Beautiful Border Collie - Needs a Forever Home

[L&J]

I recently rescued a gorgeous Border Collie Dog, from a local refuge (one I am told that put down dogs within a few weeks if they dont find a home quickly).  He is pure BC, long haired, Black & White.

It was always our intention to rescue another puppy as we have found this the most successful way to integrate new additions with our cats, other animals etc.  However on visiting the rescue I disgarded the pups, having spotting the most handsome male Border Collie.  Unfortunately the refuge had no history of him, so it was a risk.  At the end of the day I wanted to pay to take him out of the kennel environment as he looked so thin and unhappy (the other dogs were all very excited and he just sat and looked at me).  The refuge tell me they think he is about 7 years old, but he may well be younger and plays like a puppy. He is microchipped.

He has blossomed into the most beautiful boy, is fully housetrained, has gone from growling if you go near his food bowl, to sitting and waiting for his food, plays with our young female border collie  for hours and hours (so no issues with other dogs at all), and when I get his lead he will stand on something high so I can reach his collar more easily - he is an absolute delight and pleasure to have around.

So now for the "but".  We have 2 cats, free-range chickens and ducks and he is a real chaser, and for this reason cannot be left in a room with my cats, or be let out without a lead.  We are at the beginning of a major 2 year renovation project on our new house, and our new boy has to be contained in the house whilst I am working, which then means I cannot let my other collie out either (just wouldnt be fair).  I have trained my other collie for months, and she happily wanders our land, and has total respect for the other animals.  Unfortunately our new addition would prefer to eat them, and as such I am constantly checked doors, making sure the cats are not behind doors when I open them etc.  It is also not fair for a collie to be kept on a lead indefinitely.

My husband would like me to take him back to the refuge asap, but I am not prepared to do that - he deserves life & love, and a home to call his own.  I have no regrets, and am just glad that I was able to offer him freedom, away from a kennel environment, or worse still death!  Im having sleepless nights over the whole situation and I am desperate to find him his forever home soon.

I am not asking for anything for him just a loving home for the rest of his days. 

Whoever offers him a forever home will not be disappointed, he is such a beautiful boy, and if I didnt have to spend 12-14 hour days working on our house I would keep him myself.

If anyone can help please get in touch.  We are in Dept 50 - Manche (Normandy), near to both Mortain & St Hilaire.

Many Thanks

 

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[L&J]

I am still looking for a home for this handsome collie, its getting increasing harder as my other Collie is a sensitive girl, and she is becoming very nervous, and scared as we are always having to tell the new addition "NO", "LEAVE" etc, especially when he sees the chickens etc and she thinks we are cross with her and really does not understand. 

She is also having to spend hours inside, and previous had the run of the grounds, and just doesnt understand what she has done wrong, obviously she hasnt done anything wrong, but it wouldnt be fair to let one out without the other, and we cant walk Badger without a lead.

I desperately need to find Badger a new home asap.

As previously mentioned he was saved from "Death Row", and you will be giving a home to a well mannered and delightful boy, who will give you hours of love.

I have been in touch with Phoenix Rescue, who have offered to help me plan a passport for him soon if we cannot find him a home in France, but this will obviously take some time.

Please do get in touch if you can help find this gorgeous boy a new forever home.

Many Thanks

Once again we are in Dept 50, Basse-Normandie

 

 

 

 

[Spardo]

Any luck yet with Badger? We are foster carers for Phoenix and would not want anything drastic to happen to him, but you are rather a long way away from us.

[Catalpa]

I think I saw a note elsewhere that on Saturday, Badger was given a 3-day ultimatum by the man of the house. I will try and find a link to the discussion and send you a pm, Spardo.

He's a lovely looking dog and I've been pondering the situation... but we have 5 cats + a 14-year-old lab who is enjoying his last months as solo dog. He's always been at the bottom of the pecking order previously and he's so content now I don't want to do anything to disrupt his golden days.

[Spardo]

Got your PM Carole, and replied.

For the info of L&J I said that because of the distance involved we would be a last resort, but nevertheless would not want anything bad to happen to Badger. Also that I would be speaking to Rik at Phoenix soon about a temporary replacement for our current foster who is leaving tomorrow. He may well have other suggestions closer to Normandie.

[L&J]

Sorry I havent replied sooner but its been a little hectic here.  I finally managed to find a respectable refuge that would take Badger, the whole situation was causing so much stress at home, we have 18 other animals (many of them also rescued), and Badger was the only one that didnt get on with the others.

Badger went to the refuge this morning - have been breaking my heart ever since, but they assure me they will find him a loving home with no cats, poultry etc.

I tried so hard to rehome him personally, but alas it wasnt to be.......

The house is very quiet now, but our other collie is a happy girl as she can now play outside again (she is currently curled up at my feet after her hectic day helping us clearing an overgrown field).

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who offered support and advice, it wasnt the outcome I wanted, but he seemed quite happy when I left him and means he can now find a home where he doesnt have to be kept on a lead etc.

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

[londoneye]

So glad you got it sorted out.   I can't imagine having to do that.   We feared that we might be in the same situation when we got our puppy who would not stop chasing our cat, and we always said the cat would come first, because he was here first.   Got through it in the end, but it took many months (many more than I had ever envisaged) and I shed an awful lot of tears if I am honest, and we only had the two of them to worry about, so nothing like the depth of the problem you had.

Hope he finds a lovely home soon.

[cooperlola]

I'm glad you got it sorted too, although it's maybe not the outcome you'd have preferred.  Being a complete BC fan, I looked and looked at your pic' and thought about it, but as I have 4 cats (one 18 years old), I just could not offer any help.  The animals I have already (including Troy the BC - who adores people but doesn't like other dogs much) just had to come first.  I'm sure you felt the same, and I understand your decision perfectly. I'm sure he'll find a happy home, and I hope you don't fret too much about him.

[WJT]

Hi L&J, I have responded to a previous post about Badger on another forum. I too hope you don't fret too much, he is so adorable, I'm sure he will find his perfect forever home because of your efforts. I too can only imagine how difficult the situation must have been for you.

[Spardo]

Good outcome it seems L&J, let's hope he finds a good home soon. Will you be checking back every now and again in case he needs some more publicity?

[L&J]

Oh absolutely, I have told the rescue I would keep in touch, and if anyone gets in touch via another forum (or this one) offering him a home, I will put them in touch with the rescue centre immediately.

I was offered some very sound advice from a Collie trainer, who has worked and bred collies for 30 years, she admitted that it isnt always possible to train them out of their chase habits, especially if they have been wild for a while, living on eating the local wildlife, which we are fairly sure was the case. 

We just couldnt keep him here, as it was affecting our other animals too much - the cats especially, and having had them for 8 years (also rescued), they have to come first.  I guess the final straw was having family staying and my step mother was walking him, he saw the chickens and made a launch, slamming her arm into the wall in the process, and nearly breaking her wrist - yes thats how much he wanted to eat the poultry!!

After all the recent events we will stay with one dog for a while, just wouldnt ever want to go through the above again, and maybe in the future when we have more time we will do what we did with our first dog and rescue a puppy - because she was so tiny when we got her the cats were fine, and if she tried to chase them got a nasty scratch on the nose - meant when she was older she had total respect for the cats and other animals! 

Taking on rescue animals can be so rewarding (I have 2 cats, another collie, and recently 2 young horses all rescued), so please dont be put off by my recent postings, but just ensure it is the right animal for you and that he/she will fit in to your home!

 

[Patricia]

I am glad you have sorted your problem with your Border Collie.  We have a Border Collie too that chases.  We rescued Jackson whilst back in the UK.  He was about four years old and appeared to have only ever lived outside. We brought him with us to France along with our miniature Schnauzer (who has since died), five tortoises, two fire-bellied toads and several birds.  We knew that our dog chased rabbits in the fields but was unprepared for him chasing the cats that we adopted from the SPA here in France.  One of the cats will stand his ground with him even though he will not remain the in same room as the dog.  The other just takes flight as soon as he sees the dog and because he does this it just fuels the dog's chase instinct.  Jackson never seems to bother our other animals.

We have adopted another dog, a cross setter called Sam, who is a seven month old puppy, who seems to copy Jackson and now also chases the cats.

Fortunately for the cats there are many places to go to for getting away from the dogs.

[Deimos]

I often wonder if Border Collies chase for fun as

much as a hunting instinct (or rather than to kill/eat prey).

One of mine chases horses. Does not bother too

much with cows, etc. but will try and make a horse move. Field next

to mine has horses in it for a few months each year and when they

arrive I take both to the fence of them to "say hello" (to

make sure they get used to having large animals at close quarters).

The horse love human company (I think that me saying hello is all

they get).

My younger BC will ignore them but the elder will

come really close quite happily (no forcing on my part). He will

then watch them really closely then suddenly lurch forward with a

bark and "play bow" (a foot or so from the fence). The

horses are "bullet proof" and totally ignore him. He will

happily sniff around right by the fence with the horse's nose a few

feet above him and ignore it (so not scared of them) but then he will

re-focus on the horses and do the lurch thing again - he just wants

them to move.

When in the UK he was often walked in a field of

cows. At only a few months he decided they looked like fun and

charged-off to one wanting to chase it. It just stayed put so he

just sat beside it unsure of what to do - hence he quickly learnt

that cows are "no fun".

Both BCs love things that move and I'm sure that

often its the desire to have things moving that is the reason for the

chase. It is when things run away that they learn it is worth

chasing them.

Ian

[Spardo]

[quote user="Deimos"]

Both BCs love things that move and I'm sure that often its the desire to have things moving that is the reason for the chase. It is when things run away that they learn it is worth chasing them.

[/quote]

 

Greyhounds too. Lira our Grey who recently died would get very frustrated at the cats who crouched the other side of the fence and stared at her. She barked and howled, pranced and whirled her tail, all to no avail. All she wanted them to do was run[:)]

[Christine Animal]

And that is why I heard dogs love to go at the postman, because he always "runs away" !

 

[Patf]

Unfortuately our older bc has the instinct to chase vehicles - anything with wheels from a wheelbarrow to a giant tractor, also cars. He also does this spinning thing too when they pass. And the postman's van is a favourite. We've tried various methods and he still does it. He's very good with cats, poultry. So he has to be on a lead when near a road. The younger one, like yours Deimos, copies him, but she likes to race the vehicles. I say she can do 30mph but husband says only 15. This chasing instinct is so strong in them, so you can only try to control it, not remove it.

[Framboise]

We have a nutty Dogue de Bordeaux.  She likes to chase squirrels, forgetting the fact that unlike them she cannot climb trees, so they stare at her swishing their tails in the full knowledge that she can't get 'em which annoys her even more!

My one concern when we move is the fact we have both cows and horses in adjoining fields, neither of which here in suburbia our dogs will ever have seen before.   I doubt there will be a problem but we are going to secure our boundaries anyway just to be sure.