This thing, right here
This is Panda. Panda is a nine year old border collie. She came to my attention through a high speed and efficient form of wireless communication ... not Blue Tooth or the interwebs but the DPFN ... the Dog Park Friends Network.
A friend of mine told me the story of this woman who had an elder border collie looking for a new home. We were not actively seeking a new dog but my buddy knows that I won't let any dog, especially a border collie, go to a shelter. He told me that this indeed was the case with Panda. Her owner had to find her a home or it was a shelter
As my buddy informed me "You're the border collie guy, I thought of you first" So I contacted the woman and she told me a story. Panda lived with her dam (mother) who is around 13 at this time. The woman had lost her husband and she was finding it too difficult to manage both dogs. The momma dog is very anti social and can't really be taken to dog parks so Panda was not playing much.
And the woman lived with both dogs in an apt and could not give Panda much attention So Panda taught herself to pee and poop in the shower. Yeh .. I know. That had me cocking my head spaniel style .. "Say what?"
She said the situation was dire. She had to rehome Panda immediately.We weren't sure we wanted an older dog, Terra responds well to younger dogs though she was raised with Hayley who was considerably older. I did inform the owner about Border Collie Rescue, a terrific organization dedicated to rehoming BC's. They have a foster network who care for the dogs until they find them homes.
I was told that BC Rescue had no foster homes for Panda but may have a home for her in a couple weeks. We agreed to take her in on a temporary basis. She is a sweet little dog. She is very very affectionate. But there were issues right away. She was extremely dominant with Terra. Very very dominant. She was limiting Terra's movement in the house, trying to sequester her out of the living room and away from us. Terra was definitely taking the submissive role. I've taught her not to scrap in parks and walk away from the fight but now the fight was in her own house.
Some of this behaviour I corrected by doing what Terra should have been doing; I was putting Panda down. As soon as she snapped or lunged at Terra I just took her collar and put her down. This seemed to work, it certainly established my dominance and Panda was learning some limitations. The biggest issue though was around food
Terra has been in the homes of other dogs, I've boarded dogs here, usually she will eat some of their food but generally does not freak out if they ate hers. Never really had any problems. But Panda had a different approach. She tried blocking Terra from eating her own food and Panda would frantically eat her own food if Terra even looked in that direction. Food hoarding. I was quickly realizing that I may have not gotten the full story on this dog
Terra's reaction was quite strong and in some instances quite sulky. Except in the park. In the park both dogs were great. They would chase the same ball and never get into disputes over it. One would usually defer to the other and let her pick the ball up. They walked side by side on leash without any issue. So that gave me hope
Over a week or so the work we were doing with Panda, putting her down, separating the food areas, giving Terra precedence by letting her be the first in and out of doors, started to work. Panda was not quite and dominant and Terra began to relax. The food remained an issue and still remains. It's getting better but Panda gets frantic over her food when Terra is nearby. We have separated them at feedings but that's not the way I like to run the house. So having them in the same room but around the corner and feeding them at the same time, that seems to be working
I have been in contact with Border Collie Rescue and the story I was told by Panda's owner does not match theirs. They do not have any homes in mind for Panda and they weren't even posting her for adoption on their website. And they are very puzzled as to why Panada had to be let go with such urgency, as am I. I told them that I don't want Panda to go to another temporary home, that would not be fair to her, she is settling in here and the routine is doing her good.
We want to keep Panda. She is loving and sweet, has good energy. I suspect I know why her owner wanted to dump her. I am hearing a cough from the dog that makes me think she has a heart condition. If that is true it means a lot of expense to deal with it. Well, we've been down that road before. If we can get the food situation under control .. and it's getting better .. Panda will be ours. I agree. Collette agress
Terra may have a different opinion
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