Gypsy

He's wonderful. <3

Thankyou . Lovely Poem I did end up taking Bandit home.. have had him just one day, but he is great. Lots of personality. Constantly follows me around, right now is laying at my feet. Lots of energy outdoors. The girl I got him from said she got him as a puppy from a 'breeder' and was told he is husky/collie, which is as much info as I have. He's gorgeous though, whatever he is, and I do see it is a likely mix in him. His sit command is pretty good, I've been working on down and impulse control, he fetches pretty well, and so far he's not destructive but has an apetite for all things tissue, kleenex, and paper towel. He slept through the night quite well in my room on the floor. He definitely shows signs of seperation anxiety though, he's almost always at my foot, he does not even want to go outside in teh backyard by himself, needs me to accompany him. I think maybe though this is due to the fact that they lived in a townhouse and didn't really have a yard and had an extremely busy schedule where he was by himself often, so he's used to only going out on walks with his owner. But I enjoy going out with him and playing in our huge backyard, though he'll need to learn to go out for pee breaks by himself aswell. He's really social towards other dogs on walks, playful and friendly, no barking or aggression, even when the other dogs bark, which is nice. His prey drive is stronger than I'd like since I have birds and a rabbit, but I can definitely work on that and always make sure everyone is safe. Photos!!! ~*AnNa*~

Thankyou everyone. I'll definitely find out more details about his breed and the such tomorrow morning, and post photos if I do end up taking him home. Excited. Another girl also contacted me about a 1yr old Austrailian shepard female she's giving away.. so either way I should have a new addition to my zoo soon. Yay.

So it's been a while since I've been on this forum. It's been quite a hectic year for me. In February I moved out of my previous home.. I took most of my pets with me, two birds, a rabbit, two turtles. Gypsy our border collie stayed with Stefan, my exboyfriend and good friend, aswell as one of our cockatiels. The parting was on extremely good terms, Stefan and Gypsy visit me quite often, most recently on my birthday, as well as other summer outings. It's been about 8 months since I've lived without a companion dog however, and I definitely miss it. I have been living with my dad in his 3+ bedroom home all year, until he unexpectedly passed away early this summer. Extremely shocking and heart wrenching time, though I am glad I moved back in time to spend the months that I did with him. But now that all the craziness is settling, and I have this big house and large beautiful fenced in backyard to myself (and my pets ofcourse) I've been seriously thinking about getting a dog to live with again. Initially I didn't look for a border collie at all, simply because I didn't want to feel like I was replacing Gypsy, after all she's irreplaceable.. and still in my life, a truly amazing dog! Everyone loves that she gives hugs on command! Haha. So I've been looking at different shelters and ad sites like kijiji to see about adopting a dog that already needs a home, rather than buying a puppy, something I usually try to do. Well I am now in touch with a girl who is looking for a home for her Husky/Collie mix 6 month old dog. I'm going to meet them tomorrow and perhaps take him home. I'm very excited and intruiged at the idea, he looks gorgeous from the cellphone photos she sent me and I enjoy the lifestyle of a high energy dog. So I just wanted to share in my excitement, update the forum, and maybe inquire about any husky/collie mixes here. His name is Bandit. Wish me luck! -AnNa

The photo with the large black shephard in the dog park makes me giggle so much, we had seen the exact same couple with that dog months earlier, but the dog was tiny puppy sized and cowered before gypsy, even though she was still a puppy herself, and then to see it all grown up and towering over gypsy was really amazing. Gypsy can still out run him though, ofcourse. I don't think there's a single dog we've met at the dog park that she isn't faster than. She also absolutely adores Jeep rides. She knows her spot at the back so well, if we let her go in the driveway on her own, she automatically jumps into the backseat of the Jeep, sits, and just looks at us as if to say "LET'S GO!" It's so cute.

Been a while since I posted pictures, ofcourse that doesn't mean the summer hasn't been packed full of adventure. Summer wouldn't be summer with out a bit of hiking, off roading, and ofcourse the dog park! <3

I just always keep in mind that what the dog/puppy does is natural/instinctual.. where as what we do/want them to do/ are training them to do is often not. Most mishaps are either natural, or the fault of the person. Barking, biting, chewing, pooping, peeing.. all natural for a puppy. The dog chewing something up that he shouldn't.. fault of whoever left said item in access to be chewed. When we brought Gypsy home as a puppy we right away started crate training her, having read alot about training and puppies and dog behaviour beforehand. We bought the works, crate, baby gates, etc. One day the boy I live with while meeting me at my work and out on our way somewhere, told me that, iinstead of crating the puppy, he simply put the doggy gate up so she was confined to the living room. I was instantly skeptical. I told him I didn't think it was the wisest idea.. she could get into things and destroy something. He said he was with her all day in there and she was mellow and harmless. I said fine. I came home to a destroyed speaker. I had expected it, so I wasn't surprised, and I knew it wasn't the puppies fault. The boy came in a bit before I did.. and before he got a chance to walk into the room I anticipated a bad reaction so I stopped him, and said.. "now.. remember.. you made the decision to leave the puppy out instead of crated, knowing that shes had the opportunity to chew while we were gone, you can't get mad at her, because it was your choice and therefore your fault". He understood, agreed, then saw the damage and couldn't say much else. I just think it's a matter of fact thing. I think you have to take a minute to assess the situation, the behaviour, and see the reasoning behind it. The dog doesn't bark to get on your nerves, destroy things to hurt you feelings, hestiate to frustrate you, there are reasons behind their actions or hesitations. You have to train yourself in a sense, to be observant and understanding. I find a good key is to simply try to find the humour in things. Also remember that positive reinforcement of wanted behaviour will be much more effective than negative punishment of unwanted behaviour. Never yell or say your Dog's name in an angry tone. Their name should be a good thing, they should always want to come at the sound of their name, or know to be at attention, not to fear or hesitate because of anger. Training a dog involves alot more than training a dog, you have to learn how to properlly teach and communicate and react yourself. Patience and time is most important. Goodluck!

Gypsy was about 8 weeks old when we brought her home. She definately took a bit to warm up to the stairs. She did also master going up the stairs, much before she did going down. I think it will happen naturally, as she sees you going both up and down stairs, and builds up confidence. Probably took Gypsy a couple weeks before she was comfortable going down our stairway (though it's exceptionally steep), and now she races up and down with ease (I like to play fetch with her down the stairs.. so she has to run down to get the ball as it bounces off the stairs, and come back up to me) and goes outside on her own through her doggie door that is downstairs aswell. I'm sure as your dog gets comfortable with its surroundings, and continually sees you going down stairs, he will eventually follow. Give him alot of encouragement and praise when he attempts to. Also, great point Nancy! I hadn't thought of the uncarpeted stair thing, and ours are uncarpeted. Somehow that never factored into my mind.

From early March...

What did the behaviorist say? Surely a muzzle cannot be the only option. Had he been through any type of training, before this agression started? Were you able to walk him well on a leash before the leg break? How did the leg break incident occur? You say he gets this agreesion out of the home, off your property. Have you tried desensitizing him to the leash while inside and in familiar territory where he is comfortable? Is he able to be introduced to strangers while at home, without displaying aggressive behaviours? Goodluck and well wishes!

Thanks She's such a BOUNCY dog. I think she spends more time in the air than on the ground each time we take her to the park. ~ Though it doesn't show in most of the pictures I've posted here... there are many other dogs that frequented the park. I just rarily photograph the moments, because I want to monitor the situation closley and focus on the dogs. I got a couple today though. Most of the dogs that Gypsy meets there are larger breed dogs.. alot of labs, and german shephards mostly. Today behind a big group of such dogs, I saw this white piece of bouncy snow floating along.. it was such a cute little sight. ~ I think Gypsy has finally caught onto our routine of going to the park every several days, because today as I was getting dressed she was sooo excited. I could tell she knew exactly where we were going. ~*AnNa*~

we got gypsy at about 8 weeks... that sounds normal and what she was like... though honestly... 7 months later... it hasnt changed much.

Haha, masked dog indeed! The majority of the pictures I take of this black and white creature are in fact blurred and mysterious. Alas.. One in a dozen of the shots I take do turn out here and there so here we have Gypsy in the snow... After this excursion, when we got home, Gypsy quietly and quickly went right up the stairs, into the bedroom, and immidiately went into her crate to lay down for a good long nap.. I felt so pleased that my crazy energetic BC was tuckered out for once. We've been going to the park several days a week now.. it's wonderful to see her romp around to her fullest.

Went to the dog park again and again.. it's such a great place. I have more photos to upload.. but I realize this post is probably in the wrong section.. I'm wondering if there is any way to be able to move it to the picture section of the forums? Other than that.. I love the dog park. Though the people dynamic there is a bit intimidating, to be honest. There seems to be groups of regulars that mainly stick together. I would like to make friends with more animal lovers in my area, we'll see how it goes. Gypsy has a great time, and I love the excercise aswell. It's really nice to be able to have her offleash and running and meeting other dogs. The weather has been crazy lately, we've gone during warm weather, rainy weather, and even snowy times. Gypsy seemed to enjoy the snow most of all, and I have some great pictures of her in it that I shall post shortly. I'm so glad that I have such an active pup, can't wait to take her hiking and camping in the summer. /rambling

Thankyou! Yes I'm so glad I found this place. I'd like to go several times a week, especially when the weather is so nice. It so much fun.