"Freckles" was
born on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma on June 1, 2003.
He was acquired at the age of eight weeks by a Missouri
couple who were delivering cattle to the ranch. They
saw the mother and grandmother of this pup working
at the ranch, and when this adorable puppy was offered
by the breeder, he was happily accepted and brought
to Missouri. She quickly discovered that properly raising
and training a young BC puppy to eventually become
a working stock dog would be a very time consuming
endeavor. She reluctantly made the responsible, loving
decision to help this little puppy find the proper
home. "Freckles" was surrendered to his Mo-Kan
BC Rescue foster care home on August 14, 2003. He is
a purebred Border Collie, but not registered.
"Freckles" has
been living in our home for 48 hours now. I am immensely
impressed with this 10 week old boy! He sleeps comfortably
and quietly in his crate, and is almost completely
reliable with his house training. He has already mastered
staircases (ascending and descending) and negotiating
the "doggy-door." His socialization skills
with people, other dogs, and cats are well developed.
He is highly intelligent in processing newly introduced
concepts and adapting to varied situations and environments.
He has no fear of loud noises or sudden movements,
and is easily picked up and handled on all areas of
his body. He appears to have complete trust in humans,
and already displays a keen desire and aptitude to
learn and perform for praise. He has a bold and happy
personality; he thoroughly investigates every toy we
have offered him, and adores chasing tennis balls and
playing with tug-toys. He has grasped the concept of
the sounds "ah-ah!" and "leave-it!" and
is easily corrected when offered an appropriate substitute
toy or activity to replace undesirable behavior. He
has willingly accepted a collar and leash, and has
begun to walk on lead; he will reliably come when called.
He easily tolerates riding in a vehicle. Today he began
to display his herding instinct, awkwardly circling
and attempting to "control" one of our adult
BC females.
My
initial impression of this puppy is that he is physically
sound and highly intelligent with a willing, playful
and highly social attitude. He exhibits breed typical,
strong herding instinct and exceptional learning aptitude
with no evidence of pre-induced fears or undesirable
traits or behaviors.
|
August
2003
"Freckles" (renamed
Solo) was adopted by Vicki in August and she has big plans
for this tireless little guy...Vicki has already begun
Solo's training to become a Search and Rescue dog! His
enthusiasm for adventure and his boundless curiosity made
it clear that Solo had to have a job. Barbie Ernst, having
some experience with SAR, was the first one to realize
that Solo would be the perfect SAR dog.
Here
is Vicki's update on Solo:
Solo
did wonderfully yesterday at Yappy Days. There were dogs
there of all shapes and sizes (people too, of course).
Solo boldly said hello to a 200+ pound mastiff and politely
talked to a teacup chihuahua. His manners were impeccable
with all the dogs and all the people - all ages and colors
!! I was very proud to tell every-one he was going to
begin his formal training as a SAR dog in October. The
funniest thing that happened over and over again yesterday
was people's reactions when I answered their question
about what kind of dog he is. I got that question so
many times. One lady insisted that he was not a Border
Collie!
Solo
IS a Border Collie thru and thru!! He is a classic example
of the different looks of a bc!! We
hope to add pics as Solo grows!
Many
thanks to Barbie Ernst for seeing what potential Solo has.
He is now on his way to saving human lives!!
Solo and Vicki ready to SEARCH!!
|
