BC Personality Profiles..

[Meg's mum]

We have bits and pieces of our BC brethren strewn all about our topics over time...I thought it might be instructive and perhaps a loving thing to pull together a portrait of each of them for those that are so inclined. I will post mine after others start....

 

Title: name, age, gender, bred/purchased/rescue, pure or mixed

Character sketch: BC has he/she is now. in whatever style you choose..anecdotes, from the dogs eye view, third person,

Picture if available:

 

Play with me won't you? - Heidi

[painted_ponies]

Violet is a four or five year old spayed BC bitch who was given to me by a couple of friends. Her secret identity is known as Shrinking Violet, mild-mannered affectionate house pet who cowers in the presence of Lhasa Apsos and is terrified of firecrackers, thunder and any other loud noise. In the presence of stock, however, she runs into a phone booth and emerges as UltraViolet, She-Whom-Sheep-Must-Obey, who will work completely oblivious to driving storms and nearby gunfire.

 

Faith is an eleven month old puppy bitch who is BC crossed with Tasmanian Devil. At least according to our trainer. I pulled her from a kill shelter to foster, but in the process of treating her various ailments grew too attached to her to place her elsewhere. She has great enthusiasm for chasing stock but is only beginning to suspect she can actually control them. She fears neither man nor beast and deals with infuriated DHs, Lhasas, cats and goats with blithe disregard and unshakeable good humor. Faith has a great time just being Faith.

[pammyd]

Oh Ok cos we all hate talking about our dogs

 

Ben, 6 months old in 2 days

Rescued from Dogs trust when 8 weeks old

No idea what he is (will play the guessing game when he is bigger) deff some BC but dunno about other 1/2 - thought it was jack russel but not so sure now)

Loves learning and making me smile, can be super fast at some things - and v dense at others

Loves all people and dogs, runs around mad outside house - but comes when I call - and is v quiet in the house and loves cuddles (although everyone tells me he is about to turn into a monster)

 

 

Thats him as of last week - best photos I can get with slow camera and fast pup

[sweet_ceana]

Ceana is 16 months. Her birthday is May 17th. We were looking for a Border collie puppy when we ran across a farmer who had just had some puppies(Ceana is a tri just like her mom). The farmer had never had puppies and neither had her friend (who had ceana's dad- a red BC). I met her Ceana's dad's owner, told her I really would love a BC pup and then she said, actually we are having puppies. Both Ceana's mom and dad worked on their farms and we got to meet the whole bunch mom, dad and babies at 5 weeks old. We were teh first non- family to see teh pups so we got the pick of te litter. Ceana was the runt, the only tri (two blac/wht & two red/wht), and had the most attitude. She would watch the other's play and sleep by herself (now we know she is fear aggressive but then I just thought she was independent ). Ceana watched Chris and I so carefully while we were being asked questions to make sure that we were adoption eligable. After 15minutes she ran up and hopped into my lap, curled herself into my body and attempted to fit my whole arm into her mouth. We knew she was the one. We picked her up later at 8 weeks old and she has been with us ever since.

 

She is an absolute princess who must sit on any pillow in the room. She is a daddies girl although Mom means business and learning. Dad's are only for playing and snuggling- though mom is fun to snuggle when dad is cranky.

 

She loves her frisbee and has been chasing it since she was 8 weeks old. We rolled it until she was big enough to catch it and now i truley believe she thinks frisbee is her job. No matter how much exercise she gets she is not satisfied until frisbee time is done. She is, as I said, fear aggressive- but she is getting much better. We have desencitized a lot of it, but we are going to begin working with a behvioralist soon.

[smileyzookie]

Riven is around 2 years old. She's a female BC mix we got at the humane society. Hubby and I prayed for a long time about another dog. We went to multiple shelters and just never found anything we wanted. I couldnt have told you the difference from a BC to a collie. Then we went into the shelter in town on a whim. We went though, saw nothing we wanted. I decided to look once more. Walked again, and a muddy black mess was in the back corner cage. She stood on her back feet and hopped toward me. Which of course made me laugh, and hubby said "sit" and she sat and looked at us. I was like lemme see her. We took her out and she was loveable and hyper. We realized she had been caged so we werent too concerned about her activity level. We went in to fill paperwork out to try her out for 2 weeks. They couldnt even figure out who she was. She had been left for dead in a fenced yard (this is in December/January) and had dug a massive hole so she could crawl under this shed in the yard for warmth. She was so thin and had gained so much weight in the 1 week there they didnt recoginze her. Anyway... we took her to the groomer. She had to be washed twice and the groomer said she got over 3 huge double handfuls of hair and mud off her. We went home I curled up on the couch, she curled up with me and we both slept. From that moment on she was MY dog. The supposedly outside dog immediately became an inside dog and we have never regretted it. We're currently doing agility and lovin every minute of it.

 

[sweet_ceana]

AWWWW Donna that is a great story

[stockdogranch]

No touching story here, but I have a student who gives all the dogs nicknames that sort of sum up their personalities. One that I raised and trained from a pup (later sold), whom I named Trubble (she WAS appropriately named), was called "The Biker Bitch." My 8 year old male (who never quite got a clue) was dubbed "The Stoner Dude" (AKA Spicolli). My mister mellow, life is all good, nothing ever riles him up, now 12 years old, was dubbed "The Dali Collie." Riddle, my #1 girl, is the classic "Overachiever" (also referred to as "The Queen Mother"), and her daughter, Tikkle (the Resurrected), is the "Overachiever in Training." This student's female (littermate to the Biker Bitch) is "The Little Catholic Schoolgirl." Yes, this is what we do while we're training dogs

A

[Rhys]

I adopted Rhys from a local rescue. I really liked a black mutt, Jin, pictured on the rescue's website but wanted to adopt two dogs that needed to be placed together. When I found out that Jin and another dog, Rhys, were very bonded and that Rhys had one failed adoption because he wouldn't stop whining because he was separated from Jin I was very excited to meet them until the rescue director told me that Rhys is a border collie. My first thought was border collie, um "no thanks". Okay, I really thought “oh hell no” because of my next door neighbor's border collie, Buddy. Buddy is hyper vigilant, barks at anything, everything and nothing; and is very very very high energy. I have since figured out that Buddy is not getting the attention, training, physical activity or mental stimulation that he needs. The rescue director told me that Rhys is laid back and medium energy so I decided to be open minded. I researched the breed and met Rhys. I love my Rhys. He is sweet, affectionate, mellow, smart and engaging.

 

[Ruger's Dad]

Ruger is 2.5yr old male. He is purebred and raised on a farm in which the owner trains sheep dogs on the side. He is my first and only BC. I had the choice of two dogs. The other dog was a split face and very friendly. Ruger was more playful but peed on me when I tried to hold him. I picked him simply on looks. He was a cute fuzzball with the more classical look in my opinion. Not the way to pick a dog.

 

Over two years later, he no longer pees on me. LOL. He is way over the top hyper at times and is OCD about his frisbees. He is also everything I envisioned that a dog should be. Ruger is extremely smart and driven to figure out exactly what I want. He is my constant companion which I can't say about our Springer even though she is a great dog.

 

Ruger is still not a lap dog. My wife doesn't like him on the couch. However, he is about the friendliest dog I have ever had. At least towards me. He is also protective which can be a bit annoying under the wrong circumstances.

 

I don't think Border Collies are the choice for 99.9% of dog owners. At this point in time I couldn't imagine myself without one. My next Border will be a male as well. I have read on these boards about the temperment of the females but he doesn't get the bladder infections or have to be on medicine to keep from leaking like our Springer.

 

Just in case someone is searching this site to figure out if they want a Border Collie or not. You are better off with any other breed unless you want a change in life style. Ruger requires just a much attention as either one of my kids. What worked out really well though is softball and OCD dogs turned out to be a great combination. Ruger is the most intense ball fan you will ever see.

[border_collie_crazy]

Happy, 6 years old born October 27th 2000 so almost 7 years, female purbred from a breeder.

 

Happy is my baby, she is incredably smart and an overall wonderful dog. Happy isnt popular online, she's kinda plain looking, and hates pictures so she always looks upset lol. in RL, Happy is EXTREMLY popular, everyone within a 3 block radius knows her and adores her, everyone who meets her wants to take her home. my moms boyfriend in particular loves her lol, he actually likes to come to my house not to see my mom(she can go there lol) but because he misses Happy I get kids knocking on my door begging me to let Happy out to play with them. everytime I have got trick or treating on halloween(I sometimes takes younger kids out as the kids prefere not to go with their parents but their parents dont want them going alone) Happy has always come as well, in costume..with her own treat bag lol. Happy is good at everything she does and I swear she goes out of her way to prove people wronge lol. when she was a pup she was told she would never be a flyball dog, she would be usless on stock and the only thing she would be good at is agility. reality? Happy is a 3.8 second flyball dog, her first time on stock had the stockdog folks in shock, they couldnt believe she had never seen sheep before. she is also a wonderful disc dog(the best in her family lol her sire used to hold that title, happy stole it) and BTW, she HATES agility lol.

 

 

 

Misty, 4 years old, born Novemeber 6th 2002, so slmost 5 years. purebred female from a cattle ranch.

 

Misty is my clown and my photo dog, everything says she outa be on TV and in adds because she LOVES the camera, she's a little model, she will litterlly walk onto the backdrop and strick a pose..hold it while I snap pics..then she will pick a differnt pose and hold it for pics etc.. its quite funny, I never taught her to do any of it one day she just randomly started posing all on her own. she is the kind of dog that people love at a distance, people dont love her for her behaviour, they love her for her looks and attitude. she is absultly GORGOUS, its always fun to walk with her because I get to be ammused by all the people who see her and I see them pointing at her and telling eachother to look at how pretty that dog is Misty knows HOW to behave but often times she chooses not too lol unless I am in a bad mood, then she suddenly turns into the most perfect of angels

 

[Bula's Lady]

I am 11 months old as of yesterday! My birthday is Oct 18th. My mother and father are both raised by the same lady. I had two sister and 1 brother in my litter. I am tri like my father, but small and compact like my mother. My right front leg is brown and black, so at night it always looks like I am walking on three legs, or so my lady tells me. I love living on my farm where I can watch the horses, I always make sure they stay in the paddock area. We do have pigs that I am always running around. I have made a great path all the way around the enclosure, sometimes they chase me back. Daddy took the pigs* out the other day just for me to play with, I got to bite them on the nose, for some reason dad was holding there tails trying to get them back in the pen, so I made them both go backwards! I love to roll in anything that makes me smell, fresh horse manure is my favorite but dead rodents are second on the list!

 

I have a non-bc brother Kramer who I love! We play all the time. He likes to steal my toys when I bring them to mom. He grabs them, looks at me, then runs away. I have to chase him to get them back. We love doing everything together but he isn't as obsessed with the animals or the balls as I am. Even though he is younger than me he has gotten way bigger than I. Oh well, I still am the boss of the food!

 

*Pigs got out on there own and he was trying to put them back after they spent a couple nights in the barn

[PSmitty]

The Dali Collie

 

That tickled me!

[setsail]

Jackson is a 5.5-6 years young border collie rough coat collie mix from Colorado. My best friend was doing research in eastern CO and was backpacking and 4 wheeling into her research site when she saw Jackson standing in the middle of the trail. She got out and he took off. She left food and water. She stopped again and he was following her truck. After a while of stopping and feeding him she lured him up to her and put him in her truck. Just then another border collie busted out of the brush and now she had 2 dogs to feed. Jackson's brohter wiley was hiding from her the whole time, but once Jackson approached her he followed suit. Jackson lived with my friend for a month or two in CO before driving cross county to MD.

 

We took to jackson immediately. He danced when she turned on our street. He would hit the house and beeline to the kitchen looking for me. My husband was the first man he ever voluntarly approached. So 6 months later when my friend found out she was accepted into the Peace corp the choice was easy and we took Jackson.

 

Jackson is a gentle empathtic soul. He loves elderly people and is calm around them. The cleaning crew at my work are from an adult care center and I was afraid that he would be skittish with them but he went to each one, sat and lifted a paw. He never shied when an they laughed loudly or jerked away from him. He knows when people are sick and will lay his head on their arm, stomach, shoulder, and just close his eyes. His hard start to life has given him incredible insight to fear, pain, helplessness and the ability to understand. But instead of letting it affect him, he tried to help in the only way a dog can, with eyes heart and touch. The first night he came to live with us I got a horrible stomach flu in the middle of the night. Jackson jumped on the bed, laid his head over my stomach. I knew right there and then that he was going to be a special part of my life.

 

He's a true adventurer. As long as I'm with him he would go with me to the moon and back. He is happy to take the lead and blaze a trail. He handles all new situations with grace and confidence. He was always a timid dog, but with training and confidence building we were able to strip the inhibitions of neglect and poor socialization to find my spunky little man.

 

His favorite sport is frisbee. we just started competing this year and he loves the crowds, the noise, the applause lol.

 

So that is my boy in a nutshell. The mind and maturity of an old man with the energy strenght and confidence of a teenager. Not a bad combination in a little 50lb furry body.

[Michelle K]

Nykie is almost 9 months old. Her birthday is December 26, 2006. She is a purebred BC that was purchased from a breeder by a girl that was visiting their house at a yard sale. She bought her on a spur of the moment decision and then a few weeks later realized that she couldn't handle her. That's when she came to live with us on March 2, 2007.

 

Nykie is definitely a dominant girl, which is more than likely going to cause a problem in the near future, because Presley is the alpha female. She doesn't hesitate to put another dog in line, even though she is the youngest. She doesn't mess with Presley too much, but she has crossed the line with her before. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out. Hopefully, she'll continue to respect Pres and not attempt to take over. She does have a habit of grabbing the other dogs by their manes, tails, or whatever she can grab a hold of. She's the fastest one we have, so she's almost always in front when we're playing ball. She does have a tendency to make the others mad by being too rough with them, at times.

 

She is very focused during her training. She is a wonderful girl, but she must stay busy. If I allow too much time in between her training times, or if the other dogs don't want to play with her, she will make her own games, which normally consists of barking, pulling branches out of trees to chew on, or digging. Needless to say, I have to keep her busy. She is super good with our 1yr old daughter. She doesn't mess with her. She'll normally just lay down near her. The worst problem we have with her around our daughter is that Nykie wants to lick her. We are still working on her manners with guests, though, due to us not having very many. At first, she's very stand-offish with them, but once she realizes that they're ok, she goes wild jumping, lunging, and we have had a problem in the past with excitable urination. This is being dealt with, but it's taking some time.

 

She absolutely loves water. She enjoys getting into the kiddie pool to cool off. I think she would really enjoy going to the lake, but I haven't had a chance to take her, yet. She has; however, really enjoyed the basic intro to agility class that she took back in the Spring. She, also, is doing very well with her obedience training.

 

She shares her toys, beds, and home with 3 Shelties and 1 Schnauzer, so there is rarely a dull moment around here!

[Guest WoobiesMom]

Hi there! I'm Woobie. I started life under an abandoned house in the city of Richmond, VA. Mom was a wild child and Dad is a mystery. Alot happened in those first weeks under the house, but I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say that it left me a little suspicious of you two-legged creatures. This is what I looked like when I first came to the shelter.

I was supposed to go to the SPCA with my siblings but Kris and Chuck thought I was way too cute so they scooped me up and took me home to foster. I got to live with other doggies which was fun and my experiences with their BC Lilu marked me for life because she's a big black border collie and I think big black dogs are the bestest thing in the whole wide world! Kris and Chuck named me Wookie because I was a big fuzzball but they soon discovered how sweet I was and changed it to Woobie. Later on I went to Jody's house and her big black dog Liza became my next best friend.

After a while, they decided it was time for me to find my special forever home. I was still very skeered of two-legged creatures so I needed someone who would take alot of time to help me with my fears. That's when my Mom saw me on Petfinder.com and contacted the shelter. I came home with her in February of this year but was still pretty unsure about just about everything. You can see the worried look on my face as my new sis gives me big squeezes.

Mom started taking me to this big place with a fence to play with other doggies. Now there was something I could understand! I was a little scared in the beginning, but being with other doggies is my favorite thing in the world and as long as a new two-legged creature had a doggie near it, I would usually go meet them eventually. Especially the grey-haired creatures, I like all of them and am not scared at all when I meet them! But those pesky little creatures who make alot of noise and move really fast keep coming in and trying to chase me. I don't like that and I'm not too crazy about them. My favorite thing to do in the world is to show off to the other doggies how screaming fast I am. I flash my fluffy tail in their face to make them chase me and I run like the wind. I can cut and zig-zag like nobody's business and so far the only dogs that can catch me are the border collies, aussies and greyhounds. I leave everybody else in the dust. Then, when I'm done teasing them, I settle down for a rest with a happy, satisfied grin on my face like this one.

Mom says I've come a long way with my fears. I no longer try to run for the hills whenever a stranger comes close and I can even stay pretty still if a little creature comes around. Mom has made me stay still while a few of them have petted me and it wasn't too bad. But I still like the grey-haired creatures and big black dogs the best. Mom says she is trying to find me a new brother or sister or girlfriend so it can show me how to be a little braver and so I have someone here at home to play with. I try to play with my kitty pal Milo, but he's not big enough to really wrestle. Mom wants to get a border collie but I think I might end up with a big black labrador since I'm really gaga for every single one I meet!

[MaryP]

Milo - I adopted Milo from a high kill shelter in Tennessee when he was about 3.5 months old. He wasn't what I was looking for. My previous dog had died 3 years prior and it was an awful and tragic experience for me. It took a lot of courage for me to decide to get another dog. I was looking for another terrier, not a bc. I could never find what I was looking for. One day I realized that I couldn't find what I was looking for because I was trying to find my previous dog and I was never going to find that. So, I decided to just get a dog that was nothing like my previous dog. Enter Milo. I remember driving home from the shelter with this cute puppy on my lap and crying because I didn't feel any attachment to him. But, that soon changed. When I took him to one of the vets that will do exams for free for the shelter pets, I found out that Milo had sarcoptic mange. This vet made it sound like there was nothing I could do about it and I should just exchange the puppy for a new, healthy one at the shelter. That's when I fell in love with Milo. As soon as he needed me, I realized just how much I loved him. That has never changed. He is by far the best dog I've ever owned. He's smart, sweet, and has a rock solid temperament. He's now 8 and has been suffering from arthritis in his hips due to HD. It's tough to watch. He was always so active. But, he's my guy and I will love him until the day that I die.

 

Milo as a puppy:

 

Milo last month when we were on vacation:

[setsail]

Milo's puppy picture is adorable.

[Meg's mum]

Meg, nearly 22 mo. old bitch, pure bred from working stock but not trialling stock.

 

The first day I met Meg she was 4 weeks old. She picked me, really - decided that I was more interesting to be with than anything else - climbed her pen to get to me, chewed me to sample the flavor of my skin, clambered up my body to put her cheek next to mine. By that sweet cheek and her forehead pressed against my husbands face, she seems to draw the spiritual energy that sustains her. Quite frankly if she did not seek me out to come lick my nose from time to time I would shrivel up in sorrow. She is dangerously fearless and absolute in her persistent pursuit of a goal, languishes happily in the sweetness of the morning like a baby having her tummy rubbed and paws played with, transforms into a threatening baboon when senses danger, cowers in the farthest reaches of her territory at the sight of a bicycle walking alongside a human or a vaccum cleaner, prances gay tailed and smiling in perpetual glee when play is afoot, cleverly and strongly resists attempts to control her against her will but finds the struggle less than fun as she matures and sweetly kneels to a little authority out of kindness to me I think. Meg invents new ways to teach me how to communicate with her so that I don't lose my temper, and sulks herself asleep in her crate when DH and I are up past her bed time and not downstairs in bed keeping her warm. Meg nibbles the cheeks of other dogs in a loving way, play fights sweetly with her cat sister, and resource guards me like a badger.

 

It took a long time to wean her from the need for perpetual attention and whinning. These days she is a rather respectful friend that sometimes sits and talks to me as if having a conversation, to convince me that it is really time to go work or play WITH HER.

[Ruger's Dad]

Who in the heck was the bozo that allowed Milo to end up in a kill shelter? What a find!!!!

[hoku's mum]

Hoku came into our lives after we lost our heart dog Spencer at age 16. It took us 3 years to even think of another dog, could never 'replace' Spenny. But one day I just got a wild hair and looked at our local shelter's website, and there he was... we both knew from his pic that he was our dog... and he was at the shelter...

<races to the shelter before some horrid thing could befall 'our' dog>

He was waiting for us... sweet pup of undetermined age and breed, but guess about 10 week BCx?

 

Puppy Hoku

 

He is now just two, and, an amazing guy, smart, smart, smart, and always a challenge. Can't be let outside to much on his own... digs to china, chases everything (caught a couple birds... ) obsesses on the neighbours stock, etc, so supervision is the name of the game. If we get lazy and don't use and challenge his brain, he starts getting wacky and acting 'bad'. He has a great 'off' switch in the house, and when we go outside, it's ON, ON, ON!!! He loves to learn, and we do lots of fun stuff, tricks, Frisbee, agility, soccer, and he will do anything if you will just throw the stick into the water. He is a play monster, *loves* to romp with his pals, but is growly and weird to new dogs, especially when he is leashed. Still working on that one. Loves kids, is gentle and very sweet, scared of men in hats, loves visitors, and is just always happy and willing to do whatever kooky thing we ask. He can be a power monger with his little 'sister' Gussy, so we keep them separated when they are alone. He is a hatful of contradictions, but we love him so dearly. No one could ever 'replace' Spencer, but I now know that you can have (at least) 2 heart dogs in one life time.

 

[MaryP]

Who in the heck was the bozo that allowed Milo to end up in a kill shelter? What a find!!!!

 

I don't know, but I'm kind of glad they did. He literally changed the course of my life. I guess you could say he changed a lot of lives since I wouldn't be doing border collie rescue today, if it wasn't for him.

[SincereArtisan]

I lost three of the best dogs I could ever ask for about a year and a half ago. My first border collie, Pi, a shelter rescue Raven, and an anonymous rescue, Katie. I lost them because somehow they had access to rat poison and I wasn't aware of it...until it was too late. We later suspected a neighbor, or it could have been laid out in a friend's elderly grandmother's house we went to visit that Christmas. Either way, by the time I realized something was wrong, it was too late.

 

They were my introduction to BCs, and my reason for discovering this board... Pi was as smart as a whip, and would do anything you asked of her. Raven was as un-border collie as you could get, my quiet girl, the anchor. Katie would give anything to be attached to your side, and fetch a frisbee all day long...

 

Pi...

 

Raven...

 

And Katie...

 

 

It was nearly 6 months later before I could bring myself to get another border collie. I was rather absent until then. In between that time, my parents, meaning well, had gone out and gotten me two 5wk old lab/aussie pups. It was...difficult. And I loved them...though they wouldn't have been my first choice for my next dogs. Just when I was growing attached, though, I sent them off for an overnight at my parents because I had to work a full 14 hours. They stayed in the barn, in a stall. We had movers all around that day, prepping the house, getting a lot of stuff loaded out. In the end, we suspected them, because the next morning the puppies were gone. The door to the stall--which could only be opened through the outside--was wide open, and the pups were gone. We hung flyers, called vets, shelters, went door-to-door....nothing. Talk about the worst streak of luck imaginable. i thought I was doomed as a dog owner. What people must think of me, I could not imagine...and those poor puppies, I never found out what became of them.

 

Then came Rune. I saw an ad on petfinder's classifieds, some lady wanting to rid herself of her BC because it was too much energy. I got a pic, and she looked so much like my Pi it made my heart skip a beat. Turns out, this shy, sensitive pup had been kept in a crate with hardly any socialization/interaction from 6wks until 4 months. I paid the $50 adoption fee, whisked her home, and we spent the next week doing everything together. She is now the most well-socialized and dependable BC I could ask for. I can trust her in almost any situation. She is my affectionate fool, and she has the attention span of a hummingbird on crack. When I watch her cavorting in the small plastic pool,chasing stones or splashes in the creek, or star-gazing up empty trees for squirrels, I just patiently explain: "Yeah, thats Rune...she rides the short bus."

 

Puppy Rune, the day i brought her home:

 

Rune Today:

 

 

Idolon came to me in a whirlwind of shock, tragedy, and dismay. I went out to meet with this woman about a BC she'd found, and we wound up discovering an entire puppy-mill operation right up the hill. The people manning it had run out of food, so starving dogs were escaping. There were four litters, 12 adult dogs, and the place was a mess. I spent the entire afternoon calling local shelters and places to take these puppies. Most of them were terrified of people. Ido sat between my feet the whole time. i took her, and three other pups back with me. The three went to some lady who drove up from Lexington to take them. I took Ido home, stuck her in the shower...and wound up giving her two more just the get the smell out. By far the worst puppy-hood I've ever been through, as we discovered after months and months of vomiting and diarrhea that she had inflammatory bowel disease. Things got real close to me being forced to give her up...I couldn't afford the medicine and special food that kept her healthy. Right about the time I started looking for other options, I got a job at a vet clinic, which took care of everything. Now, I can't imagine not having her in my life. Fetching is her job, and she's good at it. Not to mention dedicated. She makes up for all the focus Rune lacks. She's exotic, beautiful and fierce looking now, so unlike her gangly, ugly, possum-like puppy stage. She'd sell her soul for a frisbee or a ball. Her love is hard to earn, but once you've got it, it wont be lost. She reminds me ever so much of Pi...

 

Ido...top marks for ugliest duckling

 

And my pretty Ido today...

[MaryP]

^ Wow, what a story you have. You must be the strongest person in the world to have lived through all of that. I can't even imagine losing all 3 of my dogs at once. Gosh, I don't know how I would go on after that experience. I think you are definitely deserving of some good karma, like finding a solution to be able to keep Ido. BTW, I've always thought that she was one of the prettiest bcs around.

[SincereArtisan]

Thanks. It wasn't easy...and to go around, explaining the loss of 5 dogs in the last 4 months was gut-wrenching, and as if the loss of them wasn't enough, the empty house was worse, especially after the presence of so many dogs. The place where I was living at the time, my landlord, after the mysterious disappearance of the puppies, suggested I just not get anymore dogs. That tore me up more than anything else, and prompted me to move as a result. I knew I wanted another dog in my life, and soon.

 

Now if only I could talk my bf into three again...

[Guest WoobiesMom]

^^^ What a sad story! I'm so sorry you had to go through that, how heartbreaking! You are definitely due for major good karma and it looks like you got it in your two lovelies and the great job that enabled you to care of Ido. I know what you mean about the empty house, when my Airedale died it was awful. When Woobie came I cried and cried just to have doggie smell back in the house. I'm glad you didn't give up on dog ownership after all of that, your girls are beautiful!