When we first got her, it was an emergency foster situation. Her owner could no longer keep her and was considering putting her in shelter. Well, folks, that ain't gonna happen. So we took her in and I contacted Border Collie Rescue who's mandate it is to find BC's forever homes
Trust me, it was hard slogging at first. Panda went to war with Terra, this dog has been through two years of unsettled environments and I think she just saw this other dog as an obstacle she needed out of the way. She was very aggressive towards other dogs as well, in dog parks, and exhibited the aggressive side of herding towards humans
Yikes
We worked and worked to make her settled and comfortable and to give her the structure, routine and positive reinforcement she needed. And it worked. Panda has become a settled, calm, very affectionate dog. A few issues to work through but they can be bettered. And Panda and Terra have become comfortable "house sisters"
Now that her anxieties have faded she has emerged as a smart, energetic, uber affectionate little girl. This is her home, we are her family and that knowledge has allowed most of her nervousness (where the aggression came from) to settle
We knew that we were going to keep Panda. We all put in too much work. Besides her aggression issues there was the food issue in that, in my opinion, her owner was giving her the wrong food. And there was food hording issues. And the issue of her having had to train herself to poop in the bathtub because she didn't go out enough ...
We knew that we were going to Panda. She has become our girl. This is her home. She loves it here and we love her. We informed her owner of that. But today, it became official. Border Collie Rescue contacted me to let us know someone was looking to adopt Panda (I had no idea her owner still had her on the site) Emphatically, without thinking about it, I told them No, we are keeping Panda.
So there is no doubt. Welcome home Panda
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