You must complete an adoption application with WBCR before we will consider you for one of our Border Collies (under the “adoption” link). Then go to our PayPal link to pay the $15.00 application fee. 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 Drue or Lynn for more information on Lady (3 Year Old Female in Genoa City, WI) – Adopted!
July 4
Lady continues to do well. In fact, she’s a very happy dog! All. The. Time. Yay! We’re also excited to learn that Lady is fine with fireworks! No sound sensitivity at all! She watched the fireworks peacefully at her foster home from the back porch. What a good girl!
Here’s a video of Lady running with her foster siblings:
June 26
Lady is like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon Lady continues to be around people and dogs all day. People can treat her like a regular dog with no problems. However, when a stranger stares at her eyes, or leans over the top of her, she feels threatened and barks. It can be easily remedied by have the new person sit in a chair near her and perhaps offer her a treat, or talk sweetly to her. Lady goes up to most people and happily takes the treat offered.
Lady is getting more comfortable and is learning the ropes, but she is basically a “puppy” in a big dog body. She tries to get the other dogs in her household to play, but like a young puppy, she doesn’t take the message from the older dogs that they don’t want to play until they get mad at her. She lives with the eternal hope that everything is “all about her”. She is so happy to have company after all of her years of no attention from other dogs or people, she is desperate make up for lost time.
Lady is staying with a trusted trainer. She decided to try Lady on sheep. Herding is a real job that provides Lady with the much needed mental stimulation as well as physical exercise. This smart girl showed good herding instinct. We are hopeful that this job will be giving her physical exercise as well as working with someone in a “free style” activity, where she has to volunteer the right responses.
A “job” doesn’t have to be sheep herding. There are lots of dog sports out there. Something like Nosework or Tracking would be nice at first , because Lady would stay on leash and learn to work with you to be a closer partner. Now that she has been with one person for over a week, she appears to become extremely loyal to her person. Everything you do with her, is her biggest dream. Whether it is tracking, herding, or some other activity, she is up for anything, including being bathed and brushed. She just loves the attention. Lady needs the mental and physical work so she you can become better partners.
Sometimes Lady doesn’t seem to know what “no” means, and she probably doesn’t. She has not had enough interaction in her life to “know the rules of the game.” Be firm with her and she will try to figure out what you don’t want her to do.
Lady’s history is that her old owners had her potty on a rug inside the house by the door. It was initially hard for her to go outside after she was given-up. Her first foster home did a good job of teaching her to go potty on a leash on a walk. In her present home, she now asks to go outside into a fenced yard, but likes you to stand out there with her. It is taking her less and less time to settle down and go to the bathroom outside when she goes out, but that is mostly because she is so excited to be out in the yard playing. She is getting better and better at going potty first, then playing. Just be a little patient with her and praise her efforts.
Once Lady trusts you, she looks into your eyes and tells you what a wonderful girl she is, and how much fun it will be to share her life. If you crate her when you leave, she does bark at first, trying to tell you she would rather be with you than anywhere else in the world. It could be because separation was used to punish her before. When you put down her food bowl, you may have to stay in the room with her for a couple of minutes. She would rather be with you than be left alone to eat.
She is great about taking food away from her, getting a bath, getting her nails trimmed and coming at a run when you call her (once she knows you).
Our Recommendations:
No Cats
No Kids
No Older Dogs (Lady would be a great “only dog,” but she would also love another dog who is willing to play with her)
Lady loves to be petted. Her friendly, beautiful brown eyes will entice you to snuggle every time! Lady is officially ready for her forever home. Apply now!
June 16
We wanted to get another read on Lady’s behavior, so we used a trusted trainer to board/train her. She is currently in Genoa City, WI. Lady likes rules. She likes to sometimes test the boundaries, and when the rules are enforced, Lady gives-in and behaves beautifully. Lady has been so relaxed and content with her country living. She has allowed many people and dogs to meet her.
She lets just about anyone pet her now. She even had a young dog act inappropriately with her, and Lady just looked away and did not react. Lady did have one incident where she barked aggressively for a moment, so the trainer will keep a keen eye on that. For the most part, we’re all so excited about Lady’s positive choices!
June 13
Lady is getting to know the ropes and, more importantly, her foster home is getting to know her. A recent milestone is she has gone #1 and #2 on leash during our walks.
If you like to give cute dogs head massages, Lady is cute and she likes head massages. The proof is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NDCSeT4kCM
If you like a dog who can entertain herself with a good treat ball, Lady enjoys keeping herself occupied: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLXl4fj0QQY
Sometimes Lady wants to be chased or play keep away even though she doesn’t have an object you are trying to get or even that you aren’t chasing her: https://youtu.be/YZ7gcmE0P9g
I live in a neighborhood where dogs are often off leash and owners don’t have control of them. (Completely irresponsible and frustrating.) Yesterday two dogs came charging down a driveway, crossed the road, and stopped next to my dog and Lady. Luckily no contact was made and the owner came and got them. During those 10-15 seconds, Lady turned her body to the side and avoided eye contact. Then we continued on our walk as if nothing exciting just happened. The day before that, a different dog came trotting down a driveway and crossed the road. My dog was very reactive and wanted to bite that dog and Lady. Once again Lady looked away and didn’t react to either dog.
When we are in my backyard with my dog, she ignores him some of the time and tries to herd or control him some of the time. I haven’t been doing both dogs loose in the house because she seems to want to herd him more in the close quarters.
A member of the group came over to meet Lady, and it was a very successful meet and greet. We did a nice, slow introduction, and that seems to be the key to allow Lady to determine she is meeting a safe person. When introducing new people to Lady, we will have them be relaxed AND avoid eye contact so she can smell them from a safe distance or while she is in her crate. Then she can meet them on leash, but they should still avoid eye contact and maybe give her some tasty treats. These are all good steps to show her that the human isn’t threatening. Then when she feels comfortable with that, you know that person has passed the test.
June 7
If you want a happy dog that is interested in being your buddy and you are able to show her life isn’t scary, then Lady may be your dream dog.
#1 – Lady is learning to play with toys. Here she is playing with a broken squeaker: https://youtube.com/shorts/EHe-oYO5ndQ?feature=share
#2 – When she went to the vet, she let them take blood, shave some butt fur, and do all the other normal pokes and prods. They muzzled her since she is so new to rescue but she let them do their thing as she figured out if these were nice people or not nice people. The vet confirmed she is a healthy dog without any medical issues.
#3 – She is also at a nice weight for her frame which is around 46 pounds.
#4 – She likes to play keep away when she is bored, but if you say, “okay, let’s go outside/inside” or “here do you want this treat,” then she drops it and runs to you.
#5 – Lady likes to bird and squirrel watch. She likes to sit outside with her human(s) and look up in the trees for any action.
#6 – In the last four weeks of being in rescue, she has extended her attention span for getting kibble out of her treat balls. In the beginning, she didn’t have interest in getting food out of a simple kong. Now a kong or other treat ball will keep her busy for 5-10 minutes. This is more proof that she has decompressed. (See photo of her with butt in the air and purple bone treat toy.)
#7 – Sometimes I work from home. As my office-mate, she spends the day looking out the window or being quiet in her crate. As I type this, she is sleeping a few feet away.
June 4
A lot has changed for me in the last week and I am loving my new life in foster care. I am ready for a home that will be my forever home so I can start giving all my love.
I went to another foster home for a week while my foster mom (FM) wasn’t available. I went on long walks and really improved my leash walking skills. Not that my leash walking skills needed a lot of improvement but now I am not scared to walk past barking dogs when they are behind a fence or in a house. I am now like “whatever.”
I didn’t have any accidents or do any damage. I hear that is really impressive for a three year old Border Collie like me. It took me a day or two to go to the bathroom after I first arrived but I used the backyard like a good girl every time. I was outside of my crate much more at this new foster home but I still put myself to sleep at night in my crate and for naps. My crate is still my #1 place to go for relaxing.
When I moved back into to my main foster home, I was allowed to spend more time with my Border Collie foster brother. I really like him. He lets me sniff his ears and mouth which I like to do a lot. My FM will sometimes tell me to give him space so then I come over to her or I just lie down. He is so patient with me. Today we have gone on two walks together.
(Note from foster home: At first it seemed Lady may need to be the only dog but this does not seem to be the case so far if she can live with a dog who is patient with her invading their personal bubble. We will continue to update this status as she has more experiences with dogs.)
May 25
Earlier it was reported that I like to do zoomies. Here I am showing off my quick turns and fast skills. https://youtube.com/shorts/17gAFnEpbsw?feature=share
Love,
Lady aka Ladybug
May 22
My foster mom (FM) says she can see positive changes in me every day even though I have been a good girl for my first week in foster care. She calls it “decompressing” from my past life. I am going to the bathroom sooner when we go outside. I am eating from toys without giving up so soon. I am a great gardening companion. My FM put a long lead on me and connected it to her waist while she dug in the dirt. I just watched her and the neighborhood calm as could be.
I met another new person. She was so nice. She gave me time to sniff her, she pet me and showed me love. She tried to throw a frisbee for me and that really scared me because I thought she was going to throw it at me. Once I realized she wasn’t, I settled and became her best friend again.
On a walk the other day, a dog who was not on leash came plowing down the driveway, crossed the road and pushed me. I was scared and my FM yelled a lot at that dog and his owner. That yelling was scary. I just turned my head and tried to avoid the entire interaction. When it was over, I did not want to practice leash training any more; I just wanted to get home.
Check out our Facebook timeline to see my recall. It’s not hard for me when I am going to get pet for my reward. Plus in the video you can see my pretty curls and wavy fur. It’s all natural; no curlers needed.
May 15
My foster mom (FM) says I am so loving and so smart. When it is just the two of us, she says I am such an easy dog. That makes me blush but then I want her to say it again. Here are some things you should know about me besides how cute I am and how much I love to be pet.
#1 – Make sure your friends give me some time because I am scared.
I am figuring out which humans I can trust so I need time to sniff people before I feel comfortable next to them. My FM has introduced me to three strangers. I felt safest when the person stood still and looked away so I could sniff them and decide if they could be trusted. With all three people I ended up sitting behind my FM instead of staying for extra pets. Yesterday I met a neighbor who was nice with his pets but I think he looked at me too long and I barked repeatedly at him then ran away when my FM told me to back off. I tried to look and sound scary and she said I need to not try so hard. I learned to trust the staff at the shelter because they were patient with me when I tried to be scary. They recognized I was scared and needed to get into a home that was quieter.
#2 – I am trainable so teach me things!
I am really good at “sit”. I am starting to learn “shake” and “crawl”. I impressed my FM with my “down” but I don’t know the word, I only know the sign. I am good with “wait” to be released from my crate or to go through a doorway. I am learning “crate” and getting good at that. She said she is working on “off” because I like to check out what is on the counter or table. I have decent leash manners but she said I could learn to heal.
#3 – I love to be touched by my trusted human(s).
I like to be brushed, pet, toweled off, or just sit close to the human. She keeps telling me I need to get my nails trimmed so she is building trust by squeezing my paws and examining my feet.
#4 – I would really like to have a fenced in yard.
I have not gone #1 or #2 on leash here nor have I had any accidents in the house. I like to spend several minutes outside while my FM is relaxing in her chair before I will consider relieving myself. Once I do, I zoom zoom around the yard in big circles. It makes me so happy.
#5 – Siblings, I don’t know about siblings.
My FM is keeping me separate from her Border Collie. She said we both have a history of being reactive so she is going to let us get to know each other from a distance so neither of us get a chance to make a poor decision. Her dog tries to ignore me and look the other way. I am realizing he may not be a big threat but I am not sure yet so I watch him. My FM is grateful I am quiet and relaxed in my crate so she can manage the two of us.
If you can provide the lifestyle to set me up for success, please pick me as your special fur-baby. I want to give and get lots of love.
Love,
Lady
PS – My FM wants to change my name and I support that. I haven’t had an easy life and I am ready for a new start. Will you be the one to give me a new start?
May 12
Lady arrived at her foster home today after being in a shelter for the last six weeks. She was surrendered by her original owners who could not care for her any more. We know she was an only dog and didn’t get out to socialize much, so she is quite unsure of other dogs and new people. The shelter staff gave her as much attention and support as possible but recognized that she still wasn’t thriving in a shelter setting. They contacted our rescue to help her get to a quieter, more mentally stimulating setting like a foster home.
She is three years old and has already showed off her love for rolling in the grass. Her original owners told the shelter that they weren’t able to let her outside much so this video of her rolling in the grass at her new foster home seems extra sweet (click here). She is not crate trained but she has done quite well so far this evening getting comfortable. I actually heard her snoring! Great evidence that she was relaxed inside her crate as I finished up my work day. Lady has a lot to learn about the world so we hope she will encounter friendly people along the way.
Lady should not be adopted by a family with cats or young children. At this point we assume she may be best as the only dog in a household but it is too soon to know for sure. She is up to date on all her vaccines and is a healthy girl looking for a human to love, snuggle with, and pet. We hope you continue to check back to learn of her progress and see if she is a match for you.
