What was it like on the day you got your dog?

[bailey44]

Hi folks,

I was wondering what it was like for everyone on the first day they got their dog. When I got the dog I had before my border (a keeshond), the breeder had all of the puppies and the mom in the house. It was utter chaos with the mom barking and the puppies running and jumping everywhere. Fast forward 14 years later and we've made arrangements to visit the farm to pick up our puppy--soon to be called Polly-- I got out of my car and approached the wire pens where the dogs were. I then I stopped in utter astonishment. The adult dogs were, well, staring... They instantly reminded me of chimps at a zoo--you know, how they can sit quietly and stare at you... I was struck by the amazing calmness and poise. Not unfriendly, just confident and sure of themselves, alert, and so AWARE. Most people would have ran right for the pups, but I was drawn to these sweet adult creatures who seemed so interested in me and my family. I had never been around a border collie and was so thrilled to meet these truly unique animals. I was able to meet my pup's entire family and marvel at their wonderful personalities. I'll never forget the image of Polly's grandpa sitting on top of his dog house with a pine cone in his mouth--so cute! We were so fortunate to find this wonderful farmer who is so dedicated to the breed. We kept complimenting him on his farming operation and he kept insisting that it was due to his dogs! Charlene

[Allie+Tess&Kipp]

The day I picked up Tess, and she and her littermates had gotten out of the barn that morning and spent at least 4 hours in the sheep pen terrorizing the sheep. Tess slept really well that first night.

 

Allie + Tess & Kipp

http://weebordercollie.com

[smileyzookie]

Well we had been looking at pounds around here with no luck at all. We believe in power of prayer, and we prayed that if we should get a dog, God would let us know both with no doubts what one we should get. On a whim after we'd practically given up we visited the shelter here again. We walked though and saw all the dogs barking and we werent impressed. We went to see the cats (I LOVE cats, and insist on loving on them when Im there). One last time we went back and looked again. In the middle of the search, we saw this one dog. She was matted, muddy, scrawny, very ugly. She stood on her 2 back feet and hopped toward us like a rabbit. Her paws touched the cage door and she looked at us with the most beautiful eyes. We took her ou t of the cage and outside, and we both knew right then that was our dog. This muddy nasty mess was our new baby. We immediately took her to the groomer. When she was washed off (took 3 washes and clump after clump of muddy hair), she was adorable. We went home and I fell asleep on the couch, she slept next to me for 3 hours. She was immediately my dog, and a complete angel.

 

 

ETA: We found out she had been abandoned in a fenced yard during December and January. Her collar had grown into her neck, and she had dug a hole under an outbuilding to get into during the winter snow and wind. Thats why she looked so horrible.

[bc friend]

Sara was the best surprise of my life! The day before Thanksgiving 14 yrs ago, I went to pick up a male bc pup - I had seen the pups every week since they had been born. Although I had wanted a female, there was only 1 fem born to the litter and the breeder was keeping her so I had picked a sweet little boy. When I got there, the breeder said her husband wanted to keep a male and she didn't feel she could keep two pups since she already had 4 adult dogs and always kept room in case a pup/dog didn't work out in its new home. So she offered me my choice of the male I had picked or the female. She had another home lined up for the I didn't take. So Sara came home with me and met the cocker and 5 cats! The then 10 yo, 7 lb cat was the undisputed alpha in the household and she took Sara in hand, mothering her and showing her the household rules. Sara wasn't impressed with all the cats that first day but she loved all of the attention. The cocker and 4 of the cats are at the Rainbow Bridge now and at 14, Sara is the queen of the household and rules over 3 dogs and 2 cats (and 1 human). BTW, the male pup had a great owner and only recently passed away from a fatal heart attack w/o having ever been sick.

Thanks for reminding of that wonderful day Sara joined my family.

[bc friend]

[Atlanta Smitty]

When I first heard about my dog my parents where out of town and got him in Missouri while visiting my grandmother. I didn't even know what a Border Collie was.

 

Then when I first saw him I was hungover because I visited a friend that went to Georgia Southern and we hung out in Savannah all weekend.

 

However as soon as we uncaged him so I could look at him he ran up to me and started licking me. My hangover disappeared.

[Kat's Dogs]

All the other pups were still there, so we got to play with them all one more time. They were in a little x pen.

 

The pup's mother was up for her run (herding trial) so we went and got out "snoopy" (Dazzle) and went to watch the rest of the trial - pup in hands. Everyone was real nice wanted to pet the little pup. Signed the last few papers, made sure we had everything we would need, then we drove the long long long drive home! Other then the crazy happiness I felt inside, it was calm, quiet, and amazing!

[Malvie]

I had had to put my first dog, Sam, down in October 2003. Sam was a Toy Fox Terrier (when I got him, I knew I was going to be transferred to New York from Dallas; I did go to NYC and later back to Dallas, then Nashville, Minneapolis, then home; Sam went with me on all my travels and was a wonderful companion--and the right size for a tiny apartment).

 

Anyway, Sam died in October following a year of terrible health issues (diabetes, blindness, arthritis). He was 16 when I had to have him put down, and it tore me up.

 

I was dogless for the first time in years, and decided to try it alone for a while. (I don't recommend it; the house is so empty and lifeless without dogs).

 

In November, my brother was visiting me with his Border Collie and Rottweiler (who thought he was a teacup poodle). While he was at my house, the rotty died of a heart attack. My brother was devastated (and it didn't do me any good, either, so soon after Sam).

 

My cousin married a classy, brassy native New Yorker. They lived together for years in a Georgetown town house. He decided he was tired of the Washington ratrace, and wanted to move home to Fayetteville, Arkansas. The New Yorker had serious qualms about that, but decided to give it a try for a year (think "Green Acres").

 

They built a magnificent house on acreage and Kathy tried to settle into her new surroundings, including learning how to drive a 4-wheeler! She was down in the field on the 4-wheeler when she saw something move. She shrieked, stopped, and jumped off. Bobby was on the porch, saw all this, and panicked; jumped in the truck and flew off down to where she was.

 

She was sitting in the mud with a rangy, dirty mama Border Collie and 8 little pups, with everybody licking her face.

 

After the huge fight with Bobby, wherein he told her she could not have 9 dogs in addition to the three dogs and 2 cats she already had, she spammed all her friends and relatives and told us we all had to take a dog.

 

I called my brother in Ft. Smith and told him to drive up there and look at them. He called me a few hours later and told me he was on the way back down "The Hill" with a dog each for me and him. (We have BC family reunions, since Kathy managed to place every one of those dogs with either a friend or relative; we get together at her house and bring all the dogs).

 

When I arrived at his house, Lucy immediately jumped up from where she was sitting, ran to me, stood on her back legs and tried to lick my face.

 

So that's how I got Lucy.

 

After I had Lucy for a few months, I started thinking how much fun it would be to find her an "Ethel", a sidekick. Lucy was amenable to the idea and we started looking, but didn't find anybody Lucy liked.

 

I post on a sports message board, and was discussing dogs with a friend of mine on there. Another poster, one I barely knew, chimed in and asked, "Do you know anybody who would take a purebred Border Collie puppy? My 21 year old son got one, dumped her on us, and we have other issues (long story, but he and his wife adopted 5 children on an emergency basis; they're late 50's and the kids are stairstep 2,3,4,5, and 6.). He said the BC wanted in to play with the kids but didn't understand when the kids pulled her tail or ears and nipped at them. They put her in the back yard but she chewed the back of their house up trying to get in. He didn't want to put her down or give her to the pound, but was desperate.

 

I told him I'd be right there. Drove down to Houston to pick her up. I figured, if she and Lucy didn't get along, I'd get her to a friend of mine in BC rescue, and I could foster. If we all go along, great.

 

I drove up to their palatial Houston home, and the 21 year old was giving poor Ethel a bath (she hadn't had one in a while). She was terrified and upset. I walked up to her and she immediately started licking my hand and literally begged me to take her with me. When she was dry, I opened the back of my van, where I had a crate open, went back in the garage, and said, "Come on, girl!" She walked right out with me like she'd known me all her life. "Get in the van!" She jumped right in and went in the crate! The people I got her from stood there with their mouths open. She had never responded to them that way.

 

Anyway, as I type this, Lucy is on the sofa (bad dog! but what are ya gonna do? It's their sofa now...) and Ethel is sprawled at my feet, snoozing.

 

I just got back from a businss trip to Atlanta; Mother and Dad babysat my girls while I was away. I called Dad, "Hey! How are the girls?" "Well, Lucy's in your mother's lap and Ethel's in mine, and your mother is feeding them homemade doggie treats." Nevertheless, both of them were overjoyed when I walked in last night.

 

They're going with me this weekend to my brother's house; they'll get to play with Frank, Jack, and Maggie while we go to the Arkansas/Southeast Missouri State game.

 

It's a tough life my girls lead.

 

I wouldn't trade them for the world.

[border_collie_crazy]

Happy- I had come home from school and my parents were on the compter and told me to come over and tell them what I thought, on the oage was a litter of BC puppys, I fell in love with happys picture and my parnets said that was the pup they had been drawn too as well, so my mom called the breeder, and after my dance class that night we drove out to the farm, we had Shadow with us, to make she she was ok with the whole thing, we walked in and most of the dogs had been put away, the old Sheltie Thro was in a crate in the living room, all the pups were in the kitchen behind a gate. I went in to see the puppys and I sat down on the floor, most of the pups completly ignored me, all expt for 2, Happy and Punch crawled nto my lap and went to sleep. I was absolutly in love with Happy, and my mom had been interrogating the breeder as usual. my mom looked at happy, temperment tested her and agreed that she would be a good fit for my first BC, I remebr going over to my mom and begging her to let me bring Happy home, she finally gave in and went through the contract, signed it and paid, and home came Happy. she cowards in the back seat of the car, nd when we got home, I set her on the deck to let her potty, then took her in the house. I had made upa pretty bed for her on the floor, a big thick blanket, and toys and such...then she cried so much that I moved her bed downstairs in the bathroom lol

[border_collie_crazy]

Misty- well I had already chosen Misty, and had a deposit on her, well she chose me lol when I went to see the pups when they were 4 weeks old, Misty was the one that kept getting into my moms purse, juming up, bowling over all the other puppys, and she fell asleep in my arms, when we were leaving she tried to follow me, the rest of the litter could not have cared less about me. when I finally got to go get her at 2pm on x-mas eve of 2002 we drove all the way out to weyburn, when we came into the house, there was Misty, freshly bathed and wearing a a little red santa clause bandana, her intended name was to be "mistletoe christmas" but on the wya home she got into so much trouble! she was running all over the van getting into anything and everything, that van trip home turned her into "mistletoe mischeif" lol much more fitting! we actually have her first day actully being at home on video, she had a blast with all the wrapping paper lol

 

Electra-well it was like 5 weeks ago so hardly a long lost memory! I had work from 9-12 then rode my bike home as fast as I could both because it was freezing and because I was very jittery lol my dad picked me up shortly after 2 and we had a hard time trying to find the building we were to pick her up from, finally we found it and I walked in, asked the firsy guys I saw where I was supposed to pick up my dog, they said the office, so I walked into the office and they told me wrong office lol so I walked into the next office and there was the crate sitting behind a ladys desk, she went on and on about what a wonderful puppy Electra was, and I had to sign some release forms. I open the kennle and slipped on a collar and leash, picked up her crate and left. we had to stop my my dads apartment, so we waiting in the car and I took a few pics, then I waiting in the care with her while my dad went to the bank, then my dad wnet to the running room and said he was stealing my dog lol he took her leash and walked her into the store wear he said she made good and sure everyone in the store met her. then I took her by my work because I promised them I would bring her by if I had the chance. so like 2 hours later she finally got to eneter my yard. where each of my dogs were let out one at a time, then in pairs, then as a group, they could not have cared less about her so she got to come in the house where she promptly found the toy box lol

[sandra s.]

The shelter was closing for Christmas, so I had to come quickly (ie stay home from our physics course/seminar/whatever you call it - which didn't exactly break my heart - on the 16th).

 

I remember it in a blurry way because she totally took me by surprise!

Timmy was my heart dog back then, I loved everything about him: his masculinity, his goofiness, the way he used to get himself into trouble, his big shoulders and rough coat, his silly pride that was so much like my own in many ways, and even his noisiness.

Of course I always imagined that my own dog, when I found one, would be somehow like him.

 

Kessie was the polar opposite of Timmy in every possible way. Besides she was so scared she couldn't walk properly (and I had always imagined that my dog would protect me a little as well).

But she climbed on my lap and then hid beneath me under the bench while I was talking to the lady, it was obvious that she knew what was going on. The way she accepted it and, with all her bad memories on board, just walked into her new life, was the most courageous thing I've ever seen.

 

We took a walk together which didn't tell me much except that she desperately needed exercise, and that she liked digging for mice, then I filled out some papers, and buttonholed the shelter lady about Kessie's exact preferences.

As we went out, Kessie gave the shelter lady a last doggie hug, and outside she jumped into the car voluntarily though she seemed to know she was leaving. Bl**dy h*ll :eek: !

 

Oh yeah. And the pet shop guy took advantage of the state I was in and sold me a leash and collar for forty friggin euros!

[Maralynn]

It was about 3 weeks after Frisky, our 15 y/o GSD had passed. She had been about the best dog my family could have hoped for (well, besides the fact that she killed chickens )for the 14 years we had her.

 

Missy-

We drove to a house about 2 hours away to see the dog that the guy on the phone had said he'd give me. I was excited. I saw her sitting in her crate next to a few other crated dogs. She was the one cowering in the back of the crate. He had to pull her out. My dad later told me that in those first few days he wondered if Missy would ever be a normal dog. I was too excited to think about it in that way. We drove home with her. And though she was scared and skittish, she trusted me almost from day one. It was as if all she ever wanted was someone to tell her she was a good girl. She'll always be my good girl.

 

Kipp-

It was a rainy overcast day, and I drove 4 hrs down to Indiana to meet him, and see what Missy thought of him. When I got to the farm it was threatening to rain at any time. My first thought was "hmm, I'm not so sure about him". They let him out of the dog pen, and off he scooted to find cats or sheep - and didn't want to come when called. Missy seemed fine with him though, and he was awesome with little kids. When I saw how he could handle the sheep, it was a final tip of the scales in his favor. And he came home with me.

 

Originally posted by Malvie-

 

After the huge fight with Bobby, wherein he told her she could not have 9 dogs in addition to the three dogs and 2 cats she already had, she spammed all her friends and relatives and told us we all had to take a dog.

This cracked me up! Not bad at all for a city gal

[Nellie's Dad]

We picked Nellie up from MoKan in August 2004. It was a fairly interesting weekend. I took off work early on a Friday and we set off to Kansas City to meet and hopefully bring Nellie home. Nellie was very fearful and they were not even sure that she would ever come to us, let alone get in our car.

 

We drove straight through and arrived in KC around midnight (didn't realize how far Kansas is from Ohio ) The next morning we drove out to the foster's home to meet Nellie and saw this girl that was well cared for, but obviously very scared of new things. It probably took around an hour for us to even get to pet her. She would let us throw the frisbee but not get near her. We finally bribed her with food and got to pet her.

 

We spent time doing the paperwork and taking Nellie for a walk and saying her goodbye's. We opened the car door and she just jumped in and laid down on the back seat and did not want to get out. We then left with thus fearful girl for our return trip to Ohio and ran into some of the biggest thuderstorms we have ever seen. Nellie spent most of the trip in the back floorboard trying to get away from the storms.

 

We got back home around 2:00 am let her see the house and yard real quick, she jumped into the bed and went to sleep and slept the night between us. I think that is the last time she has slept in the bed with the two of us.

 

It was a very hard trip, but I don't think I would change it if it meant that we did not get her.

[bailey44]

It is 9:19 am and I've been reading everyone's stories since 9:00--wonderful stories! While I've been at the computer, Polly has done the following:

Stolen my dishtowel off the kitchen counter and led me on a merry chase while she was flinging it around like a teenage girl on the high school flag team,

Stolen my tennis shoe,

Nibbled and licked my shirt sleeve until it is wet and soggy...

This is why we love 'em!

Charlene

[Geoffrey]

Hmm...

 

We got Lucy when I was 8yo (she's going on 10 now, and I am 18. We had a BC mix actually, but she disliked children...but I loved dogs and I realllyyyyyyyy wanted a dog that I could actually PLAY with. My dad's secretary had a Lab which was accidentally bred by her Dad's english setter. So, one day my parents finally thought "I guess having two dogs wouldn't be such a bad thing", and the secretary came over and brought Lucy. Sneaky (the BC)ran over to see her and started jumping at her...and Lucy growled at her. Not exactly the best start, but Lucy is an awesome dog (even if she is slightly crazy sometimes). Sneaky, unfortunately, died when I was 9, due to her aggressive temperament and propensity to pick fights (she picked one too many )

 

Reuben...we came home from school late one day and as we got out of the car, a red dog came wandering up. He was skinny, but really friendly and followed us around and wouldn't leave. So we took him in with the intention of finding his owners. No owners in sight, so since we only had Lucy at the time....we kept him. Took him to the vet and found out he was actually only 5mos old but he was malnourished so he didn't look very puppyish and he had every type of worm imaginable...EXCEPT heartworms (lucky dog!)

 

 

Zeke. It was exam time of my 8th grade year. We were running late for school, so my mom had asked my older sister to feed the dogs that morning (my mom was usually the dog-feeder). Anyway, we were getting ready to go and my sister came back inside and said "There's a puppy in Reuben's kennel". So, we we went out to see and Reuben was trying to play with this tiny 5wk old lab puppy. The puppy was hiding...so we decided it couldn't stay with Reuben all day, it might get hurt. We pulled him out and stuck him in the small bathroom (with newspapers) until we got home. Again...no owners in sight, no one wanted a puppy, and he was covered in thousands of fleas and ticks and bordering on anemic (he actually had clumps of ticks, not just individual ones). Soo....we had to at least make him healthy again, and by the time we had fixed him up, he was too cute not to keep. He had an awful puppyhood though - not a normal dog at all. Exceptionally smart though (maybe not quite BC-like, but smarter than most dogs in the world).

 

Side note: Zeke had scars from all those ticks, and even two years later you could still tell where they had been pulled off because his hair was a different color. Now he is 4 and the tick-patches have been gone for a while

[Meg's mum]

DH and his kids and I drove down to Shelton WA on a gloomy afternoon two days after Christmas to take home the little split face ball of wonder that I'd fallen in love with a month before. As on our last visit the pack of older BC's behind the wire fencing howled as we headed up the driveway. Meg's sire put his weight against my door with his front paws until his human arrived from the back pasture, wellie-shorn and decorated with mud. Meg's Dam circled us nervously. Jan had Meg all set, with treats, food, a towel covered with litter scent, and vet paperwork. Little Meg climbed up to hide under my hair and sit on my shoulder where she seemed happiest. She was the runt of the litter and a bit timid. The minute I had her on my lap in the car and we were waving goodbye, I was terrified.

 

We barely slept through the first night, taking turns being 'available' in case she needed us. She slept just fine, and only fussed to be let out to relieve herself once. The next morning we introduced her to the house and the kitten Sox. They hit it off immediately and DH and I relaxed into the adventure we are still enjoying, heart and soul.

[DeltaBluez Tess]

.......it was the last day I was a yuppie.....

 

...it was the last day we had dog hair free house......

 

...it is now referred to as "the life before the kids came".....

 

....and it was one of the happiest days of our lives.....

[Root Beer]

Sammie:

 

We were anticipating Sammie's arrival eagerly. We had gone to the SPCA the Sunday before and found him there and arranged to adopt him. Since I had a long weekend off work for Labor Day, we arranged to pick him up the following Thursday and we couldn't wait. Ben even went down there to visit him one time during the week that we were waiting for him.

 

My family had a dog when I was growing up, but he was an outside dog and I didn't really take care of him.

 

To prepare for Sammie's arrival, we had gotten a bag of food (the likes of which I wouldn't even consider giving my dogs now!), a plastic water bowl, and a plastic food bowl. That was it. No toys, no crate, no leash, no collar, nothing else. We had no clue what a dog would need!!

 

I fully expected this dog to come from the shelter into our house filled with joy at the prospect of having a forever home! He went with us readily when we picked him up. I sat in the backseat with him and he licked my hand all the way home. At the time I thought it was out of gratitude - LOL!!

 

When we got to the house, the scenario changed. He didn't want to go in the door! When we got him in, he paced nervously and cried. I didn't have a clue what to do with him.

 

We took him to the basement and gave him a bath (which wasn't an option). After that, we were like, "now what?" He really didn't seem to like our house and he wasn't terribly interested in us, either.

 

There was an event at the high school where my husband was teaching at that time and we decided to go and take Sammie along. Once there, he was like a different dog. I walked him through the woods and he was perky and calm.

 

After we returned home, he was a little better than he had been.

 

Three things I remember in particular about that day. First, I had no clue how much food to give him! I remember looking at the bag thinking, "huh?"

 

When I found the chart that said how much to feed by weight, I realized that I had no idea how much he weighed. I finally took him upstairs and stood on the bathroom scale and then picked him up to get an idea of how much he weighed.

 

Second, I wanted to see if he was trained, so I said "sit". He sat. Then I held out my hand and said, "paw". He gave me his paw. I was delighted. To my way of thinking at the time, that was a completely trained dog!

 

Third, I had made my husband agree to one particular condition of having an inside dog - the dog had to sleep on the floor and not on the bed.

 

So, that night before bed, I put Sammie on a blanket on the floor, turned out the lights, and we all went to sleep. Around 3:00 AM, I woke up to heavy panting and pacing. I figured he had to go to the bathroom, so I took him out, but when we got back in, he was no better.

 

At that point it kind of occurred to me that this dog was in a totally strange house with totally strange people and that it might be upsetting to him.

 

I picked him up and put him on the bed at my feet and he settled right down. We finally connected and I started to be his person and he started to be my dog.

 

To this day waking up with Sammie at my feet is one of my favorite things in life. We didn't know what we were doing, but we learned. Sammie was anxious and strange at first, but now he's the king of the castle!

 

It's good to remember that day.

[Root Beer]

Speedy:

 

We didn't plan to bring home a dog that day. It was a little over a year since we had gotten Sammie and we decided that we wanted one more.

 

We had debated what kind of dog to get. My husband leaned toward a German Shepherd and I kind of liked the look of Border Collies becuase they reminded me of Sammie. One thing was not debated, though - my husband wanted to get this dog from a breeder. We had gotten Sammie from the SPCA and it worked out really well. But my husband wanted a purebred from a breeder this time. We had also decided that we wanted to try to get a female.

 

My husband found a breeder who bred both German Shepherds and Border Collies and she had a 2 year old German Shepherd that she wanted to sell. And so, on a crisp Saturday in November, My husband and Sammie and I took a ride.

 

Before we took a look at the GSD, we were invited to let Sammie out of the car and she let all of the Border Collies out to run loose. We enjoyed meeting them, especially the two puppies, a girl and a boy. We also met Rush, the father of the puppies (who just passed away ). After hanging out with the Border Collies for a little while, we went to meet the GSD.

 

We knew right away that the GSD wasn't for us. Sammie was terrified of him. Since he was our A-#1 dog at the time, I didn't want any dog that was going to scare him. Also, the dog was very obviously well trained and I thought he should have a home with someone who would do shows with him or something. After we admired him for a while, we said that we weren't interested.

 

Before we left I wanted to say goodbye to the Border Collies.

 

As we visited with those wonderful dogs again, we got to talking with the breeder. She was telling us about Border Collies and about agility, which I had never seen or heard of. She had some equipment around and she had one of the Border Collies demonstrate weave poles for us.

 

As we talked, the puppies scampered around underfoot. At one point, one of them came up to me and jumped up and pawed at my leg. I scooped the puppy up and snuggled the little bundle of fur in my arms. I asked eagerly, "is this the girl?" She said, no - it was the boy.

 

We wanted a girl, so I set him gently on the ground and went back to talking.

 

He didn't go away, though. A few minutes later, I saw a puppy capering with Sammie. Hoping against hope, I asked, "is that one the girl?" but again, it was the boy. Well, boy or not, that little scamp had completely stolen my heart! My husband and I looked at each other and it was decided.

 

I asked what his name was and when she told me I called, "Speed!" and he came running!

 

It didn't matter to us that we didn't think we were ready for a puppy, that little guy was ours and he was coming home with us.

 

Once the transaction was completed, Speed got into the car with us and we drove away. Sammie sat up front and I sat in the back with the puppy.

 

On the way down the driveway, we discussed the matter of the name. On one hand, here was a 2 and 1/2 month old puppy who knew his name. Changing it just didn't seem like the thing to do. Also, we thought that "Speed" was a very appropriate name for a dog of two stock car racing fans. Speed was a cool name, but it sounded like a drug. So, we decided to change his name to Speedy. He never knew the difference.

 

I honestly don't remember much about the rest of the day. It was overwhelming to suddenly have a puppy, but we were definitely better prepared for him than we were for Sammie. I took the puppy home and my husband went to get him a collar and some things.

 

We had ended up getting Sammie a crate that we hardly used for him, so it was ready for Speedy and that made things a lot easier. He slept in it at night until he was housetrained and it just made things a lot easier.

 

Just one note - that day is like the perfect "The Puppy Picked Us!" story. It truly is a day that I remember as a kind of magical day. It was definitely one of the best days of my life because he is my heart dog and the bond that we have shared since the second time I picked him up has seen us through difficulties that would have sent many a novice Border Collie owner to the nearest rescue or pound to relinquish the dog. But we made it work - and better!

 

I don't advocate impulse buys of puppies, and I don't encourage people to get a Border Collie for the reason that we did.

 

All the same, that's how it happened for us and in our case, it was a happy ending for both dog and owners.

[Root Beer]

Miss Maddie:

 

We still wanted a girl, so after Speedy had grown up a bit, we started to look for our girl. Speedy was 9 months old at the time and was still a real handful, so we decided to adopt another older mix like Sammie.

 

We found the perfect girl for us on Petfinder. Her name was "Madison" and she was listed as a Lab/Border Collie mix.

 

After email communication with the lady in charge of the rescue, we were invited to drive down with Sammie and Speedy to meet Maddie. It was an interview - to see if we were the right family for Maddie.

 

My first impression of Maddie was surprising. She wasn't so good looking! The Petfinder picture hadn't really been all that clear. Her fur was frizzy and dull. The fur that was supposed to be white was a yellowish-grey color. Her eyes were sallow.

 

But she had a sweet disposition. She trotted up to meet us in the particular way that she trots and we could tell right off the bat that she was a sweet, friendly girl.

 

We talked with the lady from the rescue as Sammie and Speedy interacted with her. Speedy avoided her (he was extremely shy at the time), but Sammie and Maddie played nicely.

 

We learned that Maddie had been abandoned when her people had moved. We told her all about Sammie and Speedy and the training classes that Speedy and I had started taking.

 

After a while, she encouraged us to take Maddie for a walk by ourselves and we did. We decided to take her. I wasn't head over heels in love with her like I had been with Speedy, but somehow she seemed to fit.

 

After taking care of the paperwork, we all got in the car to leave.

 

Maddie acted in the way that I had expected Sammie to act when she came home with us. She jumped right in the car as if she had known us her whole life. She trotted right into the house and really seemed glad to be there. She was a little unsure of the stairs to the basement (which you had to go through to get to the back yard in that house), but she watched the other two and figured it out fast.

 

Of the three, the first day with Maddie was the easiest. She didn't really seem all that unfamiliar or novel. She really did fit right in.

 

P.S. With some good food and lots of love, Maddie is quite a lovely looking girl now!

[Lisa Smith]

I lost my ACD of 11 years last fall and wanted another herding dog without reminding me too much of my blue boy. I had a tri BC when I was a kid that I adored so started looking for a puppy and fell in love with a photo online of a little speckled black and white puppy from South Dakota. So in March the breeder shipped her...poor little thing got on a plane at 8am...had a layover of a couple of hours and then arrived in Manchester, NH about 5pm poor little thing was so traumatized! (would NEVER have a dog shipped so far again!) Then we had an hour and a half drive home! Weather wasn't so bad when I got to the airport but about half way home a snowstorm hit...we slipped and slid all the way over Temple mountain....and the trip ended up taking almost two and a half hours! Deuce held on for dear life all the way home in my lap....no way was she sitting in the back or in the other front seat! It took her about a week before she came out of her shell. She still hates to ride in the car! Tried putting her in the crate for bedtime and she cried for hours! I don't think she stopped fussing all night! After a few nights of that we gave up and put her in bed with us and that's where she's been since! Spoiled little brat!

[momto7kidlets]

Just a little over a week ago my husband and I started talking very seriously about gettng another dog. Our current fur baby, Emma is not in very good health and we see her going down hill. Now, we weren't thinking about replacing Emma and that isn't why we wanted another dog, but instead we had a situation where my father in law brought his puppy over and Emma sparked up. Plus I had hardly ever had a period of time in my life where I didn't have a dog and my husband and I feared that if Emma passed then the kids (we have seven of them) wouldn't accept a new puppy as easily.

 

So we decided to go to the Humane Society to just look. We had gotten Emma there 14 yrs ago and she has been the love of our lives (she is a German Shephard mix). Well, just looking is a problem LOL.

 

When we got there we started walking down the aisles and looking at each dog/puppy. We knew we didn't want a male dog so we skipped the male section and moved to the female section. So many of the dogs/puppies were barking, jumping around and none just hit that spot with me. Then we came to the last aisle and I told my husband "this was probably a mistake" and then I saw her!!! Tikki was in with three other puppies - all were sisters and she was so shy, hiding under the chair and my heart melted. We asked to see the puppies and they took us into a room with all four of them. The woman that worked there was holding Tikki and she walked up to me and handed her to me and said "this was is a little shy." My heart melted!!!

 

My husband played with the other three who were jumping all over. When I sat down with Tikki the others came running over and started biting my hair, my cell phone, and they just didn't tug at my heart like this little one did. My husband wanted one of the active ones and asked me to put Tikki down so I could give the others a chance. I put her down and as I did I stroked her face and down the side of her face. She never licked me (I don't like to be liked) and didn't nip my fingers. This appealed to me and then she did the most amazing thing that sealed it for both myself and my husband - she raised her little paw and put it in my hand. That is the exact same thing Emma did when we got her from the Humane Society. The second my husband saw her to this he said "okay we are done - that is the one we will get."

 

Our 16 yr old son was the first to meet her - he had no clue we were getting a puppy and he was so shocked and fell in love right away. Next came my 15 yr old daughter and when she entered the house I had Tikki sitting on my lap. It took a few minutes for it to register with my daughter and she was jumping up and down and loving Tikki up. Next came my 18 yr old daughter who was the most excited out of everyone. She laughed and cried and held Tikki for a long time. Then came my 9 yr old, 7 yr old and 5 yr old - when they got off the school bus and came into the house I had them all line up - they were so shocked and happy. Finally my 12 yr old came home from school and she didn't even see Tikki and almost stepped on her LOL.

 

Then came the task of deciding on a name. The Humane Society named her Tikki and my husband wanted to rename her. I loved Tikki - so we all argued over a name and I finally put my foot down and said she was keeping her name.

 

So, that is the day we brought Tikki into our lives!!!

[Zeus and Cody's mommy]

We had lost our Zeus on June 21st, and it was so hard coming home to a dog-less home everyday-I missed him dearly. Made up my mind, though, I'd never find another like him, so I didn't want another dog-too much heartbreak when they went to the bridge....well, each day coming home was harder, my son and husband always running around in sports-related activities, left me home alone alot, and the time I was home alone, Zeus was my companion. He was everything I could have wanted in a dog. Then a friend emailed me at work saying if it was too early, to delete the pic to follow...and I looked and there was my Cody, a pic of him sitting on the couch of his rescuer, with a blue cast on his leg. He was beautiful! I emailed the lady, explained our story, and said I at least wanted to meet him. We went that night right from work, my son, husband and I...he limped around from the yard, walked right up on the back deck to my son and laid at his feet, begging for attention. We all got teary eyed and bonded with him and hugged him, and talked some more with her about his personality, med history, ect. and all she wanted was to re-coup his vet bill $....My son and husband were apprehensive, worrying since he was 4 and we had just lost Zeus at only 5 1/2 yrs old, what if the same thing happened to him? I explained, there isno way to know, but he was so handsome and made me smile for the first time since Zeus' passing and, after all,it was 2 days after my birthday, and the best present I could have ever gotten. He is such a great young man, and we couldn't be happier. I have learned not to feel guilty as I haven't replaced Zeus, just opened another spot in my heart for Cody, and he is so grateful to be given a chance....

[Tammy525]

Half of us were ready for a dog. We had been looking on petfinder and found Scout whose description said "pleasant" three times. So, the half that were ready for a new dog drove an hour and half to see him. He jumped up on my then 5 year old who said, "Hey, that didn't hurt!" We took him home that day.

 

He saw his first cat upon our arrival and ran up to it. It was Katie, our dog-hater who promptly hissed and growled at him. He was scared of all the cats for a month after that!!

 

What a good boy, we love our Scout so much. The day of his homecoming brings many happy memories. Oh, and the hesitant half of the family was hopelessly in love within 24 hours.