Female, 1 year old
Red and White, Petite (26 pounds)
Health: Great health, surgically removed eye prior to being a stray.
Reason in Rescue: Came into shelter as a stray and her time was up
Personality: Leela loves to snuggle and play frisbee. She is reactive to moving cars and dogs she doesn’t know. She loves all people. She does well in her crate when home alone; otherwise she likes to stay busy.
Leela is being fostered in New Berlin, WI. For more details, CLICK HERE to contact Leela’s foster home.
If you are interested in meeting Leela to see if you are a match:
- Complete an adoption application with WBCR
- Make a donation to WBCR to support the application processing fees
- Get approved through all four steps (application, references, home visit, dog meet and greet) of the process
- Click the Adoption link and read the full application instructions.
These steps must be done before we can consider you to be matched with one of our Border Collies.
October 27, 2025 – Leela loves her crate
Leela is definitely a dog who needs a crate. She sleeps soundly in one whether it’s at night or while I am working from home. Any new sound or sounds the human ear doesn’t detect puts her on high alert. When she is in her crate, she isn’t as responsive to those mystery sounds in life.
October 25, 2025 – Walking Leela 🙁
I am still only walking Leela early in the morning or late at night when no one else is up and about. It’s best for everyone. She goes on walks because she wants to go where everyone else is going but she doesn’t seem relaxed until we are on the bike path where she feels she won’t be surprised by a car or Halloween decoration. Backyard time and ball/frisbee throwing time is her favorite way to get physical exercise.
October 22, 2025 – Leela likes a morning hug
Each morning when I let Leela out of her crate, she gives a big stretch and then runs to the backdoor. Often times she comes running back to me to ask for a big hug. She stretches her front paws up around my neck and we just hug for a few seconds. She really does crave human touch.
October 18, 2025 – Leela is still working on potty training
Today Leela had a few bathroom accidents indoors but only because our schedule was off. I was rushing and leaving earlier than usual. She knew she wasn’t supposed to go in the living room but she didn’t know how to tell me she needed to go out.
The night before while we were relaxed eating dinner, she came up to me, stared to get my attention, then ran to the backdoor. I let her out and she did her business; it was awesome.
October 16, 2025 – Leela is more energetic since her spay
Leela has been off restrictions from her spay recovery for a week and she is much more energetic than prior to her surgery. Maybe she is feeling more comfortable being in her foster home or maybe I need to step up my game to keep her busy. She is still delightful and cuddly. Her drive to play frisbee has increased which is a lot of fun. She is very treat motivated so she stays busy with some toys. She is more insistent on wrestling with my dog which he finds annoying some times.
October 15, 2025 – Interview with Jack, the 8 year old Border Collie foster brother
Interviewer: Jack, What has it been like the last eight weeks living with Leela?
Jack: The first hour or so she didn’t like me and showed her teeth but I was savvy enough to give her space. Then she wanted to wrestle with me and I liked that after a few days. Now I like to chase her when she is fetching the frisbee.
Interviewer: What do you like most about her?
Jack: I’m not into being pet a lot by humans so Leela takes that pressure off of me because she is like velcro to humans. Always there and always wanting to be touched.
Interviewer: What do you like least about Leela?
Jack: She is very particular about me not eating her food. She doesn’t like when I bark at dogs and when I do, she barks at me and jumps on me. I don’t like when other dogs bark ever; it’s too loud.
Interviewer: Do you think Leela should be in a house with another dog or dogs?
Jack: It would have to be a dog more patient than me. I’m nice to her but I get mad at her when she is barking. She barks at dogs, humans, sounds, and cars. I get annoyed at her when she wants to wrestle in the morning and I just want to watch the squirrels. I think she would be happy to be the only dog if she has a human and a frisbee.
Interviewer: How is she when it’s just the two of you at home and your human is at work?
Jack: She is quiet in her crate. The only time she barks is when I’m barking or when a piece of kibble falls outside of her crate and I come to eat it. That makes her get real mad.
October 13, 2025 – Reaction to cars
Her reaction to cars and bikes coming towards us has not changed. We have been going to watch the traffic on a busy street in the morning and she does quite well as long as we don’t get too close where it looks like the car is coming towards us. I will try to get some videos this weekend.
(Clarifying statement above: Her reaction to cars and bikes coming towards her has not changed which means it’s still bad. She goes into a frenzied state.)
October 10, 2025 – VIDEO: Meals with Leela
Leela is a fast eater so we needed to slow her down. She also needs as much brain work as possible because she is smart and doesn’t want to be bored. Click here to see how she eats her meals.
October 6, 2025 – Video
VIDEO Compilation: https://youtu.be/1tNjzA7WwKo?si=W9HhNcYoL9zgVIrC
October 5, 2025 – Airplanes
I mentioned earlier in the blog that Leela is scared of new things. Today a small airplane flew overhead. She didn’t see it through the trees but she could hear it. She barked a few times and was on full alert until she couldn’t hear it any more. She is looking for someone to understand and be patient with the scary things in life.
October 5, 2025 – Leela wants her forever home
Leela is looking for applications from her forever family. She requests a lap to lie on and hands to pet and throw toys. She says she doesn’t need anything else.
October 1, 2025 – Still recovering
Leela has been doing a great job recovering. She isn’t supposed to jump, run, leap, etc. for two weeks. I find this nearly impossible even with her on leash 24 hours a day. She was terrified of the infamous cone so we have been using a bodysuit and inflatable neck tube which have worked very well.
September 26, 2025 – Leela was spayed
Leela was well loved at the vet. They took good care of her and she showed how much she loved all humans. Now she will be restricted in physical activity for two weeks. Poor girl.
September 21, 2025 – More photos of the photographic girl
Leela wants to think she is the boss most of the time. My dog allows that some of the time.
September 19, 2025 – Bathtub
At least she waited for the shower to be empty before she jumped in this time.
September 17, 2025 – Waiting patiently for play time
September 16, 2025 – From Leela aka Leela’s Wish List
Hi! My name is Leela. I’m a one-year-old Border Collie and love all humans. I love squeaky toys, frisbees, getting pet all over, being told how beautiful I am, all human time, treats, meals, and watching the neighborhood. I don’t like cars and fast bikers. I get scared often but then I get brave because so many things are new to me. I think I would be very happy as a solo dog so I can get all the attention. Walks are fine but I really like backyards to play in and go to the bathroom in because I’m not a fan of going to the bathroom on walks. I am cute and talented. I don’t destroy toys and non-dog items. I am looking for a human I can adopt to be my forever human. I will give you all my love; just you wait and see…actually don’t wait too long. I want a family of my own.
September 15, 2025 – Serious snuggles
Leela is serious about snuggling with humans. It’s her favorite thing to do. Anytime I am on the floor, she comes running.
September 14, 2025 – Car chasing
I realized that the car chasing was not improving and was really stressing her out. She is only coming on walks with us early in the morning and late at night when the traffic is limited until I can do some other training with her.
September 13, 2025 – Shower interest?
The last week or so, Leela has shown interest in the water hitting the shower curtain during showers. She doesn’t attack it or make any noise. She just watches. One day she jumped IN the shower with me twice and then jumped out relatively quick. It was weird and funny at the same time.
September 12, 2025 – Frisbee is her favorite yard activity
Leela now knows that after she does her business in the yard that it’s time to play Frisbee. She is getting faster, better, and much more interested in playing fetch. She brings it right back.
September 9, 2025 – First vet appointment
Leela was brave in so many ways during her first vet visit. She was a little scared to get into the car but even more scared to get out of the car. She did well during the drive. She loved every single human at the vet clinic. She loved all the attention. When we got into the exam room, the first thing she noticed was the framed photographs of dogs looking at her. I covered them up so she wouldn’t bark or feel threatened. She received vaccines and a microchip, and then got a blood draw. She didn’t even flinch; she was just so excited to have all the humans touching her.
She is negative for Heartworm so we are celebrating. She has a double ear infection and will get her ears cleaned once a day for two weeks plus ear drops once a day. They examined her abdomen and couldn’t see any signs of being spayed so we will set up that appointment.
They looked at her empty eye socket and said some eye tissue must have been left in since it still has tears but since it’s not posing a threat and doesn’t cause problems, they will just leave it as is.
Leela came home and was ready to play frisbee, then took a nap.
September 6, 2025 – Calling all snugglers
Leela wants to cuddle whenever she can. If you want your dog to cozy up to you and remind you how much they love you with your presence, please apply for Leela. She would be very happy to be the only dog who gets all the human attention. She fully cuddles with you to get as close as possible into your arms. Your heart will melt every time.
September 5, 2025 – Zero destruction
Leela hasn’t destroyed or chewed on anything inappropriate. It’s so impressive. She is even gentle with her toys.
September 4, 2025 – Learning with courage
Leela does not like the vacuum. I put her in her crate when I vacuum or else she bites and barks at it. The first time I cleaned, she barked most of the time I had it on. This last time, she went in her crate but only barked in the beginning.
We had a similar experience with a handheld drill. The first few times I turned it on, she came running and barking. After that, she learned it wasn’t so scary and went about her business while I finished my project. Same with my hair dryer!
Same with the stairs. She has been going up more often but she still finds it a little scary to come back down. Here she is building up the courage to go down.
September 3, 2025 – She is smart
Leela figured out how to carry her frisbee so she can always see through the middle of it. At first I thought it was by chance but now it is clear she knows exactly what she is doing. The first day or two she bumped into me when it was blocking her good eye. See photo below from August 30.
September 1, 2025 – Potty trained!
The first day she arrived, Leela didn’t go to the bathroom at all. The next two days she had two accidents in the house. In reality she was training me on what she needed for timing and space. She has only peed once on a leash so far and we walk a lot. After every walk we hang out in the backyard and she does her business. A few days ago we hung out for 5-15 minutes before she went #1 or #2 and now (just a week later) she takes care of things within a minute or two. She was potty trained the whole time; she was probably just stressed and unsure of where to go.
August 31, 2025 – Morning sun
August 30, 2025 – Frisbee time
Leela likes to play frisbee but I wouldn’t call her obsessive. She definitely loves it though.
August 29, 2025 – Playing ball
VIDEO – Playing ball indoors https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JPGxxHWD7oA
August 28, 2025 – Roommate optional
Leela would be very happy in a home where she is the only dog so she can get all the attention. She and my dog wrestled for a few days but haven’t played for a few days.
August 27, 2025 – Watching the neighborhood
I was working from home and Leela spent most of the day sleeping or watching the neighborhood. She was a very enjoyable, easy officemate.
August 26, 2025 – Car chasing
When just one or two cars pass us on walks, it is not a big deal. We cross a busy road for our morning walks and she definitely wants to chase each one.
August 26, 2025 – Lap dog
Leela would like to be a lap dog because she wants to snuggle and be close to her human.
August 25, 2025 – Stairs
Leela is not comfortable doing long sets of stairs. These stairs are scary because they aren’t carpeted so can be slippery. Here she is after she tentatively yet bravely followed me upstairs. I ended up carrying her back down.
VIDEO – New to stairs https://youtube.com/shorts/SMioUFmOCZU?si=a5reZJnw-AXHlZ2O
August 25, 2025 – Name origin
It wasn’t until today that I realized the shelter named Leela after the one-eyed character Leela from Futurama. So clever!
August 25, 2025 – Frisbee and backyard time
VIDEO – Frisbee https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L0gSoDmFi7E
August 25, 2025 – Wrestling time
Leela convinced my dog that wrestling is fun. Dreams do come true.
VIDEO – Wrestling https://youtu.be/5cZ329-DxSY?feature=shared
August 24, 2025 – Adjusting
Basics so far:
-She was quiet in the car ride to her foster home.
-She barked at her reflection that she saw when she looked at the oven door.
-She slept quietly in her crate during her first night.
-She is not food motivated but does some resource guarding with my dog. I can take or touch any food from her and she doesn’t care.
Leela didn’t go to the bathroom for about 36 hours assuming she went #1 and #2 prior to boarding the van north. This can be normal for dogs who are stressed. She finally went #1 and #2 tonight…celebrating! She seems calm, cool, and collected on the outside but clearly she is still unsure of her new world. To help her adjust to her new home and dog roommate, we are keeping things routine with minimal interactions with others. Walks, crate time, and backyard time is all that will be on the agenda the first week or so.
August 23, 2025 – New roommates
My Border Collie is not sure about his little, spunky roommate but so far so good. I don’t think they will be best friends but they seem to get along just fine.
VIDEO – Leela wants to play but my Border Collie doesn’t. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JVoi3xVcoGg
August 22-23, 2025 – Ticket to a new life
Leela had been in a shelter as a stray for two weeks and they needed to move her out to make room for more dogs. The shelter staff reached out to WBCR to see if we could take her in and we had a foster home open. The next morning she was heading north with a one way ticket to a new life. All we know about her is that her eye had been surgically removed prior to arriving into the shelter as a stray and that she loves everyone. She did interact with kids and she loved them too.
The shelter reported and we agree: Leela is amazing, she’s very little maybe 30lbs. Doesn’t know a stranger. Will lay down for belly rubs immediately. Walks great on leash, very sweet personality!
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