Sherry Thoeny

I am going to reply just once. Then no more. I do not want this to turn into a flame war. First I never said it was my daughter's fault. In fact if you read the post I said I thought we made it clear but obviously not. That means we did not make it clear to her, and therefore it's my fault not hers. I never said it was her fault. I just said what happened. Second we decided to let her finish growing before we had her spayed. That information has been posted on this board. This board is where I read about it first. Third, I obviously did not come accross the way I meant to. I take it very serious. I am not giggling and laughing about it. I am trying to deal with it, and do what is best. The smiley icon was not the best choice to make that point. I guess I should not have even tried to make a joke or lighten the seriosness of what is not a positive situation. It is really hard to make words say exactly what you mean. They can be taken so differently without facial expressions, tone of voice, etc. Finally, you people know nothing about be. Yet you have all decided I am a liar. I am irresponsible, and not fit to be a mother. I doubt that everyone reading this agrees, but they probably do not want to respond and get the attacked like I have been. If you want to decide I am a liar. Fine. But it truly crosses a line to say my daughter is a tragedy, and that I am not fit to be a mother. I am by no means perfect. But I am a good mother. And I have an amazing daughter. She is just amazing. Ask anyone who knows me. Oh wait you do not need to do that. You can read a few lines I type, and figure out everything you need to know. Irresponsible. Tragedy she has children. Liar. Should not have dog at all. Careless. Thoughtless. Selfish. and probably some I missed. When I first started reading this group there was a thread talking about how harsh it was. Some denied it, but from where I sit it seems pretty harsh and judgemental. Again this is my last response. P.S.I appreciate what little advice was mingled in with the rest.

So we decided to wait until Candy was a year old to get her spayed. She came in heat and we were absolutely sure she would not have a chance to get bred. She never went out alone, we continally called the male dogs owner to come get him out of our yard. No way were we going to let her have puppies. But then you never no what kids are going to do. I thought we had made it clear, Candy was not to go out were she could get bred. I guess we were not clear enough. Our daughter took her for a walk, and she got bred. I was hoping it was not succesful. That one time would not do it. I am not dumb, I was just hopeful. But she is having them. Soon. Aggghhh! I did not want this to happen. So when they are ready to find homes, anyone have tips on how to make sure they are good homes. I do not want to just get rid of them. I want them taken care of. So any tips would be appreciated. I know I do not want to place a free to good home ad. But how do I let people no I have them? What kind of questions shoule I ask? Maybe I will just keep them. Can't have too many Thanks for your suggestions.

If my hand sneaks over the edge of the bed during the night, Candy is right there. Nudge, nudge, "Are you getting up?!?! Please! Okay, guess not, good night."

Candy did that once as a puppy. I hacve no real idea why, but I guess she was just young and could not help it. On another note. I don't know about dogs, but I have a cat that used to pee on the floor for spite. If she felt she had not been getting enough attention, she would find a piece of paper, magazine, or something on the floor and pee on it. And yet I still love her. What is wrong with that picture?

May I ask why it is so sad to see border collies specifically. I am saddened by any dog in the pound. I am not trying to start anything, I just keep seeing posts about too many BC in pound. And posts about how BC should not be bred just to have cute little puppies. That you should never get a BC from a backyard breeder. Now maybe it just comes across this way because we are on a Border Collie forum. But it seems to me that the pound and rescue facilities problem is with dogs in general not just border collies. Like I said I am not trying to start an argument. Just confused I guess.

I wonder if he actually understands dogs more than he seems to. I mean they have to cut this show down to fit in an alotted time, and there is no way they actually show everything that happened. I have a feeling that a lot happens before cameras even start rolling. To me he seems to have a pretty good read on dogs. He does not have time to tell the cameras why he thinks it is aggression and not just exuberance. Or why he uses one approach one this dog, but not another. But I do think that many people may imitate him without knowing how to read the dog or why he does it. And it could backfire big time. And of course all of that being said, I have seen very little of his show. So I could be making up half of what I said:)

You may use any of my pictures of Candy if you would like.

Arkadelphia is south of Little Rock. If you take Interstate 30 West ( although it is actually driving south it is called west) toward Texarkana, TX you will find Arkadelphia. It is about 1-1.5 hours from Little Rock. I might get back with you on letting her work with livestock. I have not really seriously considered it before. Not that I have dismissed it either. Just never really thought about it. We fortunately live next to my husband's parents, so if we need to leave the house for a while our animals are cared for. Of course it helps that we do not have anything other than pets. Although there are quite a few of them Thank you all for your feedback, I have enjoyed reading your comments.

So what would be a good weight for her? She is about 18 inches tall. That is when she is standing from floor to top of shoulders. She weighs about 30 pounds. She is slimming down. When I first got her she was definately heavy. She is not as chunky now as she was then. Here are a few more pictures of her. I tried to make them as small as I could. I too have dial up, and know pictures take time. Here is one from when we first brought her home:

Near Arkadelphia. That is right off I-30 between Little Rock and Texarkana. And Arkansas really is a good place to live. At least if you like the great outdoors. There are many beautiful places to hike, camp, and swim.

I do not think she is overweight, but she is not thin. She is very smart. very sweet. She loves to be anywhere I am. yard, that is good. Living room, that is good. Walking, biking, resting, gardening, all good. Bathroom on the other hand, well it is acceptable. She learned within the first two days that the alarm meant it was time to get up. When it goes off, she comes nosing around the edge of the bed. I really confused her that first morning, I just could not get up without hitting snooze twice. now we have a routine. the alarm goes off. here she comes. As soon as I sit up she runs stragith to the restroom. Becasue we all know the first stop of the day. She has a lot of energy, but will chill out in the evening with us too. She likes to play, but really wants to play with us. Toys are not her first choice. or second either. Second choice goes tot he cats. She loves to bark at them. It is the one thing she seems to have very little control over. She does not chase them, and they ignore her. Sometimes they play together. She has a tendancy to lift one foot slightly off the ground occasionally. I am not sure why. I have seen her "crouch" I think. She is so great. And yes she is beautiful. She has one brown eye and one blue with a brown spot. She is perfect. Well if you don't count the trash she tore out a few days ago or the keyboard cord she chewed in two.

Yes I am in Arkansas actually. Are you? And is my southern accent so strong it comes over through the keyboard:)

She is a little chunky. She is actually slimming down from when I first got her. She was really chunky then. She did not have as much room to excersice as she does now. Plus she is fluffy too. The person did know that Border Collies could be merle. But she thought that her nose was too short for a BC and that she was too chunky. I think part of that is because she has a hard time keeping weight on her BC. Like I said, it doesn't really matter, but I am curious about it. I tried to track down her original owner, but was unable to do so. I really would have liked more background information on her.

Hi all. Candy is around 6/7 months old. She is supposed to be pure BC. She came from a man who had both the mother and father. He had to go to the hospital, and the puppies were rescued as he could no longer care for them. At least that is the information I got. Anyway the mother is supposed to be a typical black and white bc and the father a blue merle bc. There were five puppies two were black and white, two were blue merle and one was black and white with a little brown. Anyway I took Candy camping this weekend and had another BC owner tell me they are sure she has blue heeler mixed in with her. I really don't care what she is (well obviously I do some or I would not be asking) we love her and she is perfect for us. But I am really curious what you think. So is she mixed? Thanks for your feedback. I also want to say I really appreciate these forums. They have been really helpful. Here are a few pictures:L

Thanks for all of your replies. I am going to crate train her. That way if we ever have to have it we can do so. But she is so well behaved at home that I don't think it is needed. Of course she may get to where she has to have it. She is still young yet.