Hank came to us at age 3 plus. He had failed in at least two previous homes. The final break from his last home was due to stealing food. Being a very smart Border Collie, he had learned how to deal with humans. If you sat up and looked cute, you'd most likely get a treat, and at least a pat. If you rolled over on your back you'd get a belly rub.
Aside from probably lot of cuddling when he was a cute baby, he may never have had much attention from his humans. He found it was best to play by himself or with other dogs and, even better, horses. Hank didn't have the vaguest notion of how to play with most toys. Squeaker toys were interesting, but he didn't know how to make them squeak. He didn¹t have the slightest idea of what to do with a tennis ball. He likewise got no joy from pulling at pull toys. He had little energy and little interest in anything in our home. His foot pads were soft and he wasn¹' good for any substantial exercise without getting tired. We were puzzled that he drank very little water and seemed somewhat constipated.
Our first goal with a dog is to get a bond. That means he becomes the third member of our pack. Our objective is to have the dog demonstrate loyalty to us by never straying away from us. There may be several ways to do this, but the way we have found to work is to have our dog with one or both of us 24 hours a day for the first year. The dog goes everywhere we do. Other than waiting in the car for short periods, he is ordinarily never left alone. In the first 6 months, we left Hank for a couple of hours at my mom' home once. Otherwise he has constantly been with us. He is now well bonded and will not let us out of his sight, particularly if we go away from home.
When he first came to live with us we called him our grandpa dog. Now more than 6 months later it’s hard to think of him that way at all. His energy level is built up to where we have to work to wear him out. He is bright and happy and young acting. Because water is always available to him, he now drinks a normal amount of water and is no longer constipated. He has learned to play some of the games he never learned as a puppy. He loves doing scent activities. He is now a pro with a tennis ball. One of our awakenings was the day he discovered a child size basketball on our place.
Hank soon was playing circus dog. He butts it with his nose to get it going, herding it at top speed. He then kicks it up in the air with the side of his muzzle and soon has it bouncing off of his nose. This is no grandpa dog!
This fall Hank and Bill took an obedience class, mainly to work on Hank’s pulling. It was a good experience, however, we are still working on heeling. Here in the country it's not that important. We have him under voice control and he does beautifully. However for the times when a leash is important, we're doing a lot of practice. When we got Hank we replaced the heavy, smelly old Stockman's buckle collar he was wearing. I tossed it out in the shop. A few weeks ago when I was picking up out there, I came across it and looked at it before throwing it away. I was amazed to see that the D-ring was part way worn through. It took a lot of time and lots of pulling to do that. It explains why he still pulls on his leash when excited - he's had lots of experience.
Hank is a teddy bear around everyone, particularly children. One day He didn't shy a bit when a strange three year old on her little bike fluttered up to him all akimbo to give him a kiss. Today he let a new Springer puppy play all over him. (The puppy pulled on his tail rather hard I thought.)
He is a fantastic little traveler. None of our dogs have ever traveled so well. We have already taken him on long trips in the camper. This fall we went up into the Canadian Rockies and his flexibility made it so easy. He does well with road trips when we need to motel it too, never making any commotion in strange places.
Next spring Hank will have been with us a year. By then he'll be confident enough to spend some time herding at Ewetopia with Joe and Linda. We did this with our previous Border Collie and it works wonders.
As you can tell, things are super and I could ramble on all day. Right now Hank is curled up at my feet under the desk. In the house, he can usually be found half way between Bill and I. Right now Bill and I are sitting together at our workplace, so I am getting my feet warmed.
Maybe this can contribute to the idea that there are very few failed dogs compared to people who fail their dogs. I hope too that it reinforces the idea that a person should take on a Border Collie only if they really want to commit a lot of time and energy to the project. Left on their own they will get bored and will find ways to occupy themselves, sometimes in ways that are not what the owner had in mind.
Have a Wonderful Holiday Season,
Elaine and Bill
Page last updated on 05/06/07 09:12 AM