Meet our newest rescue girl

[HillWilliam]

My partner's service dog, Dora, just turned 10 on Saturday (our 15th anniversary besides!). She's starting to slow down and isn't as interested in doing as much as she used to. Who could blame her; we'd all love a dignified retirement.

We had been looking around about a year for a suitable youngun for a trainee and finally settled on Julie, a six-month-old border collie rescue. I have only the most glowing report about Blue Ridge Border Collie Rescue and Carolina Border Collie Rescue. Their application process is a bit rigorous and rightly so. They have been fantastic about our specific need and were at our elbows, patient with our many questions. We took the 3-1/2 hour drive up to meet her and we took to one another on sight. She's our second BC and the first purebred. If you have room for them to exercise and lots of attention to give, they are wonderful companions. She's really quick on the uptake even at such a young age and especially for the not-so-good treatment she had before being rescued. She's bouncing back at lightening pace. We're so thrilled to have her and grateful she's willing to stretch herself into a service dog role.

Julie- one brown eye and one blue eye


More pics on our blog.

[murielm99]

1. She is lovely! n/t

[HillWilliam]

2. Thanks!! Love the kitteh!

Service dogs don't grow on trees so we're very grateful to have a pup who loves to please and is smart enough to fill (and enjoy) the job.

She's a bit of a scamp and that shows off her brains and sense of humor. She makes us smile a LOT.

The rescue groups we worked with were fantastic. They really understood our need and worked with us very closely to find just the right match.

[japple]

3. Beautiful dog! She looks ready to go to work!

Glad you have a job for her to do. Dora will probably be happy to let this young upstart take over some of her duties. Hope the transition goes smoothly.

[HillWilliam]

4. Your pup looks so much like my Ashley-Marie the first

Fleet, smart, and so loving. I miss her gentle spirit daily. A-1 was mostly basenji. She got the name Ashley because she was discovered on Henderson Street in Dallas with her siblings in a garbage bag on an Ash Wednesday. One fool's trash was this man's treasure.

Give your baby a hug from us.

[japple]

11. Lady is 1/2 Jack Russell and 1/2 short-legged brown dog. My

neighbor's dog (Lady's mother) was a squirrel hunter and Lady has taken on this trait as well. It is her job to look out for the 3 cats and keep the yard free of varmints/squirrels. She also barks whenever anyone comes up the driveway. Good job, Lady! She thinks she's a greyhound.

[ceile]

5. Lovely!

She'll make a great worker!

[Zoigal]

6. Love Border Collies. Sometimes i think they are even reading our minds.

A friend has several. You/your partner might enjoy this..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYn7rh/7ew
There's also a bunch of BC videos on the sidebar. I enjoyed the borzois (my breed) as well since
they don't rank all that high on the dog Mensa chart.:) As a typical hound, they normally follow
their own nose/eyes. Your new girl will in all probability be a super assistant to your partner....z

[HillWilliam]

8. "Cute as a collie pup" is exactly what

keeps them from getting strangled before they're three <LOL>

Seriously, though, she's a great kid. I just wrote her foster-mom this morning to thank her for the wonderful thing she did for us.

Since the last time you and I were on the same thread, Callie has really filled out. Since all her fur came in and she gained good weight she looks not at all like a borzoi any more. Her royal-highness attitude is definitely kuvasz, another breed I'm a big fan of. There are some really good pics of her on our blog from this weekend (link's in the OP).

[get the red out]

7. She is a DOLL!!!!!

Such a sweet face!!!!! I'd bet her fur is soft as silk too! I have to go home at lunch every day because I need to sink my hands into our little BC-mix, Layla's, fur!!!!

[HillWilliam]

9. It's still baby-soft, too

Lawdy, you can just zone-out wooling your fingers through it. She blisses out from the attention. BC's have two speeds: asleep and light. Any time you can catch one for a little mutually-therapeutic petting it's so worth the wait. While I'm waiting for one BC or the other to slow down, there's always Callie who enjoys a little petting therapy herself.

[HillWilliam]

10. Thank you, whoever you are, for the hearts!

We've been so blessed with our furkids and were really blessed again this weekend. Thank you for the hearts on top of our good fortune.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Sheeza a hunny!

Be sure to give her a job. Border Collies *need* jobs. If you fail to give her one, she'll invent one - and you may not like it.

Do you know what her circumstances were when she was rescued?

Our (mostly) BC was literally hours from death when rescued.

How much does she weigh? From the picture, I'm guessing about 30-35 lbs.

[HillWilliam]

13. Hey Stinky! As it happens, she's stepping into a job

My partner's aide-dog Dora just turned 10. She and he have been service partners all her life. At a very young age Dora learned how to communicate alerts to him before he has a seizure. We're guessing she learned how to alert from my girl Sadie (now across The Bridge). She's had training and guidance all her life. Training is a never-ending activity.

Dora passed the knack to my buddy, Ashley-Marie. Ashley has backed Dora up all her life.

It took us a good year of searching to find the right furkid who would be interested in the job and capable of taking it up. Dora has some good years left and Ashley just hit middle age (that thing gets us all <LOL>). They're able to pass their behaviors along (puppy see, puppy do!). All our dogs are herding dogs or have herding dog heritage (we chose our kids by design and with careful thought).

I've been training dogs for thirtymumble years. It's second nature to use every possible situation as a vehicle to training. We use all-positive methods. It might take a little more time to get exactly the behavior we'd like, but gawd it's so much easier to lead with love than to try to beat from behind with negativity and fear. All our girls have a particular job they like to do and we encourage them in their endeavors.

Yeah, Julie has her work cut out minding HillbillyBob, but she's already enjoying the ride. (Us too!!)

We love the super-smart ones. I looked up the rankings last night but don't have them in front of me. Our kids are:

Dora: 1/2 Australian Cattledog and 1/2 Springer Spaniel (#10 and I didn't find the springer). This girl is spooky-smart!
Ashley-Marie: Border collie and GSD (#1 and #3). Smart, sweet, gentle, and a wonderful alert dog.
Callalily: Collie and Kuvasz (#16 and #42). Smart as a whip and a good guard dog. Those kuvasz instincts are strong, but she's gentle giant.
Emmaline: Weimaraner (#21) and BC (#1 again) Emmy is a deep pool of Buddha-like calm. She's the peacemaker of the family.
Julie: Border Colllie (#1)

You're so right - they need a job. We have a littlebitty eco-farm with lots of fenced-in room for them to run. Callie likes to guard the gardens against deer. The others watch over HBB and their surroundings. On a farm, no matter how tiny, there are always chores which means lots of interesting things for doggies to do. The trick is watching them for behaviors you like and redirect them into a fulfilling job. Yeah, that goes with behaviors we don't like: same thing goes, to redirect them into behaviors we'd rather them follow.

I'm about to launch my blog with Julie's adventures as she grows. This is gonna be a blast (again!)

:hug:

[livetohike]

14. She's beautiful and looks very smart too

:-) I'm sure she will learn her job quickly. Happy Anniversary, too :hi:.

[HillWilliam]

17. Thanks!

She seems to operate on profuse praise. She's a treat to work with and a treat to be with.

She's a very cool anniversary present!

[BrklynLiberal]

15. She is exquisite!!!! Truly a match made in heaven. Does she get to play with Dora?

[HillWilliam]

16. Gramma Dora is warming up to the idea

Dora hove up lame on Sunday the day after Julie arrived so we've been working on "leave Dora alone" and "gently". This kid is so quick on the uptake her attitude has improved 1000%. She's so much calmer and better behaved remarkably every day. She lives for praise and we're quick to give it.

Dora is half Australian cattledog, not afraid to set limits as diplomatically as she can. When pups don't listen, they find out what "heeler" means. One nip from cattledog teeth and you'll remember. To Dora's patient credit, she's only given Callie a corrective nail-on-the-nose when Callie was way-way-WAY over the line. Callie remembered instantaneously. No fuss, no muss, no squabbles. Callie sort-of blinked, walked 15 feet away, laid down and crossed her front paws in a most ladylike fashion. (I love how she crosses her paws.)

I *love* herding dogs for their ability to settle differences fairly quickly and usually painlessly.

Julie has apparently always had some odd issue with smooth surface floors. Night One I had to carry her across the kitchen to her crate in our room. Late Sunday afternoon she would get water from the fountain, halfway across. Monday morning I outwaited her when everyone else went to potty. In about two minutes she showed up and got big praise. Today, she has crossed pretty much at will. Which brings me back to "leave Dora alone" :lol:

This new girl is every bit the brain that Dora is... and mebbe leas' bit mo. When she grows up, she will be an awesome aide-dog, able and welcome to go anywhere in public she wants to. Of the dogs I've had, I'd liken them to hotsh*t sport-tuned Cadillacs or even as far as that new hotsh*t 275mph Bentley. I've just been entrusted with the keys and title to a Ferrari. This kid is gonna be fun.

[BrklynLiberal]

18. It sounds like it is going to be a wonderful trip. Please keep us posted with updates and pics.

[HillWilliam]

19. It's official as of this morning!

We requested the rescue end the trial period and let us be her daddies officially.

Welcome home, Julie Anne.

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:
:woohoo:

Dogbook: http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/profile/view/10176497
Pics: http://jwfarrell.com/?p=101