Passed Away

[Skyler]

It has been many years since I have been on the boards. Life just got in the way, I suppose. Unfortunately, what has brought me back is losing my beloved boy, Koda Bear. He was an amazing BC and saved my heart after losing my previous boy. He passed at age 13 in late September 2019 from a 7 month battle with CHF. I spent probably 10K altogether from his hospital stay, to meds and vet visits to receiving his ashes. I’m still devastated. I know many of you understand because most of you have probably lost your heart and part of your soul after losing a BC.  Life is just empty as he was everything to me and my constant shadow. What a beautiful 13 years! 
 

I still have my adopted boy but he just turned 14 and is not far from following given his already bad and increasing arthritis. I love him dearly but he’s always been very aloof and has never been an affectionate dog in the slightest. Weirdest BC I’ve ever met and strangely an ABCA dog. Zero herding drive, very low energy and I have never been able to bring out any kind of interest in play. If you’re not a rabbit or the like, he’s not interested. He’s always just been the quiet presence in my home and I will miss him. He’s like that comforting tick of an old clock. Beautiful old antique to look at, the occasional wind, always been in the family and always filling the room with a comforting presence. 
 

No dog can be replaced but I need to find another to love. The two questions I have are, should I wait until Zache has gone to get another?  I’m concerned about the added activity possibly stressing him in his old age. And the second is, do you have any recommendations for breeders in the Dayton Ohio area or within a few hours?  I have reached out to a man named Bruce Fogt in the Sidney, OH area, who seems to run trials etc, multiple times but no response. I have also looked at multiple adoption avenues with no luck.  Frankly, most of them would want my first born son if I had one anyway.  I get protecting an already hard luck dog but some of these groups are far out of line in many ways. 
 

I am in a different state than I was 13 years ago and the breeder I purchased Koda from is no longer living. Some leads to follow would be appreciated. I am looking for a medium to higher drive ABCA dog that will be a companion, running partner, possibly get back into frisbee again and not a herding dog. He would of course be neutered. I will not support AKC and definitely want the intelligence and energy that only a herding line dog presents. 
 

Thank you all for any responses. 
 

 

[Michael Parkey]

So sorry!

[GentleLake]

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Some rescues are more difficult to work with than others. I've volunteered for a couple of border collie specific rescues. One's pretty great to work with, though people who don't meet our guidelines will complain if they don't get approved. (E.g. we require that all adopted dogs will have to live in the house and not be housed outdoors.) The other one could be good but was also subject to the whims of the founder, who has sole discretion on who she accepts as an adopter and could just as easily dismiss an applicant for something she misinterpreted as for anything actually wrong with the app. I spent a couple years recently looking for a dog and had nearly as many rejections as approvals from a variety of rescues. Most don't tell you why they make the decisions they do.

Although it's time consuming, I'd apply to as many breed specific rescues that will adopt into your area and any other rescues that seem to get border collies in as you can. Unless they're all denying your application -- in which case I'd take an open minded and honest look at your situation to see if you can understand why -- I'd just follow the ones that approved you and forget about the others. It's hard not to understand why an app has been denied, but sometimes it has as much about the peculiarities of the particular rescue as it has to do with you specifically.

Kudos to you for avoiding the ACK bred dogs if you end up purchasing. But please remember that no registry, including ABCA, is a guarantee of quality. It's just a record keeping organization that maintains a studbook and maintains a record of new litters' parentage. There are plenty of ABCA breeders who are no more concerned about selecting for working ability than the guy down the road who has a Lab bitch he breeds to the first person he finds on Craiglist who'll breed his intact male to it. The first can't guarantee an open trial dog or one who can manage a range flock any more than the second can guarantee s show champion. You've got to do your homework to find the kind of breeder who produces the kind of dogs you want.

And some of the best working dogs are aloof and not particularly affectionate, while others are the opposite. Neither characteristic is genetically linked to working ability. And some pups from stellar working parents don't seem to get much of their parents' working ability. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw.

Again, my sincere sympathies on the loss of Koda Bear. I hope you can find another dog who'll help fill the empty space in your heart.

 

[SS Cressa]

Sometimes adding a young dogs adds a spark to your older ones life. However on the flips side depending on how long your elder lives you will have two vastly different dog needs to tend to. 
 

[beachdogz]

I am so sorry for your loss.  I don't think anyone can tell you when it is the right time to get another dog because it is such a personal decision.  I can tell you my recent experience.  Last year I was anticipating getting a puppy.  My two BCs were Kylie (12 at the time) and Rusty (maybe the same age or older;  he was a shelter dog when we got him.)  Both had the usual old-age problems, and Kylie had been diagnosed in July with kidney disease.  The vet said she would probably not last to January.  Well, the pups were ready in August, and we ended up with not one, but two (litter mates - a boy and girl.)  Yes, they were rambunctious, and pesky, but I noticed what Cressa had mentioned -- they gave an added spark back to the old dogs.  I almost think it was that the older dogs wanted more attention with the new ones getting so much.  Either way, even laid-back Rusty would go out and fly through our agility easy-and-low course with new stamina and interest.  If the puppies were playing the agility game, the older ones wanted to do it, too!!  I won't say the old ones doted on the pups, but they tolerated them quite well. 

One night in January, the dogs all got up to go out for the last time before bed, and Rusty simply collapsed.  Long story short, the vet came in the morning to euthanized;  she surmised maybe a stroke.  So now I was left with Kylie (who we anticipated losing, yet here it is April and she is still going strong at 13.)  I really wondered how this dynamic would affect our little pack.  Rusty was a very laid-back dog and not dominant at all.  It only took one day for me to find out.

Kylie took a renewed interest in the pups almost immediately after Rusty died. The pups are now 9 months old.  She plays with them, and barks for me to get them out of their crates when they are crated.  Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate her reacting like this.  She plays with them in the evening.  It's almost like when Rusty died, she figured the puppies were what she had left to keep her company!  My take on all this is that over the years,  I have always found my dogs to be very adaptable. 

What ever your decision, I wish you the best!