Bennie Update

Well, the foster puppy is still ridiculously cute. He's a very mellow boy in the house, content to lay at your feet. He gets quite playful when invited, though. Right now, he is bouncing around the back yard with Spoiled One, like a pair of oversize kittens.

Bennie does not have the high drive that my other two have, which makes him much easier to live with. He would probably do better at agility than flyball. I don't mean that he isn't playful - he definitely is. He's certainly an agile puppy, bouncing over things. He likes toys and interactive play.

He appears to be housebroken, but I haven't given him much opportunity to disprove that. He's respectful of stuff in the house. Only one shoe has been victimized, which, for a ten month old puppy is pretty good. He does fine out in the backyard by himself with no sign of anxiety or repetitive behaviours. He doesn't bark, except on rare occasions.

He likes games, but has selective hearing if you don't keep him engaged.

Still no mouthing.

What Rescue is and What Rescue Isn't

I had one of those annoying email conversations with someone. They want to find a good breeder to get a border collie puppy from. They're doing their research. They know what they want. Wonderful! I suggest to them that they go to a few herding trials and network with the people there to find out where their dogs came from and what they had to say about the breeders. I also said I couldn't recommend any local breeders because I didn't know much about them - both my dogs are rescues.

Then, I got the email back about how the person is sick of people looking down on them because they want to get a puppy, not a rescue. And then he gives me the big ole' rationalization speech. You've heard it: All the dogs in rescue are border/pit mutts, there aren't any puppies, they all kill cats, they won't be good pets because all rescued border collies are chicken-killing, kid biting, vicious cat eating monsters that would be absolutely unacceptable for a pet home. They need a puppy so that they can train it up right, blah blah blah.

It's so frustrating. If you want to buy a puppy, buy a puppy - but don't feel obligated to rationalize that choice by spreading lies, ignorance and misinformation about rescues!

a.) There are purebred, registered dogs in rescue. I know several people who have acquired them.
b.) There are puppies in rescue. That's where mine came from.
c.) Most rescues have a perfect temperament for a pet home. Both of mine came from the pound. They live with cats, compete in events, and are around children. You have to train them, of course, but you have TRAIN any dog.

I don't know why people want so hard to believe that any dog in rescue must be defective, or undesirable, or have something wrong with it. Most rescue organizations don't have time or funds to scrape up the unadoptables - they're skimming off the cream of the cream of the adoptable dogs. I'm not sure where people think the dogs in rescue came from, why they would be so profoundly different than the dogs that come directly from breeders. Do they think rescue dogs materialize with the morning dew? Rescue dogs come from breeders, just like all dogs do.

Rescuers aren't trying to scam or guilt you into taking an inferior dog. They have no monetary interest in unloading a dog on you. They can't afford the liability of adopting out an unstable dog. Most rescue organizations do charge a fee, but that money goes back into the fund for redeeming dogs from the pound, paying vet costs, and such. Foster homes don't get a penny. Any legitimate rescue organization insists that you return the dog to them if it doesn't work out, and offers support and counseling on adjusting to life with your new dog. In fact, it is more difficult to get a dog from rescue organizations as they will do a much more thorough screening process than most breeders.

The emailer expressed concern that they knew what they wanted, but you wouldn't know what you were getting with a rescue dog, like you would with a puppy. That is absolutely backwards. Look at the rescue sites, like Arizona Border Collie Rescue. There is a great deal of information about each specific dog, its energy level, sociability, personality, age, health, habits, training, etc. With a breeder, you will at best get speculation that since the parents didn't exhibit any health problems, it will probably be healthy and a nice dog. They can't give you much hard information about the specific puppy, they can only speculate and hypothesize.

Rescue isn't going to the pound, picking out a dog and hoping for the best. It is way beyond that.

WOW! The tournament seems to fired Weasel up!

Wow! The tournament last weekend seems to have lit a fire under my Weasel. She did very well at practice. No screwing around. No lollygagging. She just wanted to line up and go, like a wind-up toy. It was cool! Hope it lasts. . .



Of course, the idol dog wasn't there. She's with her owner up in California playing with puppies. Things may change when she gets back.



I'm going to have to do more box turn work. Weasel's slipping a bit, but I think she's "got it," and now thinks of flyball as her job, which is great.



My Spoiled One was a good boy at practice. He jumped the jumps and did the deed. I doubt he'll every be 100% reliable, but he's loved.



I saw a little Jack Russel/Rat Terrier at Pet something (Animal Humane Society has a station there and they bring out a few cats and a dog every weekend to try to adopt them out. He was a nice little dog - responsive, friendly, non-viscious. It looked like he had good structure for jumping, nice angulation, leggy, athletic. I wanted to bring him home so we could have a height dog, but I am trying to convince myself that I have my hands full with Weasel and Spoiled One. Sigh. I never want to get a dog just for flyball. What if it poops out? What if it gets injured and can't run? What if it's scared of tennis balls? But, it was a cute little dog. And nice. And his excessive energy would be treasured, not a problem. It could be a very good match. A little height dog would make competing in NAFA much easier on the dogs. He's a year and a month, so he's the perfect age to start. . . (shut up evil tempting voices)



Anyway, the picture above is a design from my cafe press store. The design features my mother's little scottie dog, who she rescued from the SPCA in California. He went through such a dramatic change, going from a droopy, stinky ball of hair to a perky little general with a scottie skip to his step. It was neat.