Buddy (Medical Hold)

Buddy is a 3 year old rough sable and white pure-bred collie and is a big "puppy" at 80 pounds.  Unfortunately his coat was so badly matted and dirty that the shelter had to shave him down to "puppy fuzz."  But, it has already grown back some. He is going to be a beautiful young collie when it all grows back.  He is a very gentle, sweet and playful boy who loves people, children, dogs and cats.  He rides well in the car, walks well on a leash by himself or with his "foster dog siblings."  His favorite activity is using his nose to check things out, open doors or turn small objects about as if to ask "How does that work, or what's this for?" He is quite inquisitive and intelligent.

Before being surrendered to the shelter, Buddy's life was spent alone in a backyard kennel day and night  He was never allowed indoors and his only exercise was an hour once a week. The last two weeks in his run were spent without the benefit of a roof for shelter from winter rain storms  Therefore, we want to place Buddy in a home where he will not be routinely left alone for many hours each day, and will be allowed to live where his family lives.  He would especially enjoy the company of at least one other dog.
 He is completely housebroken, current on shots, heartworm tested and neutered. He has healed from his hot spots and ests revealed it was not a serious condition.

Buddy's foster Mom has been working with him for two months now, and he has learned so much since his neglected beginning. He is very intelligent and still curious.  His foster Mom has had to be very vigilant, and supervise him inside the house.  Buddy is the kind of dog that because of his curious ways, we fear he might end up back in the same situation he came from.  It would be easy for a home just to leave him outside instead of continuing his "indoor manners" training. We don't want that to happen. Buddy is a sweet loving collie that missed his chance at early "puppy" training, so now will take more time and patience to learn what he should have learned as a puppy.

We have decided, upon further evaluation, that Buddy should not be in a home with children. He dearly loves children, and actually prefers them over adults, but he has a high herding drive that causes him to react to activities such as, running, swinging, skate boarding, bikes, etc.  We are also working on a behavior he has, that I call "flea nibbling", which is a fairly common behavior, where dogs will show affection by nibbling  on other dogs and sometimes humans, and can result in a pinch of your skin, that is uncomfortable. He is getting better with this as well, but will need positive reinforcement   in his new home.  Another reason he should not go to a home with children is that he thinks that most objects left on the floor or even on the table or counter are dog chew toys. Younger children's toys or even older children's electronic gadgets could be at risk. It does not mean that he can never be around children, he would love to visit with children, and he would be safe to do that with adult supervision.

Any home that Buddy goes to will need to be willing to supervise him inside the house until he can be trusted. He can be left alone outside when his people are not at home, for short periods. And he should be crate trained as well. These are all things that are true of any puppy. Buddy is more advanced in his training than a puppy, because he is already potty and leash trained. He has has good recall, and some obedience training. He sits on command, and is not a flight risk or a bolter. He is a Velcro dog that does listen to instruction from his people. He gets along very well with other dogs and cats. He is very loving and totally non aggressive. Updated 07.21.2010.

If you pride yourself as being a dog savvy person who would love to take this great dog to training classes, and if you are patient and willing to bring him further on his road from giant puppy, to  the well behaved adult that he could be, please submit your application to margie@calcollierescue.org . Experienced dog people only please.