Once the
issues were really out of control, and her skin had opened up
into oozing, bloody sores all over her body, she was diagnosed
with dermatomyositis (DM), a genetic collie disease affecting
skin and muscles. At this point, I began consultation with Texas
A and M DM lab, in conjunction with Dakota's own vet. Dakota was
placed on a very heavy cocktail of supplements and a human
circulatory medication, Trental. While showing marked
improvement over the next 11 months, Dakota still has small
patches of hair loss and small patches where the skin follicles
died from the disease and will not regenerate.
In the meantime, at about 5-6 months old, Dakota went lame
on her front leg. She had had an accidental jump from a deck
which was attributed to the cause. She was placed on 6 weeks
bedrest, which is always a challenge for a young border collie.
She was also placed on sedatives to help facilitate this process
and she instantly had a very adverse reaction to the sedatives,
kicking her dermatomyositis into high gear again, and thus
losing large amounts of fur again. After 6 weeks of bedrest,
Dakota seemed better for a few weeks/month, however, she later
went lame again. Her condition was such that she could not
stand, could not get herself up from a down/seated position, and
needed stairs to get onto the bed. It was suggested that her
condition might worsen to the inevitable. A whole panel of
x-rays was conducted and Dakota was diagnosed with shoulder
osteochondritis and hip dysplasia. At this point, because she
could barely move, but really wanted to be a young border
collie, I sought consult after consult with professionals to
determine what to do. Dakota was seen in numerous places and
began hydrotherapy to provide her with exercise. It was later
determined that she needed surgery for the shoulder
osteochondritis, however, she was unable to undergo anasthesia
due to the state of her dermatomyositis. It began to be a race
for her health as the longer the surgery was prolonged, the
worse arthritis could set into the joint, however, rushing to
surgery could end fatally if the dermatomyositis was not at a
stable state. Hours of consults, xrays, diagnoses, treatment,
trips to specialists, research and thousands of dollars later
(8K to be exact), Dakota's dermatomyositis was improving and it
was looking like she might be able to undergo surgery, however
the least invasive, most state of the art surgical methods were
imperative due to her weakened condition. Many miracles were
then to follow, including Dr. Andrew Sams of Mill Valley, an
orthopaedic and arthroscopic surgeon, who completed Dakota's
surgery with huge success....Sarah Johnson, who helped
tirelessly towards Dakota's rehabilitation....the Starfleet
Canine Aid Foundation who contributed generous assistance
towards the cost of the surgery.....Dr. Carol Jean Tillman at
Geary Veterinary Hospital in Walnut Creek who gave countless
hours of consultation and assistance, the Canine Rehabilitation
Center in Walnut Creek who tried to help Dakota through
hydrotherapy prior to surgery...the list goes on...for miles....
Today, Dakota is one year post surgery. After months of
rehabilitation, exercises, retraining muscles, teaching jumping,
etc., Dakota is finally competing at the novice level in
jumpers, predominantly NADAC at thist point, with high hopes to
also compete in AKC and USDAA. Although 2 years and 2 months
old, developmentally and muscularly, she is a very young pup
still due to all of the health problems, and often struggles to
find the coordination to make it all happen. The perseverance,
dedication and love for what she does is unparalleled in this
pup...she is a daily inspiration to myself and my other dogs in
our agility endeavours....and there is a not a night that goes
by, that we don't all give thanks to the stars...and wish on one
more, for Dakota.
November 9, 2009
Just wanted
to say thank you so much for allowing us to adopt Bugsy (now Scout). He is
a joy--happy, full of fun and anxious to please. He starts puppy class
tomorrow, but already knows how to come, sit and follows us everywhere. He
is so sweet, a real cuddler, and full of energy but not at all hyper.
It took
about 5 days for our 6-year-old border collie Ben to stop ignoring him and
show some interest, but then they quickly became best friends and constant
playmates.
Thank you
for fostering Bonnie and Clyde and doing such a good job of getting
the litter off to a great start. We are so grateful to you and Border
Collie Rescue of Northern California for making it possible to add Scout to
our family! Thought you would enjoy these pictures.
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Just letting you know how well Bodie is doing now. We are an
active team with Lend A Heart in the Sacramento area and he is
perfect for that! I have taken him to places and he has warmed
everyone's heart, as he has done with me and anyone he meets.
A success story for you....as a Lend A Heart team, Bodie and I
were at a tour for a new facility that we are going to be Team
leaders for. As we entered the memory care unit, a lady came up to
us and began talking to Bodie. He of course gave his nose to her
hand, licked her and gave that BC look that nobody can deny. She
talked to us and smiled and life was good. As we left our visit, a
nurse came to me and said that lady had never spoke a word since she
entered their home 8 months prior. My Bodie had that look that
warmed her heart and made her feel comfortable enough to talk to us.
I can't tell you enough, how every day, I thank God Bodie came to
me and I know as he is aging, my days are numbered. When that time
comes, I will be back for another BC to fill some VERY BIG PAWS.....
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Just wanted to give you an update on
Eddie Green. He's a wonderful, active, confident, friendly, intelligent puppy.
He's almost mastered "sit" and is doing very well with house training. He
watched Moksha playing frisbee and learned very quickly that the frisbee is a
wonderful thing. It might be hard to keep him from playing frisbee until he
develops. In 2 meals he learned where his food is kept and cries at the cabinet
when he's hungry, despite being fed on a schedule. Moksha is adjusting, and I'm
sure they'll be buddies before long. I named him Rishi, which means "sage" in
Sanskrit.
Good luck finding homes for all of those other puppies, and thank you again for
all you do.
It's been 2 weeks since Rishi joined our
pack, and he is doing well. Moksha is still not entirely on board with the
decision to bring a puppy into the pack, but he's trying. Rishi is in the phase
of experiencing the world through his teeth, and Moksha is being very patient
with him, or at least trying to be. Rishi is very smart and much more bold and
outgoing than Moksha. It's fun to have him around. He likes fetch, understands
"sit" and "come", and is working on "down", "stay", and "leave it", and he
doesn't even start school for another few weeks.
I adopted
Red from you guys just a little over a year ago and have been wanting to let
you know how well he is doing. He continues to be a most wonderful dog and
adores me and his Golden Retriever "brother" Bentley. Red had been given the
name of Rob-Roy when you guys got him in but never responded to that so I
changed it back to his original name Red. Anyway, I just love Red and he is so
happy and very adjusted to everything in his life. Attached are a few photos.
I wish there was some way of letting Red's original owner know that Red is
loved and thriving! Thank you so much for Red!
I just wanted to let you know how much we
love sweet Tulsa (formerly Camille). She is such a joy! At first she was
pretty shy and timid.......but now she is confident and goofy. She is low
energy for a Border but that is just fine with us! She does a lot of camping
with us and enjoys hiking and hanging out. As long as I am with her she is
happy. While I'm away she is patient and content. This summer we started
beginning agility and she loves it! That is everything but the tunnel! She bucks
like a bronco horse whenever I try! Oh well I'll be patient and she'll do it in
her own time. When my daughter brings her Aussie puppy home from college
playtime is on!! Tulsa and the pup tumble, wrestle, dunk in the pond and run
until they drop and then start all over again! Thank you so very much for
rescuing are precious girl!!
Just wanted to check in with
you and let you know how Jake is doing. We are all having a blast with
him. It's as though he has been a part of our family for a long time.
So far, Jake has gone to the beach, many dog parks and camping in the
Sierra Nevada mountains. Our other dog Chloe had to show him the ropes
in the mountains as it was apparent that he had never been camping
before. However, he caught on quickly and came home exhausted! Jake is
not a wanderer at all and stays very close to home and his family. He
is such a joy to have around and he and Chloe are now buddies (except
when it comes to dinner time!).
My kids are so thrilled to have him as a buddy and he gets lots and
lots of attention (as you will see in the photos). He has made himself
at home, now stealing naps on the couch, much to our dismay :). He is
such a cuddler and wants nothing but to curl up on our lap, laying on
his back with all four legs up in the air!
My apologies for the rambling but as you can see we are thrilled to
have Jake as a part of our family and wanted to share our happiness with
you. Thank you for what you do in helping these animals find homes
again. We wish you well.
Just thought
you might be interested in seeing how Ellie Mae is doing.
Just a bit of background. The summer of 2006, 3 year old Ellie was
surrendered to the shelter pregnant with heartworm. She was due to be put
down due to the expense of heartworm treatment when BCR rescued her.
Within 24 hours of being rescued she littered. After weaning all of
her pups (they were pure BCs and all were adopted), she went through 6
weeks of heartworm treatment and was then spayed. We adopted her 1
week later.
Ellie was very timid and insecure, a real Velcro dog. She didn't know
how to walk on a leash, afraid of cars, didn't bark, etc. Within a
month (Jan 2007) we started agility classes. The agility instructor
had her doubts about how far Ellie would go in agility due to her
insecurities. Ellie started slow, but about 6 months later it clicked
and she really started excelling in agility. Jan 2009 she participated
in an agility demonstration at the Cow Palace. In Feb 2009 we started
competing in agility. She is doing so well. After only 7 trials, she
earned 2 legs towards her Open JWW and won her Open Standard title.
We wanted to find out if she had any herding instinct, so we had her
tested the first month we had her. She failed the first instinct test
as well as the second test a month later. After building up her
confidence with 2 years of agility, we tried herding again and she did
just great!
We thought Ellie would make a good therapy dog, so after having her for
about 6 months we had her tested and she became a therapy dog (visiting
convalescent centers, etc). She tolerated it, but didn't seem to enjoy
it, so after only a few months we stopped. Agility and herding is what
she loves, so that is where we are focusing.
Ellie is a very happy dog. We are so glad that she was rescued and
part of our family.
We got Taylor on June 29, 2009 from Northern California. We decided to
change her name to Annie! This is due to that We got her on our 19 Wedding
Anniversary. She is an amazing family member! We love her so very much!
She loves her new home and runs and plays with my other border collie. I
would say for sure she is MY dog! We have taken her camping and we take
walks every morning. Our family is complete with Annie in our life!
Thanks for letting me share Annie!
Just what would
life be without Katie (originally Lizzy) or Tucker? We can’t
imagine!
The first two
months were really trying, I think it was trying for them too, but
we all hung in there and the rewards are beyond anything we could
have imagined! That it has been four years now, tells you what a
busy, full life we all have had together!!
Katie was renamed
as Gregg felt under that black coat was really a redhead and so she
just had to be Irish! He began calling her Katie O’Leary. She was
definitely the wild child! We are sure her exuberance (what we
love) is the very thing she was beat and abused for. She is now our
clown! We are so proud of her changes and she has proved that love
and stability can overcome some really big odds!! She is all girl,
plays ball but there will be no dirty sheep in her life!!!
Tucker is a “soft”
dog. He was 3 days past his kill date (lost paperwork) when he was
rescued! His foster mom, Jeanne, told us he was special but we had
no idea how special! His issues were from neglect along with some
major health problems. By continuing the care that BCRNC had
started, we began to uncover the dog he was meant to be. His groomer
kept encouraging us to test him for herding instinct. It was instant
love. He now trains at Herding 4 Ewe in Vacaville with Debbie
Pollard. Tuck’s biggest issue now is waiting for his Dad to catch
up as his herding handler in the field!
Last weekend at an
AKC trial Tucker qualified and placed first in Started Course A
(sheep) and as if we couldn’t be any prouder he was also High in
Trial! The feelings that well up in us each time this dog runs and
works sheep is more than we can put in words. Katie is always
there, too, as the cheerleader!
Tucker has been
such an ambassador for Border Collie rescue as he is right up there
with purebred, papered and pedigreed dogs, holding his own! People
are so surprised when they hear his story. We travel and camp with
these two and every one falls in love with them too.
We are so grateful
you chose us to be the forever home these two wonderful dogs so
deserved.
Riptide and
his kids are cool
Riptide wine tasting at Mutt Lynch with Dad
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August
16, 2009
We adopted one
of your puppies - "Diesel" on July 4th. We just wanted you and his foster mom
to know that he is doing well, other than being loved to death! He now answers
to his new name - Riptide and can sit, give his paw, lay down and speak on
command. He is house-trained and is coming along on coming when he's called (he
gets a bit distracted by other dogs and people) and not begging for food. He is
still a little "mouthy" with our son, but we think that will let up when we get
our son trained!
Thanks so much
again for your organization and also to his wonderful foster mom, who was
clearly very good to him and worked with regularly. He has already brought so
much joy to our family and we are very grateful for him and for you.
August 15,
2009
Lizzie, formerly Demi, has started puppy classes at the SPCA. She is wonderful
around humans, but is afraid of other dogs and we are working with her to
overcome that. She is smart as a whip and knows sit, stay, down and beg. She's
good on recall as long as there are no squirrels around :-)
Everyone tells us how lucky we are to have her!
Thanks again for saving her and for
choosing us!
February 2009
This success story is long overdue, but
well worth the wait.
I adopted Augie-Doggie (previously Laddie) in June of 2005. I think were both a
bit uncertain about what our new lives were going to be like with each other.
Due to Augie’s fearfulness and shy demeanor, we were given extra time to sort
out our new arrangement. Augie was afraid of many things, including people,
unfamiliar sounds, squeaky toys, and our cats. He is still fearful of squeaky
toys (I think he must have been harassed with one in his earlier life), and he
still keeps his distance from the 2 older cats. Since I got him I rescued 4
kittens, so he now lives with 6 cats and we’ve never had any problems. He has
come a long way from being the timid dog I met in foster care. He is now so
friendly with both dogs and people, that it’s an effort for me to keep him from
rushing to meet anyone we encounter on the trails near home, or at the office
when he’s allowed to visit. He absolutely LOVES other dogs, regardless of
whether they’re likewise excited and sniffing, or growling at him. I get a lot
of comments on the spot on his head, or his one ear up and one ear down, and
what a good dog he is since he’s so obedient. One day I got two “what a
well-behaved dog!” compliments in the same day, one from someone who isn’t that
easy to please. I was so thrilled, and proud of my once-upon-a-time tail
tucking, ear drooping Augie-Doggie. He fetches like a pro and drops his toy
(usually a BALL) at my feet (in foster he wouldn’t retrieve). He’s also learned
to catch and retrieve a rubber frisbee, which is a favorite toy in the snow. Oh,
did I mention SNOW? He absolutely LOVES being in the snow. Augie is a very
happy, wiggly dog. He doesn’t keep still for long, unless we’ve been on a long
walk, he’s had dinner, and we’re both relaxing. Many thanks to Janie and Brett
and the Northern CA Border Collie Rescue for bringing us together. One day I
hope to bring another doggie into our home as a companion for Augie (and the
rest of us). Who knows what awaits us. Right now we have a pretty big crew.
Cheers, and many thanks!
We just wanted you to know how Epic, the
wonderdog, has been since we adopted him in July of 2007.
Well, it's unanimous-he's been wonderful. He
truly just fit right in with our family-and I do believe that he is a very
fulfilled border collie.
A snapshot of his life with us is this: he
loves his girls, dutifully laying under their chairs at breakfast to clean
up crumbs, then sending them off to school, where often times he picks them
up, wagging his whole body with excitement when he sees "his" kid.
He, and I think he would admit this, loves
Shugga, the black cat, whom after several failed attempts to herd her, he
submits daily to her affection, and they have even been seen rolling in the
sun with her.
He loves the dog park, right next to our
house, where he plays with Patty the Irish wolfhound, Luna the Cairn
terrier, Buddha the Aussie among many others. He is a pal to everyone, and
only raises his hackles if a big dog is getting too bossy with a little one.
He is beginning to learn a little agility
with the park benches, and has learned over and under on them. (his other
tricks include sit, stay, leave it, dead dog, high ho silver where he rears
like a pony, and who are you voting for : answer-Oh-baaaa-maaa!)
He LOVES the truck, where he is a calm
passenger and back seat driver.
He loves going to grandma and grandpas house
where he once climbed the fence and herded their goats, and it is is deepest
desire to do so again.
He loves getting his cuddles and baby talk
and we even discovered that this big baby dog loves to be cradled like a
baby in your lap.
He even likes coming to work with me as i
have been training to be a vet tech and work for a veterinarian.
So, I just hope that you realize what a gift
he has been to our family-and how much we appreciate the good work that you
do every day so that other families can have the chance at completing their
home with these almost-human furry angels.
Thank you again, and we wish you continued
success with your endeavors of hope and help,
February 1,
2008
I thought you might enjoy this picture of
Sunny and Star cuddling on the
couch.
Today I saw the sweetest thing I have seen to date between two dogs. We
got home from playing in the snow and were all soaking wet. Star
(formally Argos) and I were cuddled on the couch, next to the
woodstove, trying to get warm.
Sunny came over and ever so gently licked Star 's coat until he was dry!
He started on top of his head, even licked Star's eyes and then worked
his way down his back. Star seemed to really enjoy this kindness and
held perfectly still. Now Star has the softest, cleanest fur on his head
and back!
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