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Sarah
What can you say about Sarah, the most
chatty Collie in town? She is a love, pure and simple.
Sarah has a
condition called hyperhidrosis (damp skin all over), causing
her skin to break out with yeast and bacterial infections.
For the 3 months after Sarah
came into our home, Sarah was on antibiotics and anti-yeast
medications and required weekly baths to rid her of her
pyoderma and and folliculitis, which is now 100% gone and
the yeast infection is more than 90% gone..
Sarah is an enormous amount of fun for
our family. Sarah loves to join in the playful antics of our
other dogs. She loves to go for car rides and walks and lets
you know by hopping, dancing and barking for joy. She hops
up and down at the shear joy of being fed twice a day. And,
if you are too slow preparing her meals, Sarah lets you know
by yipping and whining.
Because Sarah was found as a stray, no one knows how old she
is. The shelter thought she was about 10 years old. Some say
she is “ancient”. But, to me she will be forever young in
her own noisy, appreciative and playful way
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Pepper
What can I say about the crazy collie? She loves to lounge on the floor, the bed, or the couch with her head on my thigh. If I sit on the floor and it's late at night, she'll saunter over and sit on my lap, like a cat. When she's asleep she's about impossible to wake up. She loves everyone, and most of all enjoys running through people's legs.
It is impossible to spray water into the garden or the pool without her trying to attack and bite the stream of water.
Most of all she likes to play with and chase humans. 09.2007
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Davey
I had been thinking about getting another dog for several months. Since I'm older I was looking for a dog that could fit into my slower life style and get along with my two cats. I have adopted cats and dogs before and know that working with a Pet Rescue is the best way to go. Still, I was having a hard time finding the right dog because of my cats.
Then I saw a description on the Internet that really stood out! It said that "Davey", a smooth coated collie, was 6 years old and LOVED cats. Not just got along with them, but loved them. I didn't know there was such a thing as a 'smooth' coat collie so I did some research on them. From what I read the breed had many of the traits I was looking for, so I contacted Cathy of NorCal Collie Rescue. Cathy and I emailed back and forth, talked on the phone, and then set up a time to bring Davey to the house.
He was so handsome! He was sweet and well behaved, but most of all he was great with my cats. I knew I wanted to give him a home. When he came home with me he was so patient with my cats. His tail would wag like crazy when they came in the room, but he would wait patiently for them to come to him. In only a week they accepted him completely.
I think Davey is "taking over" very well. He has staked a claim on the curved part of the couch. When a visitor sat in his spot he laid down next to them and wedged his nose behind them. Then he kept pushing until his whole head was behind them. They finally got the message and moved. Davey scooted over and settled down with one of his big moan/sighs. No question whose couch it is.
As always there were some adjustments, but they were pretty minor. Cathy was there to answer any questions and make suggestions. I see changes in Davey every month. He knows now that this is his home and he isn't going any where. He is such a love bug. A lot of people think you need to raise a dog from a puppy to have them bond with you. I have found adopting to be much better. I don't have to go through all of the chewing and potty training, and they are extremely loving. The two cats, Davey and I are a very happy family. I think he is the perfect addition to our home. Thank you to Cathy and everyone else at NorCal for taking such good care of him until I could find him. 08.2007 |
Thanks to Davey's adopter, he gets to live the life he has
always thought he deserved! Oh, by the way,
where's YOUR bed?
Davey feels the same way about couches!
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Trace
Trace is wonderful. Every week seems to bring out a more playful aspect of his personality. While at first I thought of him as regal, I now think as I look back there was a little piece of himself he was holding back in reserve. That's melting away. He and Maggie are great friends. Maggie just adores him. They play for hours together tugging on a sock. He went through dog training class and last night Trace graduated from the beginners class. He seemed to know most of it all, at least while in class. Its been good for us. I think that the one-on-one attention has helped him develop a stronger bond with me, which I think gives him confidence that all is well with the world. We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful dog. He's even friends now with the cat. Our only challenge is getting through his next grooming appointment. He's being given one more chance before they oust him. I guess he likes holding the groomer's arm in his teeth when she tries brushing him out.
08.2007
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Danny
 We
were thrilled to find darling, quirky Danny, a
bundle of pure puppy joy with crooked ears and
an overshot jaw. Still very much a baby at 4 1/2
months, Danny loves to chew and delights in
the endless supply of oak sticks and acorns on
the property. There are at least 20 sticks, 3
boxes and 2 chew ropes underway at any one
time, along with one terry squeaky roll that
cracks us up each time we hear it (which is
often!).
We have a full, happy house with 5
beloved rescue pets: 2 older collie beauties, Belle and
Wanda, and 3 adorable young cats. But having lost 2
older dogs in the past few years, we kept talking
about adding
a youngster to the mix - and we're
so glad we did! Big sister Belle at age 12 is still
a puppy at heart, and both responds to and initiates
snout fencing and chase and bark games several times
each day. Lanky, loopy and all paws and nibbles now,
the cats can't wait until he's a little older so
that they can include him in the mutual love fest
they have with the girl dogs.
We're enjoying every moment with
Danny and look forward to long,
happy, fun-filled years ahead.
Stay tuned for more pictures
once he grows into those paws -
until then, love from 8 of us at
the beach! 07.2007
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Kipper
Kipper, a smooth-coated collie, has been a perfect addition to our family. Our daughters became
very interested in dogs and had learned much about them in the year prior to Kipper joining us. Since we never have had a dog, we did a lot of research. We ended up looking for a specific personality and character traits rather than a specific breed. We needed a dog that would be good with our three young girls and our cats. We also wanted a mellow dog that was housebroken. We read books, looked at hundreds of dogs on-line and in shelters, and talked to people on the phone.Then we read about Kipper. He seemed to need us as much as we needed him. It was a match. The folks at Norcal Collie Rescue spoke with us on the phone, conducted a home visit, and we met Kipper at his foster home. They took really good care of him. He was so emaciated and sickly when they first got him. Kipper had been debarked and has bad teeth. They nursed him back to health and helped him through a broken toe from a horse stepping on him. Though we were excited, we were also nervous at first when Kipper was delivered to our home. He is the perfect older gentleman. Our whole family loves him. We walk him every day as a family. Everyone loves to take care of Kipper and give him attention. We even took him on vacation with us this summer. Even one of our cats is taken with him. She likes to share his dog bed and give him licks on his ears. Our other cats are content that he is not a threat, will walk near him, and drink from his water dish.
After several months, we cannot imagine life without our Kipper-Doodle. He is definitely one of the family! We are very thankful to Norcal Collie Rescue and his foster parent, Karen. She took so much time with us and truly cares about the dogs. She has been so helpful and keeps in touch. 06.2007 |
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Missy
Missy has been with us a little shy of a year now. She has had an interesting journey with us.
As you may remember, we found her during her first week with us on our bed trying to assemble a kite. She did not have much success since her previous owners had removed her dew claws. However, she was not deterred. On several other occasions, she attempted to reassemble the kite until I think she just got frustrated with it and chewed it up. Since it was a nylon and plastic kite, I think she developed a taste or fondness for plastic. Either that or something is missing in her diet.
She has a fascination with plastic items. Every day we return home, she has isolated and dissected some other plastic item all over the place. Her toys are never dissected, just ours. We have pretty much dog proofed the house, but she never fails to find something and prove that our efforts were not good enough. Fortunately, she has never attacked any furniture, electric cords or Marietta's dolls. We can always tell when we get home that something happened, because she has a guilty look on her face. Don't worry, we have never gotten really angry at her, but we do take her to the scene of the crime, (and she looks really guilty when we get her there), and tell her that this was not a good thing to do. She seems to realize this and has never gone after a similar item again. I didn't know that there were so many different things made out of plastic! She has really been teaching us a lot!
She now gets along well with Saber and a Pomeranian we recently rescued. Initially, she used to snap and growl at Saber, especially at meal time, but now they eat side by side with no problems. They play collie tag often with each other. Saber and I used to play a game after our walks, called grab the leash and at first, Missy was really unsure how to play. Now, she plays with us and looks forward to it after a walk. She actually herds the Pomeranian and protects him when he goes out to the lawn to do his thing. We have lots of mean skunks, coyotes, raccoons, and other wild life and she seems to be aware of that.
When she first came to us, you could tell for several months that she was very unsure as to her status in the pack, even though we all tried to reassure her. Finally, one day, I sat down with her and had a little talk with and basically said that I don't know how she was treated by her previous owners, but she is a full member of our pack and will be with us always. No one here is going to hurt or abandon her. She seemed to settle down after this. She loves her tummy rubs, but holding a 70 lb dog in your lap with her head on your shoulder and rubbing her tummy is not as easy as holding the Pomeranian.
You can tell when she looks at you that she wants to be a good dog, but plastics seem to have an intoxicating effect on her, sort of like catnip. All humor aside, I think that at first it was separation anxiety, then it just became sort of a habit with her. But she is a good dog. Every morning when I get up, she is ready to go outside. About 6 months ago, she saw a cat out the front door (I always let her out at 5:30 AM and if I don't, she reminds me what time it is), and she went after it. Since then, she always runs out the front door when I let her out looking for that cat. Saber just looks at her as if he is saying "get over it". Saber is our sentry, always alert for problems and letting us know when something is out of the ordinary, such as someone walking by, a blue jay on the fence, grass growing, things like that, but Missy is our guardian! The second Saber sounds the alarm, she is out there with him making sure the person is either escorted to the house (or run off like she did when someone tried something that shouldn't have), telling the blue jay to get off the fence, or coating the grass with plastic pieces in an effort to build a green house. We have never had any problems with her or the gas or electric meter readers since we still get bills and have found no remains of them buried in the yard. Hopefully, none of them will ever have plastic limbs. We are glad we got her. Thank you all for finding her and rescuing her for us. 06.2007 |
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Chloe
After losing our family
corgi over a year ago, I began to yearn for another
dog…I had always had a dog in the house. I noticed
Chloe last August in a search of shelters and rescue
organizations, but my husband preferred a smaller
dog. At that point, as we couldn’t agree, I gave up
the search. Then in February, I noticed Chloe yet
again. I posed the question to my 
husband,
and he said, well if you have to get a dog, go ahead
and get her! It was then that I contacted Cathy
Toft at NorCal Collie Rescue, and the conversations
began. When Cathy brought Chloe to us, she said
“let’s get all the warts out.” And so the
conversation began on the various health problems of
this dog.
We have had Chloe since
the first weekend of March on a trial basis, and it
feels like she has been a part of our family for
years. She is a wonderful animal – a friend, a
joker, a sweet and loyal “Velcro” dog, and an actual
A Capella singer!!! At first she followed my
husband everywhere, but since has adjusted to
singing to me on my return each day from work. She
cheers my 85-year-old mother up and receives my two
children with kisses and songs on their return from
college. In addition, I take her into my dad’s rest
home, and there she is a natural – she knows which
patients need her more and tends to spend more time
with them.
At times I feel like a
“dispensing” pharmacist for all of her different
ailments that she has, but every day brings us new
joy. I am so grateful for all the folks at NorCal
Collie Rescue who took Chloe from the Sacramento
shelter when they received their call. They put in
so much effort, love and care into this dog. While
she may not have the life expectation that a normal
dog would attain, we will enjoy each and every
moment we have with her on this new adventure! 6.11.07
[ Chloe passed away from her lupus shortly after
this update was posted] |
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Chloe before
and after!
Chloe's former owners
abandoned her by tying her to a lamppost, in the
condition you see her in (right), and left town. Our
NCR adopters are truly angels, taking in and loving
these "imperfect" dogs so that NCR volunteers can
carry on their work. Chloe found
the perfect home and an NCR foster home is open for
the next needy collie. The love between Chloe
and her new mom jumps out from these pictures. What
a success story!
We at NCR cannot thank
our adopters enough!! |
Chloe as she arrived in
NCR from the shelter |
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 Macy
When Macy arrived home, it was love at first sight. She has truly found her forever home. She is really a gem and we are so happy to have her as a part of our family. She is adapting well and does not seem to be having much difficulty making herself right at home! She is a great car traveler, a good eater, and a pure bundle of energy. Macy is as loving as all heck! Thank you for parting with her and allowing us to adopt her. We are forever grateful.
Macy is giving the old guy (Mac) a run for his money and keeping him on his toes. She gets him going once or twice a day and the 12 year old plays like a puppy again. Macy is recovering well from her surgery. After a good night sleep she was back to herself in the morning. She and our son are taking weekly Saturday puppy training class together and she is definitely the Star Pupil. She has been so great. She can sit on command, shake, lay down, and speak. We are working with walking as she likes to walk us!! 04.07.2007.
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 Shane
Shane is such a love, we already feel like he's one of the family. He's a doll, and he is so comfortable here you'd think he was born here. He and Sonoma the cat are best buddies. 03.15.2007
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Cody Bear
Hi! My name is Cody and I want to tell you how great life is since Nor-Cal Collie Rescue saved me. One day I was just walking down the street in San Jose (I’m not going to tell you how I got there – that’s another story) and an officer picked me up and put me in jail. They were very nice to me there but who wants to spend a lot of time in a jail cell!! Any way one day a nice lady named Andrea came and sprang me. She took me back to her home and I had a sleepover with her dogs Peter and Vinnie.
I thought it was great fun – they didn’t! The next day another nice lady, Vicki, picked me up at Andrea’s house and took me to Davis to visit with yet another nice lady named Cathy. There some guy picked me up and said he was taking me to my forever home in Auburn, which was far away.
When I got there I couldn’t believe my eyes!! I had four acres to run. And I have two brothers and a sister. My sister, Kallie is a border collie and we play for hours on end. One of my older brothers is a German shepherd and we play sometimes too. My oldest brother is a Golden Retriever. He is too old and crippled to play but we love to curl up and sleep together in the family room after dinner. After all, who doesn’t like a nice fluffy pillow!
My mom and dad are so nice to me and I get lots of attention. Mom says I make her laugh, I do such funny things. And they tell me what a good boy I am all the time. Every morning when I wake up I am so excited that I am still here, and wonder if I haven’t died and gone to Collie heaven.
So there you have it – Thank you Andrea, Vicki, Cathy and everyone else at Nor-cal Collie Rescue that made my new life happen.
Oh, one more thing, my brothers and sister told me to just wait until the 4th of July. We have an all dog birthday party! Isn’t it funny all four of us have the same birthday? We get lots of presents and goodies and play all day!
Bye for now! - Cody Bear (also known as Coco Puffs) 01.31.2007 |
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Kaiya Kaiya continues to be very healthy and she seems very happy, too. Her coat is just beautiful and she's so
elegant and well-balanced. Both our kids have been living with us over the summer, and Kaiya loves having them
around -- for her, the bigger the "pack" is, the better.
Kaiya loves loves loves chasing a ball in the backyard, and sometimes will run around for several minutes with it
in her mouth, as if she's doing agility training -- in and out among the trees -- before bringing it back for
another toss. She also loves her toys; we gave her a 6-month birthday party with 3 new toys and she was like a
toddler at Christmas, going excitedly from one new toy to the next. She still loves her original toys from when
we adopted her, especially Sheep. She definitely understands the words "sheep," "chewie," "treat," "dinner,"
"crate," and our son is teaching her "big dog" (one of her newer toys).
What has surprised me the most about Kaiya is how smart she is. Our son just spent a couple months studying for the California bar exam and asked for quiet around the house. Kaiya seemed to understand that and padded around without barking. In fact, because she knows we generally don't want her to bark, she's developed a series of other noises she makes to get our attention.
She is a very affectionate dog who loves to snuggle. She spends a great deal of time nestled up against one of us on the sofa, leaning her head on someone's knee. She's a real cuddle-muffin and we are so happy she joined our family. Thanks again, Norcal Collie Rescue! 01.2007 |
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Mac
Mac, along with Kayia and Baxter, was a member of the litter of pups who came to NorCal Collie Rescue in late December of 2006. Mac was very malnourished when he arrived in his foster home, but quickly overcame all the odds to turn into a “super pup”.
Mac was the first pup to be adopted and what a life he has had! Mac had one big Collie brother, two Collie big sisters to help raise him. He has been to puppy training classes and is scheduled for beginner’s obedience soon. And, although Mac is not enthused about traveling inside our pick-up truck, he has made several trips to Sonoma County to help work on a property there. He loves to romp through the redwoods, hide tools, run away with gloves and bark at rakes. He even helps move branches, but some times he moves them in the wrong direction. Mac loves to go for walks in the state park next door to his home to play with dog friends.
But most of all, Mac has enjoyed the company of other young Collies that have been fostered at his home. Mac has been a “garden gnome” with Macy and a “stick buddy” with Danny, both of whom he missed very much when they left to go to their new homes.
Check this website for updates on Mac’s progress and playmates.
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Baxter
On Christmas 2006 Baxter came into rescue with 3 of his siblings at the age of 8 weeks old, along with a yearling male. He had severe coccidia, but fully recovered in his foster home. He was quickly adopted by a wonderful home that has adopted several other collies from collie rescue in the past, including Sailor, a Yolo dog who sadly crossed over the rainbow bridge, and Merry. Baxter is now the little brother of Merry who was adopted from Collie rescue a few years ago.
Baxter now enjoys the great outdoors with his family. They are into hiking and backpacking in the wilderness around the Tahoe basin near where they live. Baxter even has his own backpack!. Baxter enjoyed playing in the snow last winter when he was a baby and had a great summer in the woods.
Baxter is a year old now and is a feisty playful boy that is full of mischief. But, his Mom loves him dearly and is so proud of the progress he has made in his puppy classes. 01.2007
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