vireyda

I just realized there is a whole separate forum for these sorts of posts. Sorry!

Wow. That's a great story at Border Collie Rescue "The Wily Sheepydog", and seeing Chica in action was cool. Buddy is very much like that. Once he knows his space, he's totally happy and unencumbered. He likes exploring, going on hikes as well, but he tires a lot faster from being more tense as he moves. We went on a hike in the Organ Mountains recently where there were rock stairs and scrambles and he just webbed out his paws and high stepped to make sure he didn't hit things. On the way back down I would go first noisily and then direct him, and then he would follow me down. He liked that less though. We have learned to really watch him though, because he fakes not being tired for a while, so it's easy to wear him out. If he sits down unexpectedly at any point we just go ahead and assume he's done for the day now.

We've since seen a better vet who explained that those are folds , and that his eye never developed properly. She said he was completely blind in the one eye, with some light sensitivity in the other. Buddy has also had a fractious stomach, and though it's settled down some now he still occasionally will out of the blue have problems. Thus far he's done best with the Canidae grain free lines and the all life stages, and his upsets are so rare now we're probably going to stick with it. Buddy sometimes seems to see better than other times as well, and he can always chase balls, but he listens for the bounces or the sound of my arm moving, if we make sure to do things in higher light and on the right side, he will see us throw, or at least appear to. He reacts to bright lights being shone into his eyes too, and I don't like when that happens to me so i assume he doesn't like it for similar reasons. Buddy stays completely dilated in the eye all the time to let in as much light as possible. When I've met other blind dogs this seems to be a common feature, even if the sight is completely gone. I don't think it has anything to do with being excitable or intense. Buddy can be sweet and sleepy and not un-dilate a bit. Honestly, we went to two different vets before we found one who was actually looking at our dog and diagnosing him, not just repeating platitudes or generic diagnoses. I'd suggest looking some more so if your dog has a condition that can be helped, he can actually get it.

I'm sorry to hear it fell through. Don't give up! I don't know where you are geographically, but if you're anywhere near the US Southwest, there are always BCs in shelters out here. If you can't find one in your town, try the next over sort of thing. There are 3 or 4 right now in shelters near me:(

What DNA test did you use? We've been considering doing one on one of our dogs. Welcome by the way and what a cute nose on him. I'd kiss it.

I'm sure he is! I just wasn't as attracted by the pictures as I was for Black and White or Tri-color. But gosh pictures really don't do them justice:)

I was out hiking and met a man with a gorgeous red border collie he'd gotten from a pig farm in Oklahoma. Just wanted to say I'd thought they weren't terribly pretty when red when I've seen pictures, but I think maybe I've just seen bad photos. Such a pretty dog. So maybe if you're looking for a border collie and you've mostly been looking at pictures, go meet some before you decide!

Thought I should mention on the topic of Bully Sticks that Buddy choked himself almost immediately upon first trying one, because he was so able to get off little pieces immediately. He doesn't choke on most things, but he does with these, so after a terrifying try with bully sticks and him we don't let him have them anymore. If your dog is particularly good at chewing, stick with harder things like antler.

Poor Jester! Lots of love and mojo to him. I hope the antibiotics kick whatever it is fast.

Buddy is a murderer of stuffed ducks, frogs.... He can kill one of those toys in just a few minutes if left to his own devices. Our longest lasting toys have been squeaky balls and knot ropes. For treats Antler is about the one thing he can't seem to decimate, though cow hoof is also pretty hardy. The antler doesn't smell or make a mess, but the cow hoof does smell a bit. If your dog really loves stuffed toys (Buddy really really loves them) try a small toy that wont be much bigger than his mouth and doesn't have a super fluffy outside, which seems to incite defurring and ripping. That way he can't sling it about really hard and tear things from the seams. Our other dog eats bully sticks sometimes, and they also have an odor, but it's not heavy or awful in my experience. I'm just happy to not deal with rawhide fluff anymore which stains carpets and gives tummy aches for Buddy. Neither of our dogs will touch sweet potato sadly.

@alligande I think it's really wonderful that you've done rescue and fostering and I support rescues. Having said that, I live in an area where puppies are tagged for rescue as soon as they walk in the door, even if the rescue transport won't happen for another 2 weeks and you're there and willing to adopt. (even if the puppy is several months old and without a mother) This has led to a rather large backyard breeding problem in the area, because many people really do wish to start out with a puppy, rather than an older dog. I've had dogs all my life that were older due to having a vet in the family who often ends up with animals who need homes and I've always wanted to have a puppy experience where I get to have my dog for all of its life bar its first few. Puppies aren't for everyone, and adult dogs are perfectly wonderful and do unfortunately get passed over many times when they would be a better fit for some families. I still really want to do it though, and unfortunately in the area I live in, it's weirdly thwarted by rescues. The situation where you are may be very different, and the circumstances under which the dog was rescued may be very different, but I think if the puppy came from a circumstance like I'm describing, you should definitely let the interested parties adopt. Aside from all that (and please don't take it as an attack on rescues or people who foster, because I don't mean it that way at all) I think you have to be true to what you're looking for. There are so many truly amazing dogs out there for all different wants and needs and if you've had your heart set on something else for a while, you may end up shortchanging the dog in the long run.

I did this before I became a member when we adopted Buddy. There really is a lot of great information:) I wish things could be tagged like health or personality to sort a little bit better. Either way, I was really happy to find this site!

The flooding in both places is dreadful. I hope as many people and animals as possible are safe. Was relived to see animal groups near the flooding in Missouri helping out people who needed to flee and couldn't take their pets. Some lessons learned from Katrina at least...

Initially Buddy was a little frightened of his kennel, so we built him up to being in there. The one we chose is one where you can separate the top from the bottom (The plastic travel ones) so we took the lid off and I sat in it with his towel and cushion for a while. Then we would toss his toys in so he would have to rescue them from the kennel (which he did, very delicately and hesitantly) and finally he was comfortable enough to go in and out of it on his own (lots of praise and even long petting sessions once he got in) so we put the lid back on. Now he happily goes there to nap, and when we've gone out and come back he almost always is coming out of the kennel to greet us. He also has no issue now with being locked in. I don't know if Aero is also a little frightened of being in his kennel, I'm not the most experienced trainer in the world, but it worked for us! Just be patient. Some behaviors and quirks take a little while to work through. Buddy wouldn't poop for my partner when we first got him, and now finally just a little over a month later finally went for him last night:) We haven't quite worked through his desire to counter surf if he hasn't had enough play time though..

That is such a precious face! Glad to hear she's doing so well!