Meet the New Dog

I'm a horse trainer and riding instructor, and I have had dogs all my life.  Currently my joyful border collie, Miles, is a working dog who spends all day with me (8-12 hour days) while I'm doing barn chores, riding, and training horses.  He is my right hand man, the best assistant trainer I've ever had including the humans!  I taught him at a young age never to attempt herding horses (safety issue for him and others), but he is a wonderful example to the horses of what to do.  He demonstrates detailed behaviors such as walking over bridges calmly with all four paws/hooves placed carefully on the wood, crossing water, jumping courses, and trail riding on our 56 acres.  He even helps me with complicated things like teaching the horses how to stand quietly for mounting, cantering on correct leads, and running a barrel racing pattern.
 
Miles is 6 this year and I've had him since puppyhood.  Two years ago an irresponsible "hunter" shot off one of his hind legs supposedly mistaking him for a coyote.  I had what was left of his right hind amputated.  Miles still works hard with me all day everyday, but his mileage has become more limited with only 3 legs.  He used to run with me and the horses on trails 2-10 miles each day, but my smart dog now he heads back to the house when he recognizes it will be a long ride because he knows he doesn't have the stamina anymore. 

Since Belle, my female border collie passed away about 6 months ago I am once again in a position to adopt a new border collie.  Belle was also an excellent trail dog, fetcher, and cattle working dog despite having grown up on a 12x12 cement pad in a back yard until she was 6 years old.  I got her from that home via craigslist.  She died at age 10 of neurological problems which led to paralysis last spring.  She spent her last 6 months as an indoor house dog enjoying fluffy dog beds and naps.

To make a long story short, I was looking for another young-ish border collie type who can keep up with my lifestyle.  She would be working with me and Miles all day, and hopefully accompanying me on the long trail rides that Miles can no longer do.  I don't mind a youngster who's not ready for hard runs yet, she can physically mature before I ask for hard work, but a young adult would be ideal.  Miles and this new dog would be barn dogs, so sleeping in an enclosed heated barn with their own crates at night, but not in the house.  Because of this I was looking for a border collie or BC mix with enough coat to be outside a lot, who would enjoy this kind of intense lifestyle. Mostly I was looking for a busy workaholic dog who needed some structure and a job.

Since I'm a frequent viewer of dog rescue websites, when I came across this sweet female at the Mountain Pet Rescue in Winter Park, Colorado I thought she might fit the bill. They were calling her a lab mix, but the temperament they described sounded like a lab/border collie, and she certainly has that look about her.

I contacted the rescue and discussed whether she might be active and busy enough to keep up with me and Miles, and they thought she would work well.  They said she's not great with cats, but is friendly with people, dogs, and kids.  Since Sabbath and Z are both so dog-savvy and I always introduce new critters on a leash so that it's a controlled situation, I figured it would probably work out ok.  

The dog was originally found in Arkansas, and from their humane society she was taken to Breckenridge, Colorado, where the Mountain Pet Rescue had a foster home for her.  I couldn't get all the way to Summit County this weekend, so they were very gracious in getting several volunteers together so that I could meet her in Denver and take her home.  It was a really big day for her with lots of driving.  I'm sure she was tired, because she slept in the back seat of our Subaru for most of the drive from Denver back home.

She has some marks on her face, probably from an altercation with another dog (or angry cat) which should heal up fine.  She's about a year old, spayed, microchipped, and vaccinated.  She'll go into the small animal vet for a meet-and-greet sometime next week for a physical exam and to schmooze with the staff at Paws 'N Claws Vet Clinic.  I don't have a permanent name for her yet, the rescue was calling her Gretchen, but I don't know that it fits her.  I'm sure in time she'll let me know what she wants to be called.

Today I kept her tethered to me by attaching her leash to my belt, and she basically just followed me around for the afternoon.  Initially she and Miles sniffed each other and then mutually ignored one another, but now Miles is quite put out that I have a strange dog following me around and I'm talking sweet to her whenever I catch her doing something right. He actually took his toys and went to the garage to sulk in protest in his crate while I was feeding tonight.  He'll get used to her and they'll be fine, it's just funny to see Miles declare that her visit is due to be over and can we send her home now?  

I also introduced her to the horses and cats today, everyone was excited to meet her when we arrived.  She was of course on her leash and had obviously not been exposed to horses much before.  After a cursory sniff she was pretty sure they were the biggest and funniest smelling dogs ever.   The older horses came to the fence and said hello, but then ignored her as they are pretty used to dogs.  Highboy however thought this might be a GREAT opportunity to wrestle with a new friend, and worked hard to get her attention so they could touch noses.  I got a couple videos of her with Miles and Highboy for entertainment purposes.  She had a short break where she was in her crate to rest a bit between fixing fencing and feeding the horses, and this evening she followed me around while tethered to my belt again.  She sampled the horse feed (grain tastes better than alfalfa), startled at the hose and it's odd noises when it sputters as it gets going, and figured out she can drink from water buckets.  

She barks a little when she's unsure of something or when she's trying to get the horses or cats to pay attention to her, but so far she seems quite reasonable about meeting so many new species in one afternoon.  Sabbath the barn cat did come up to her to introduce himself, and surprised her because she was staring at a horse at the time.  She spun around and went down in that "puppy wants to play" pose with her buns in the air, and Sabbath hopped out of the way.  She acted like she might chase him, but being on a leash she had limited options.  He knew exactly what was going on and that she was tied to me, so he just sauntered around staring at her trying to get her to react.  This is a favorite pastime of his, trying to get a rise out of the dogs.  When all of us walked to the barn he situated himself in the hay to watch her from a safe distance, she barked at him a bit trying to get him to play but he just sat and stared.  She may have met her match.  Next up while on a leash - the neighbor's llamas.