Happy New Year!

I am anxiously awaiting the start of the New Year cause I know my forever family will find me in 2010!

While hanging around, I thought I would share some photos.

Here I am in my spiffy winter coat that was given to me by my southern sister, Genny. Genny's mom bought it for her and it was way too big. It's roomy on me but I think I still look pretty dapper in it. And it certainly has gotten a lot of use in this subzero temperature weather!

Here I am opening my foster dad's present. He let me help. He said it was better than having me chew on his shoes. :-)

Here's one of a close up of my nose.

Here's one of my ginormous ears.

One of me and my foster mom holding paws. She had the nerve to ignore me for 10 seconds so I had to offer my paw to her to remind her that I was still here.

And this one is my "look ma, no teeth" photo. Cracks my foster mom up every time she looks at it!

Happy New Year everyone!

Scot

Duncan's First Christmas

Since my last post a lot has happened to me. My surgery was scheduled for Wednesday morning. We waited patiently for the office to open, then I got to go in and room next to this older black lab. Not sure what he was in for but I think he was having a surgery too.

I was then given some really great stuff that made the room all fuzy then went to sleep. When I woke up it felt like I had a hangover (not that I have every truly experienced one of those but I have heard of them). My left hind leg was all bandaged up in festive holiday green color wrap. I even had this think on my head that I can see through but it doesn't let me reach my back end.

They kept me overnight so I didn't get to go home until Thursday afternoon. I didn't even recognize my foster mom when they brought me in the room. Boy was I glad to see her when the light bulb did go off! Lucky for me they gave me this pain patch to keep the good stuff flowing and take the pain away. I didn't do much but sleep all afternoon.

The house smelled great with the smell of baked cookies and all other kinds of delicious people food! It was also decorated and wonderful holiday music playing. My foster mom kept the music playing all night so I would have something to listen to if the pain woke me up. Which it does from time to time.

I have been wimpering off and on but its so frustrating not to be able to run around like I used to or just to be able to reach my leg. It goes from itching to hurting to getting hot and so on. The bandages have to be protected from getting wet which is real hard to do in this weather.

Well, morning comes and again my foster mom is busy cleaning and preparing the room next to the kitchen we never go into with plates and candles. Her parents came over bearing more goodies and presents. I have never had a present before so that is a first for me.

After we all ate lunch, everyone adjurned to the living room and all the gifts were handed out. The first one was pig ears. I had my own little bed area all made up to keep me comfy and to keep that pesky younger border collie away from me.

It was so yummie! I was actually able to eat it once that silly head thing came off! Then there were more presents, toys this time. My foster mom helped me get the wrapping off since I can't use my paws very well with the head collar on. It was so cool. And my foster siblings weren't allowed to play with my toys!

So now I am focusing on getting better. I am resting better now but still get annoyed easily. I go back in a week to get a small cast put on and to make sure everything is healing like it should. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as I did, bum leg and all!

Sincerely,

Duncan

Christmas Greetings from Marsh

Merry Christmas!!

Thanks, and Happy Holidays from NEBCR!

First, NEBCR would like to extend a HUGE thank you for all of those who helped us by voting in the Animal Rescue Site's Shelter Challenge. NEBCR came in FIRST PLACE for CT, which nets us a $1,000 prize!

We were behind Stamford CT's shelter for a good part of the competition, but our volunteers and adopters and friends made a big push on the last day to put us in first place when the voting closed! Congratulations to all of those other shelters and rescues across the country that are doing their part.

As you know, NEBCR is an all volunteer organization and every donated, earned or won dollar helps us to make lives better for the Border Collies we take into rescue. We never turn away a dog because they are sick or injured, and we have amazing foster homes that will sometimes double or triple up with foster dogs so that we don't have to say no to a Border Collie in need.

This was an especially trying year for us, which is evident to anybody who has been reading this blog! Not surprisingly, our volunteers came through in droves to help the Lucky 7 plus all the other dogs that came into rescue right around the same time. We feel truly blessed for all of the incredibly dedicated and selfless people that "work" for this organization.

We have been extremely fortunate to welcome a good number of new volunteers and foster homes to the group, as well. We welcome back some that were away for a while, and others we have converted from adopters to volunteers.

Thank you all for your donations, votes and for opening your hearts and homes by adopting a dog from NEBCR.

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good game of fetch!

-NEBCR

Merry Christmas from Scot!

Scot wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

He also wants to thank everyone involved in his rescue and all the people that have sent him well wishes and good thoughts since arriving here in New England! He will truly have a Merry Christmas this year and many more years to come.

Duncan goes for a sugical consult

Today I got to go into one more funny smelling building with my foster mom. I was pretty nervous but met a very nice yellow lab who also had a back leg injury, on the other side. He was a nice fellow but liked his kibble a little too much if you know what I mean :)

Anyway, I met Dr. Berzon, a very nice gentleman who really took his time with us. He made me stand and then poked and proded my leg. He knew right away from looking at the x-rays that my bones were just not right and explained to my foster mom that the bulge seen is actually a little supportive bone that is just below the hock joint out of place. It was a twisting, as well as jarring injury he mostly sees in racing greyhouds.

He then talked about pins and surgery. I don't quite know what all that means, but I have another appointment on Wednesday to go back. I can't eat anything after midnight the night before and I will have to stay for a while. But, afterward he said I should start feeling better for sure. It all sounds scary but I will do my best to be brave.

Duncan

Only 2 days of voting left - WE NEED YOUR HELP!

NEBCR is currently involved in a voting contest to win much-needed grant money.
There are only 2 days of voting left and we're still in 2nd place in CT.

PLEASE GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE!

The rescue name is New England Border Collie Rescue, and the state we're incorporated in is CT. Once you enter the name and state, NEBCR will appear in the list. Just click the "vote" button. You can vote once each day, and any and all votes are greatly appreciated! If you have any dog loving family/friends, feel free to pass this along and encourage them to vote every day!

Thank you for your support!

Duncan Earns a 10 for Style

Duncan here. A couple of weeks ago I got to go back to Sugarbush farm to wish some lucky NEBCR alum pups celebrate their third birthdays! I can't believe I even got an invite. All the birthday pups were so gracious. There were lots of fun games and activities all day long. I really got into playing catch with the rest of the dogs. My style was improving throughout the day as I continued to jump in the air after balls others just wouldn't dare!

Then, near the end of the day, I made a spectacular leap for a ball but something wasn't right and I came crashing down, falling on my left leg hard. It turns out I fractured a bone in my hock. It hurt pretty bad to where I can't put weight on it. The humans are still working with some experts as to how best to fix me up.

I just want to go on record as saying that I was really going for style points (of which I think I should get a 10 for execution) but am willingto settle for a big puppy Splat award. OK, so I will never be a disc dog like Dune is, but I figure my personality sure makes up for that!

Just tell this human to stop following me around on that stupid line. Its likeI have to do EVERYTHING for her. Whenever we go outside, she decides I am the one to show her around the yard. What's up with that? Can't she get around without me?

Oh, and I would like to say I have seen as much of that place called a vets office, or something, as I care to. Everyone is very nice, but come on now, I can't be that interesting. I swear they want to see how flexible I am. Of courseI know no human could ever master those positions they put me through and all for what? A silly picture or two of my insides! I saw those pictures and frankly, I think they need to fire the photographer as not one captured mybeautiful eyes or my good side. I have already put a call in to my agent about all of this! I think a spa treatment is in order!

Duncan

(If you would like to help pay for Duncan's treatment, or any of the bills NEBCR absorbs on a daily basis, please go to http://www.nebcr.org/How_to_Help.html#donations and donate today!)

Andy Update

Do you like my Christmas photo? Hi, it's me Andy again! I've been keeping busy seeing the dog doctor, discovering snow and hanging out at home with my foster family. The last time I went to the dog doctor, Lady The Horribly Misnamed came with me (that's her in the first picture with me). That made me feel better and I went right into the dog doctor's office with her. The dog doctor is still waiting on one test and we should have those results by the end of this week. The good news is that every other test has been negative. Now negative is not normally a good thing, but I guess when it comes to tests at the dog doctor, it is! The other good news is that my heart rate is faster. So hopefully whatever was causing my low heart rate is gone now and I can find my forever home soon.

In any event, let me tell you what I am looking for in a forever family. One, it would help if it were a quiet household. Noises startle me and I like my routine. When it gets busy and noisy at my foster home, I retreat to my crate. Otherwise, I am happy to hang out outside my crate and get belly rubs. I like having a yard to run around in and my recall is excellent. I do not like to be away from my people when I am outside. I like kids, but due to their unpredictability, I would have to say I would probably like a family with older kids who are dog savvy. I like cats. They smell really, really good. I like other dogs. In fact, I would prefer a house with other dogs, but only if they look like me. I'm kind of partial to border collies.

All I want for Christmas is to find my forever home.

Marsh in the snow!

Hi,
It's Marsh! When I came into foster care there was snow on the ground. Then it got warm, then hot, then cool....now the snow is back! But last winter I was so busy chasing shadows that I didn't enjoy the snow very much. But NOW....I love the snow because it's easy to get cool.


And now I have way better things to do than chase shadows ....Like: herding my foster brother, sniffing around, chasing toys and when I get hot, I lay down and eat the snow!

After a good workout, there's nothing better than a real cooldown...
Love, Marsh (still in seach of my perfect forever home, but having fun in the snow until then....)

Chip needs some good thoughts!

Chip came into rescue last year and went to the vet that November to be brought up to date on everything he needed. So, this November, he had to go back. It was time for another 4dx (heartworm, lyme, erlichiosis, anaplasmosis) and a kennel cough booster.

Chip was very happy to get to the vets office and to greet the technician and student helper. He loves spending time with people, even if they are doing odd things to him. He sat patiently for his exam and was cooperative as his blood was drawn. I sat with him reading a magazine waiting for the vet to come back in and read the test results.

This is all pretty routine. I work in the vets office one day a week, and we do many 4dx's. It takes 8 minutes to get the results. We see lots of lyme positive dogs, and lots of anaplasmosis positive dogs.

So, I was expecting the vet to come in and possibly say he tested positive for one of those nasty tick borne diseases. I wasn't prepared for her to look at the test and say something to the effect of, "uh oh, I don't know what this one is. I know it's not lyme or anaplasmosis though. Which leaves heartworm or erlichia." As she sent a tech to get the info that would give us an answer, my heart sank.

We don't have erlichia around here. We had it a lot in FL where I worked at a limited admission shelter. We could call the poor erlichia positive dogs as their sad excuses for owners walked them through our door, hoping to be rid of them. Emaciated and barely putting one foot in front of the other, the looked like the walking dead. Which in a way, I guess they were, as they would be turned away, with the request that the owner treat them and then they could bring them back. But we knew, 999 times out of 1,000 they would drive down the road to the open admission shelter. The last ride that dog would ever have. But I digress.

So, though we waited, I knew. The vet asked me where Chip was from. Chip came from NH, via VT. Once a cherished pet, he was cast aside when the daughter left for college. Given away through an online ad to a farm in VT. I'm sure they felt pleased with themselves about finding him such an ideal home. So Chip moved to Vermont, where he was left loose and unattended; a dangerous thing for any dog, for a high drive border collie, it can be and often is, disastrous. Bored, Chip found entertainment in chasing the passing cars, and in chasing the horses in the pasture. And so it was decided, Chip had to go. Another online ad placed. This time, however, fate stepped in. Chip's ad was spotted by a volunteer for New England Border Collie Rescue. A spot was found for him in a foster home, a volunteer went to evaluate him, and a network of volunteers helped to transport him from that dangerous living situation to a temporary home, where he would be cared for until he found his forever family.

It was taking a long time for Chip to find that home, however, which was why we were sitting in the vet's office, waiting to hear what I already knew was going to be dreadfully bad news. The door opened, the technician returned, and it was confirmed. Chip had tested positive for heartworm disease. Most people don't really think about heartworm disease in a real concrete way. If they are good owners, they try to listen to their vet and remember to give their monthly preventative, and get their pets tested yearly. But the whole concept of heartworm is a bit foreign here in the Northeast. I mean, how many dogs do you hear about that have heartworm around here, really? Oh sure, the odd dog brought up from the south. But local dogs? No, people don't really think of it as a very real threat. Yet it happens. And it was happening to Chip. The situation gave me a flashback. I was 21. I had just graduated college and adopted my first dog, and had taken him to the vet to be checked out. I was so excited. And then the vet came in and told me. My dog had tested positive for heartworm. The blood drained from my face and I had to sit down. The vet, concerned I was about to pass out, made me sit down while he called the rescue group. They would take care of the treatment. The outlook was good. My new dog would probably be ok. The treatment was tough, but it had been improved upon from the first generation of treatment. My dogs first family hadn't really thought about heartworm at all. In fact, they didn't even know what it was. Hadn't heard of it. That was in 1999, and that was in NH also. Here I was 10 years later, with another NH dog, getting another diagnosis of heartworm.

But what happened? Chip had been tested a year ago, and was not positive then. The problem is, that once a dog is infected with heartworm disease, it takes 6 months before the dog will test positive. Since Chip came into rescue in late October 2008, and was tested November 1st, any exposure to heartworm that may have happened since that May would not have been picked up. Unfortunately for Chip, he apparently was exposed to heartworm disease in that period of time.

Luckily for Chip, he is still in the care of NEBCR and will receive treatment shortly. A new volunteer has stepped forward foster him following the treatment, so that he can be kept as calm and as quiet as possible while expelling the deadly worms from his system. No, it's not an easy treatment or recovery, but Chip is a courageous, fun loving dog, and he has a fighting spirit. I know I'll be pulling for him to get rid of those nasty heartworms and to go on to find that perfect forever family once and for all. Won't you join me?

Chip is indeed lucky to have found NEBCR. In fact, he was the recipient of an amazing dog bed, lovingly handcrafted by one of our fantastic volunteers, Trisha. Please see below for some photos of Chip enjoying his new bed!
And here are a couple of pics of Chip enjoying the snow.

Rigel update

Hi All!
Sorry that I have been so quiet lately, but I have been busy playing and learning new things. My dark, charcoal grey fur is growing back and it is very soft, like bunny fur. I am getting comfortable with my surroundings and meeting new peoples. When new peoples comes into my foster home, I just kind of pace back and forth in the background and let my foster brothers and sister check out the visitor first. My foster mom says that I look like 'that guy' in the background of a television interview that keeps walking back and forth in effort to get on camera. Eventually I will approach the new peoples and get pets. I like it better when the peoples squat down so they don't look so big. I am pretty good at sitting for pets. When I do jump, I kinda spin so I don't get my dirty paws on the nice peoples clothes.

My favorite place is still in my crate. I feel safe there.

I will, however, climb on the couch and snuggle if invited to do so. I loves to snuggles!! I really get into it! I rolls around so I can gets my belly rubbed and I bury my head against laps and hope for ear rubs too. I still do not ask to go outside, I am too shy. My mom has never heard me bark or even whine. That means that she needs to be careful to let me out regularly. I am so quiet that when things get busy, I would be easy to forget that I am even there. I do like to chew on toys. Sometimes I gets a hold of something that looks like a toy to me, but turns out, it is not a toy for chewing. Well how was I supposed to know that? My foster mom says it is ok because it teaches her human kids to pick up their stuff. : )

Just recently, I have been getting very playful with my foster sister. She is a little, redhead border collie. She is so much fun! I get the whole, 'run and chase' thing, but I don't understand why she thinks it is so much fun to keep running after a toy and bringing it back to the peoples. All they do is just throw it away again! My foster sister has a tendency to 'talk and growl' when she plays. Sometimes I am not sure if she is really mad or just playing, but I am realizing that she is just noisy when she plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB7dN2UQoCg

Even though I am starting to play with my foster sister and I look like an outgoing guy, I am still shy. I move around the house more freely to see what is going on, but I am still a bit cautious about it.

I am getting comfortable with taking walks now. My mom lets me off leash in a big, fenced field to see if I will be good and come back to her when she calls. Well I did even better than that....I kept making sure she didn't get too far away from me, you know, in case she needed me for something...

You can see me in that picture. I am the one closest to foster dad. ( He is so nice!)


I still need to be 'neutered'. (I Googled that by the way; and let me tell you, it does NOT look like it is going to be fun!) My mom says it will be done after the holidays. She waited because I was in pretty bad shape when I first got here. She wanted to make sure I was strong, healthy and had all my vaksun...vacinashun....shots. After I recover from surgery, I will go up for 'adoptshun' on the NEBCR website and start looking for my very own forever home. I know that I will be a-skeerd; but my foster mom promised that she would find the best-est, nicest family for me. One that will be patient and kind. One that will also give lots of good treats and a nice, safe crate for me to go and rest. I need a family that will understand that I may never be a confident dog and need to be allowed to retreat from skeery things until I am sure it is safe. I have been through a lot in my young life, you can see some of the ghosts of the past in my eyes. But with each passing day, a little more happiness comes shining through. If you want a dog that is as 'sweet as pie' (as my foster mom says) and a world class cuddler, I may be your guy. We could be best friends and explore the world together.

Love,

Your friend,

Rigel

Scotlund Update - 9 weeks in rescue

Hi, Scot here. I'm just hanging around waiting for my forever home to find me. Since landing with NEBCR, I have been de-wormed, de-liced, shaven (twice), neutered, fed and loved. It's definitely the way to go!

The more days that go by, the stronger I get. I arrived weighing 55 lbs and now I'm a strapping 65 lbs! I'm playful and very, very affectionate. In fact, if I don't get what I think is the adequate amount of attention, I will sit in front of you and look longingly into your eyes with my big brown ones. If that doesn't work, I plop my big left paw on your lap. If you don't respond to the left paw, I try my right paw. Still not giving me affection? I flop over and offer my belly.

I LOVE toys - balls, stuffed ones, de-stuffed ones, shoes, slippers. My foster dad is a little upset at me because I grabbed one of his $70 boots and took it outside without him knowing and chewed the back of it. I don't know why he was so upset. He has another one.

If you've got room in your heart and home for me and my ginormous ears, email my foster mom. She can tell you more about me and see if maybe we are a match!