Hi all, I've been waiting for a few days to get validated so I could ask about this. My BC, Toby, is 10 years old. He was a Swafford dog. I didn't know anything back then about buying from a reputable breeder, or anything about border collies for that matter. I was only a teenager and as luck would have it, the first breeder I inquired after didn't ask me any questions and put the dog I picked on the next truck headed this direction.
I didn't hear about the whole Swafford situation until last year and never really looked into it, but I found a few posts on here from people who seemed to know what had really happened there. So what happened? Were the dogs mistreated? Was it a puppy mill situation?
Toby is actually very healthy, even so for a border collie (knock on wood) he does not look or act 10, and whenever I bring him to the vet they comment that he looks more like a 3 year old. The only thing I would say was not quite right with him is that he's never had a typical border collie's energy. If I wanted to out of the blue run several miles or rollerblade with him, he'd do it easily, but if I don't feel like excersising him, he's content to lay around. When people tell me they really love his personality and want a border collie, I tell them he is a fluke and that they typically need a lot of exercise and training.
Anyways, I'm just surprised that he is so healthy considering the situation he came from ,and would like to know more about it if anyone knows anything. I hope I posted this in the right section.
That's heartbreaking that those dogs were found in such awful conditions and treated so poorly. So many things came together for me when I was trying to sneak Toby home as a teenager that I always felt we were meant for each other. I wonder what kind of horrible life he might have had if I never brought him home. I'm grateful that he is healthy and happy considering. I wish I could have helped those dogs. Did many of them find homes? Did some have to be euthanized? A few years from now when we own some land I would love to help dogs like these. Thank you all for giving me some information, and thank you to those who helped some of those poor dogs!