You must complete an adoption application with WBCR before we will consider you for one of our Border Collies (under the “adoption” link). One of our volunteers will check your references, and then another will come to your home to meet you & your family in person before the board will vote on your application. If you are approved, we will arrange a time for you to meet the dog(s) you are interested in. If you decide he/she is perfect for you and the board agrees, we will schedule a day for you to pick up your Border Collie, sign adoption paperwork, and pay the $350 minimum adoption donation. This whole process may take a month or more, as all WBCR members are volunteers and we’re committed to making a perfect match for our border collies. Thanks for your patience!
Please contact Andrea for more information on Alice – 4 Year Old Female (New Berlin, WI)
February 10
Recently I have had some company at the house and realized how shy Alice is with new people. She paced a bit like she wanted to get close to them but was too nervous to be pet. Eventually she warmed up to guests especially the friends who came over a second or third time. Then she came right up to them for a few seconds of head scratches.
Most of the time while Alice has been at my house, there have been 2-4 dogs total. She had some decent fights with one of the dogs when there were four but when there were three, they all did fine. She can handle dogs growling or grumbling at her because my dog does when she tries to get him to play. She just jumps back and walks away. However when one particular foster dog would growl at her, she didn’t back down. Sometimes when the other dog would posture and look like she was getting ready to attack, Alice went into defense mode and fought back or attacked. The fights caused some decent scratches on the other dog’s nose but both dogs had to be pulled away from one another. For the last week or two of having four dogs, I kept Alice and the other foster dog apart to avoid that issue. She never fought with either of the other dogs at any time. I don’t think it was a female/female issue because there were three females and one male. I think it was this specific dog who started the fights but Alice was the better fighter who didn’t want to be attacked.
When Alice first arrived to my home a few months ago, she was very high strung for the first couple weeks. She has calmed down so much. It was during her high strung time that she met sheep, ducks, goats, and guinea pigs. I think she wanted to chase and eat everything that moved. I recently brought my guinea pigs back to the main floor and she is fine with that. She gets curious when they squeak and startled when they make other noises but I don’t keep the room gated off any more because she isn’t obsessed with their movement or sound like she once was.
Alice makes sure to follow me when I go upstairs or down to the basement. She doesn’t like being left alone outside of her crate. When I let the dogs out in the backyard, I go out with them. If I go back inside and leave the dogs out, she jumps repeatedly at the door until I return. It’s close to a frantic body slam with a high pitched bark so we just avoid that. If I take a nap, I don’t have to put her in her crate; she just makes herself comfortable next to the bed or chair and rests too.
Here is an 80-second video of Alice playing on her own and with others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oqPhJWUUtI
January 28
“Q & A” with Alice
Q: Alice, what is your favorite part of the day?
A: Anytime I am with a familiar human, meal time, petting time, and ball time.
Q: What is your least favorite part of your day?
A: When I’m in my crate and I see the human in the house at the same time.
Q: Why will you be someone’s best forever dog?
A: Because I am calm and zen-like in the house and when I’m outside on leash restriction.
Q: What is your dream family like?
A: I want a warm house with lots of petting.
Q: Use one word to describe the way you take treats or balls from the human’s hand.
A: Gently with a capital G.
Q: What are some things that can make you nervous?
A: When the human isn’t with me and I’m outside of my crate because I like to be in the same room as she is. New people.
Q: What do you think of small animals like guinea pigs?
A: I think they would be very tasty.
Q: What does your foster mom like best about you?
A: She loves to cuddle, hang, kiss, and love all over me and I never get sick of it or back away.
Q: What does your foster dog brother like best about you?
A: That I never get up on the furniture.
Q: What makes you unique?
A: My eyes of course but the less visual is my chill personality when I’m hanging out in the house.
January 20
Alice had her second and final heartworm treatments this past week. She did a great job and was loved by everyone once again. She has been doing a lot of resting. We had a house guest this weekend. Alice was pretty timid the first day or so but warmed up to her each hour. I haven’t had Alice meet many people so I will try to create more encounters for her. She hasn’t had an accident in the house for quite a few weeks. She tells me she has to go outside by going to the backdoor. When I don’t get the hint, she runs to me then to the backdoor. It’s fantastic!
January 13
Guess what?! I. Love. Belly. Rubs!!! Sometimes I just walk up to my foster mom and flop over so she can pet me. I just love it. When we all go outside to play ball, I sit by the human to get 100% of the petting. We all thought I would be miserable on activity restriction but it’s not so bad getting body rubs while those other dogs run around the yard chasing a ball. Don’t get me wrong, I will be back to chasing in a few weeks. I am attaching two pictures to remind you how good and calm I am in the house. The one is of me chewing on a chew toy which I love to do. The other is me zonked out in the kitchen. Until next time… Love, Alice
P.S. I get my second and third heartworm treatments this next week. Wish me luck. I am not looking forward to it BUT I am looking forward to seeing all my vet friends at the clinic. They sure do like me there.
January 6
Hey Future Family! This last week was a big one for me. I ate something and it got me really sick. We don’t know what it was but one of my roommates got it too just not as bad as me. I was so sick that I spent a night at the vet so they could make sure nothing was blocked, and they hydrated me through an IV. I loved everyone there and they loved me. They were so excited when I was closer to my perky self the next day. I have two more days of medicine and special food but my #2s are solid. My foster mom got tears in her eyes the first time I pooped solid. She’s a little weird. I was cuddly before my vet visit but now I am extra cuddly. I just want to snuggle!!!…unless we are playing ball. Then I would like to play ball.
Sometimes I get irritated with one of my dog roommates. For example when we are playing fetch and another dog gets it first, I bite at her side or leg to say “hey that was mine.” She doesn’t seem to care though because I’m just biting AT her. Sometimes we avoid ball play in the house because of that. My foster mom says I should knock it off because it’s rude and can lead to trouble.
Tonight we were rushing to the back door and one of my roommates bit me because we collided so I bit at her shoulder. She barked and tried to bite me again but the human closed the door between us. I am so loving and sweet the rest of the time. I don’t want to walk away when I’m attacked and let the other dog get away with that. For this reason I may not be successful at a dog park. Please note that I’m sweet and loving all the time to the human. Even when the dog sitter stops by to let us out, I just lean against him for pets instead of roaming around the yard.
People say they don’t want to stop petting me because I gaze into their eyes and stare super lovingly at them so they know how much I appreciate their kindness.
December 30
My foster human says I am the calmest indoor dog she knows. I like to be close to her in case there is action but I mostly like to watch the ball unless it comes to me. Then I do my best to catch it. I play a little rough with the other dogs. I don’t think they mind too much. Sometimes I think the ball is coming to me and they get it instead so they may feel my teeth on their face or neck. It doesn’t start a fight because I’m gentle about it.
A few days ago I got mad at the six month old puppy. We were outside and she got in my way when I was playing. I took her by her big ear and pulled. She yelled and my foster mom grabbed me by the scruff. I got mad like that another time at a dog who was visiting. My foster mom grabbed me then too. She said she yelled to tell me to stop but I didn’t hear her.
I am almost potty trained! I peed in the house recently because I wanted to cover the pee the puppy had just left on the carpet. I have been scratching at the door recently and that tells the human that it’s time to go outside.
I turn on all my charm when I cuddle. I don’t go up on furniture so I wait until the human is on the floor. She just loves it when I let her rub my belly and face and lean into her.
December 16
Hello to my Future Forever Family! I can’t wait to meet you. Later this week I am going to get my first Heartworm treatment. That means I don’t get to run for the next 6-8 weeks. I am going to miss running in the backyard and chasing after the ball. There won’t be much change inside the house because I am usually calm indoors. I get a excited indoors when a dog walk pasts that I can’t go meet and when I wait at the back door for ball playtime.
In the last week or so I have become addicted to belly rubs. I don’t remember these existing before but now I am all about them. I just walk up to someone sitting on the floor to ask for pets, then I roll over and the human can’t resist rubbing my belly and telling me how cute I am.
Life has been awesome since I entered foster care but it will be more awesome when I get to meet potential forever family members in February.
December 3
Alice loves to snuggle! She will come up to me for all over body scratches and gets as close as she can to me even if that means resting her chin on my shoulder. She looks at you with all her love. Seriously, melts my heart.
She is getting much better at catching balls. And if she doesn’t catch it, she is the fastest one to chase after it if it’s bouncing around the room. With outside fetch she is more interested in running near the other dogs…not necessarily chasing, just running with them back and forth as they fetch and return.
Alice loves to go for walks and runs. When it’s time to get ready, she runs to the door to sit quietly and wait for you to put on her harness. It’s that easy. When it’s time to go in the back yard, she is a little more over the top vocal with excitement which we are working on. She can still wait before charging out the door.
She gets anxious in her crate from time to time but she has been going in well. As long as I don’t look at her while she is in her crate and just leave or go upstairs or to bed, she is quiet and happy to eat her treats. If I take time to say goodbye or make eye contact, she barks and gets stressed. So that is easy to accommodate.
November 18
Alice has quickly learned the following commands: Sit, Down (lie down), and Leave it. We are still practicing, but she gets the concept and responds nicely. She is also getting very quick at calming herself before she is released from her crate and waiting before being let outside. She is gaining weight! And I am super excited to report that she no longer eats dog poop. YAY! I am not sure if those are related or if it was more stress related.
I took her for our first jog this morning. She pulled in the beginning but after about 10 minutes she was getting the hang of it. It should also be noted that we walk in the daylight now too. While squirrels get her attention, we can also keep moving along. So much has changed since she settled in and got rid of the stress after living in a shelter.
She has been pretty shy/cautious when meeting new people but you can tell she wants to come close to get pets and often does. She will bond with her people quickly and become a close pal. What a nice dog!
November 14
Today, Alice had a herding instinct test! We weren’t sure how she would do, because she was pretty amped-up waiting for her turn. Just looking at the sheep and ducks made her crazy, so her foster mom walked her around the farm, far away from the animals. This got her settled a bit, and the walk helped get some energy out. We handed Alice off to the herding instructor, and off she went! Alice was fast and tight at first, but after just a few seconds, she responded to the instructor brilliantly. Suddenly, Alice went out and around the sheep, slower and wide. She did beautifully! Here’s her video along with some pictures:
Regarding her heartworm treatment, Alice goes in for her first treatment on December 19th. She just finished her month of medication. Now thirty days off. Her second treatment is January 16-17. Then she gets tested six months after that so a long ways to go, but she’ll heal like a champ, I’m sure!
Her foster home reports that Alice is by far, one of her favorite fosters! She has drive, loves to play, is very trainable with patience & consistency, and she still loves to snuggle with her people. This girl will make some family extremely entertained, happy, and content. This dog is the whole package!
November 3
Alice is doing so well! We have made great progress over the last two weeks. She responds to her name, is mostly potty trained, gets along with the other three dogs in the house, and settles when it’s time to relax for the evening or night.
She loves squeaky toys! She lives for getting pets! She loves to eat poop – Ewww! It’s a habit we are working hard to prevent; She doesn’t give kisses so that helps with the grossness factor. She sleeps through the night. She loves to go into her crate for meal times. We think she may have been an outside dog prior to being surrendered so she seems to be loving her new indoor lifestyle. She used a dog bed for the first time last night. Prior to that she didn’t show interest in them at all. She walks wonderfully on a leash when it is dark outside. We tried leash walking during the day but the squirrels were too plentiful and distracting.
She remains to be a joy to have around. This is the type of dog one can fall in love with quickly!
October 20
History: Relinquished from a shelter in Indiana who reached out to herding dog rescues because she was not adapting well to living in a shelter. According to their paperwork a good neighbor rescued her after owner didn’t want her any more.
Health: Heartworm positive so she will be in foster care for a few months while she goes through treatment and then gets spayed. (See detailed report from the vet at the bottom of this update.)
Alice arrived in our rescue a week ago and is evolving each day. She was at a vet clinic for three days to get tests done to confirm her heartworm and do a thorough screening. The last three days she has been in a foster home with one other dog and two guinea pigs. Every day she has become more relaxed but still has a ways to go. Alice is pretty intense and focused on things she wants to be focused on. She doesn’t know her name or any commands. She sticks close even if she pretends to not hear you. As she starts to unwind and show new parts of her personality, here is what I have learned:
Likes: Running with my dog as he catches a frisbee. Head and face rubs. Squeaky toys. Being near a human. Snuggles.
Things that overstimulate her: Guinea pig sounds and movement. Seeing her reflection in the mirror. Being in her crate and seeing my dog.
Dislikes: Being left in her crate when she can hear you having fun without her. The first time seeing my dog.
She is much more non-stop movement and action than these pictures show.
The detailed report from the vet:
Alice is quite shy, but sweet. She does have heartworm which we confirmed. No tickborne diseases. Chest x-ray shows a slight enlargement of the heart, but not bad, so Doctor feels she is an excellent candidate for treatment. Alice has a wound on her head and one on her foot. At this point, Doctor thinks the head wound is an injury and there is a topical ointment to put on it. This girl is very thin but otherwise is decent health. She is very scared outside and will bump into people and things. Two doctors have examined her, watched her move inside, and she seems fine. We will keep an eye on her, but we are suspecting this is stress rather than a medical issue. Alice is an antibiotics for a month, then will be off a month, then we will do the first heartworm treatment. Vet says 4 is a decent guess on age. She does has a slight bit of tartar/wear on teeth. She is young looking to us. Alice is quiet in her crate and is eating well. She will take treats, loves canned food, but also ate the dry food well in her kennel. She smells MUCH better post bath and is quite a pretty girl.
