Daisy

Look Who's in our Closet! Daisy hardly bothered to raise her head anymore when someone came into her yard. The only reason anyone came near her was to push a bowl of dry kibble at her, always in the same place. Sometimes a squirrel would come down and snatch a piece of the kibble and skitter back up the tree, but otherwise, Daisy was alone with her thoughts. It hadn’t always been this way. When she was a young, wriggly puppy, everyone cooed over her soft coat and pretty eyes. She tried to keep her people interested by offering to chase sticks or balls, but it was hard to do because she was never allowed off her chain. She’d wag her tail joyously whenever someone looked her way, but since her people never said much to her, after a while she stopped trying and just lay quietly. She didn’t bark because that produced yelling from her people, and sometimes even a rock or stick was thrown at her. So she allowed whoever and whatever to come into the yard—at least the squirrels and birds were company, and their hopping and chirping were fun to watch and listen to. Lying in one small area all the time, Daisy wasn’t able to keep herself groomed the way her mother had taught her when she was a pup. Her skin itched when insects crawled over her, and the fleas bit, but it was hard to keep scratching around and over and under the chain, so after a while she gave up and tried to ignore all but the worst itching. It was worse when her ears started to bother her, but again she just couldn’t reach them to scratch, not that it helped much. When they began to feel swollen and she couldn’t hear as much, well, at least she had food to eat. From many, many years ago, she sort of remembered her people had taken her to see kind human who had seemed to care about her, feeling her gently all over, looking in her ears and stroking her gently. But the humans hadn’t ever taken her to the vet’s office again and she hardly remembered how it felt to feel healthy. So she just tried to stay comfortable. The seasons passed and the years went by. Daisy didn’t pay much attention. She wasn’t aware of time and couldn’t count off the years . . . ten, eleven, twelve . . . twelve years living on the end of a chain. A Change As the weather got a little warmer this year and the snow was nearly all melted, Daisy noticed some unusual commotion coming from the people’s house. She heard her name sometimes and could see people looking out the window at her and shaking their heads. They still didn’t talk to her or come over to pet her, but they seemed to have more interest, for some reason. Maybe something was about to happen! Daisy couldn’t know that the people had decided that something WAS going to happen. They said among themselves that something had to be done about that bag of bones in the yard, before she died and stunk up the place worse than she already did. One day, Daisy heard a car pull in the yard. She thought she noticed a different smell accompanying the padding human steps coming toward her. With her sensitive nose, she was able to detect a familiar waft of scent, unavailable to people but clear in Daisy’s memory—it was the scent of a person who cared for dogs! Daisy kept her eyes on the visitor, once she spied her from around the corner of the house. She glanced toward her owners at the back door of the house, but she knew from experience they wouldn’t be coming out to her. Emily the Caregiver Emily had been rescuing dogs and taking care of neglected and abused dogs so long—it was almost her life career. She carried their stories and their memories with her always. But she was aghast at the condition of the little black and white female. She approached the forlorn animal and held out her hand, but the dog barely lifted her head. Emily dropped down next to her and stroked her gently. She knew she couldn’t waste a moment, even to make a phone call. She needed to get Daisy out of there right away. Now. Daisy didn’t’ expect any more attention from the stranger than she’d gotten from any of the people who passed by her as she lay in the yard, but she kept her eyes on the friendly -smelling visitor. The visitor and the house people talked, and Daisy noticed how soft and soothing Emily’s voice was as they passed some papers back and forth. When Emily turned and gently beckoned to invite Daisy to follow her, the old dog felt an unusual sensation: a fleeting tingle of excitement passed through her body, all the way to a tiny tremor of her fringed tail. Although her muscles and joints were so stiff, and she felt very weak, Daisy followed Emily to the car, never glancing at the silent humans who impassively watched her struggle. Gently, gently Emily eased the old dog, who could barely support her own weight, into a blanket-filled crate in the car. Daisy sighed and settled back against the soft blankets. She didn’t know it, but she was on her way home. Daisy and Emily Emily and Come Bye Border Collie Rescue expected to have Daisy in our care for only a few months. We wanted to make sure she was comfortable, since there were no indications from her awful physical condition that she would last very long. So Daisy wasn’t offered for adoption but was allowed to settle in at Emily’s home. The days since then have been filled with sleeping, bathing, petting, and so much good food, lovingly prepared by Emily to ease Daisy back to good health. No one will ever know all the neglect that wore Daisy’s spirit down, month after month, year in and year out. It’s taken Daisy a while to feel relaxed just lying next to Emily on the couch—echoes of past harsh words and being roughly pushed away don’t fade easily or quickly. Each small breakthrough swells Emily’s heart, and the joy in her voice was apparent in her recent report to us: “For the first time last weekend, a year and a half after I picked her up and brought her home, Daisy fell asleep on my lap, stretched out in the sun by the campfire.” Daisy’s paws and tail twitched ever so slightly as she dreamt of Emily’s holiday guests who had stroked and fussed over her. At age 13, Daisy the Border Collie is still trekking on. She will need continuing care for the rest of her life. She has eye drops for dry eye and is on Benedryl for allergies. She is still fighting ear infections but they are controlled. She has a small tumor in her ear but it does not seem to bother her. Emily tells us Daisy never complains, not the slightest whimper. Nowadays, Daisy tries never to let Emily out of her sight, following everywhere at her heels. It’s taken a long time and a world of patience, but slowly, slowly, slowly Emily has found and reawakened Daisy’s pleasure in being alive. Daisy has shown herself to be gentle with children and is happy to sit with someone for hours on end and just hang out. She sleeps curled in her bed on the floor and never makes a peep all night. She loves leash walks, people, and other dogs, and she even found she likes riding in a boat! Emily’s other dogs crowd around to welcome their beloved mistress every time she returns home, and Daisy waits quietly at the back of the crowd, ‘til Emily meets her eager gaze. When Daisy hears the beloved voice, “Hello, Daisy, my sweet girl,” she squints her eyes and smiles, to all appearances the happiest, most contented dog in the world.

Casey

I just wanted to catch you up on our baby Casey. She has done VERY well with us. Her coat has grown out quite well and she LOVES the snow. She digs in it and eats it. She is very happy here being able to run around out side with out a leash now. Of course we watch her but we've trained her to play with us in the front yard with no leash to hold her back. She is very good about not barking at other dogs lately too.MY family and I have had a great deal of fun with her and love her company. I am so glad we adopted her and I want you to know everything is fine with us and she is happy here. P.S. The only health problems we have had, were, a little infection on her back left pad from walking on the asphalted too much. Also, she had two ear infections but the vet said that they cleared up very nicely and she is very healthy now. She still weighs 51 lbs and we are happy about it. The vet also said that she is very healthy, she shows no signs of any hip problems or joint problems. CASEY ROCKS Casey is doing very well. We have spoiled her rotten but on the other hand she spoils us with her love. Her new little trick that is, she will come up with me at night, as I go to bed, she makes sure everyone is in their beds, then comes down stairs when all is quiet and jumps up on the living room couch and sleeps, the minute she hears someone, down she jumps to the floor and pretends she is asleep!!!!!!!!! I do believe she thinks she has us fooled! We are so thankful for her and feel very lucky to have her in our lives! Thanks so much.

Jackie

Jackie loves just about everyone on two and four feet, with the notable exception of UPS drivers, operators of power lawn equipment and ATV drivers. Since we live in the city, ATV’s are not a problem. Jackie came to us for what was to be a very short stay on May 15, 2009. Much to our surprise, our Sam (that’s Sam #2 from ComeBye), who is leery of other dogs, welcomed Jackie immediately. We knew that with his lovable, easy-going personality and Sam’s acceptance of him right away, Jackie just had to be a member of our family, and now indeed he is! Handsome Jackie is a medium-energy guy, who is as fast as any border collie I’ve ever seen. When he’s just walking around the house, he looks the tiniest bit awkward, but give him an open field and something to herd and he’s pure grace! Jackie was relinquished due to a number of unfortunate and traumatic circumstances. He comes from working parents in southern Missouri, and it really shows! Now he herds Sam every day in the park while Sam plays ball with his dad. It’s fun to watch, and both dogs have fun too. Passers by ask my husband how he taught them their routine, and he has to admit that no teaching was involved. Jackie is attending class at the Greater St. Louis Training Club with Dad, where he can get more practice in focusing on appropriate behaviors instead of bouncing over to greet new dogs and people whenever they appear! They’re making great progress. Like Sam, Jackie loves bounding through the snow and wishes it snowed more in St. Louis. He loves to play with the grandchildren too, although he’s not very interested in playing ball (a border collie?). Jackie and Sam spent two wonderful weeks on vacation with family and friends at Crystal Lake in northern Michigan this summer. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convince either of them that swimming is fun. Maybe this summer? Swimmer or not, we love him so much and are so grateful to ComeBye for saving him and allowing us to adopt him.

Sam

Sam The summer of 2008 was a very sad time for my husband Richard and me, as our beloved border collie Bobby’s health and quality of life rapidly deteriorated. After he died that August, friends urged us to adopt another dog. By fall we had agreed to foster Sam, who needed to be moved quickly from a deplorable hoarding situation. It took less than a day before we knew we wanted to adopt this neglected, horribly underweight blue merle boy who hadn’t been housetrained and had never climbed stairs. We didn’t have all the skills and experience we needed to help him with his fear and reactivity, but we read, researched, got fantastic support and expert help from Come Bye and enrolled Sam in classes at the Greater St. Louis Training Club. Over a year later, we can report that we’ve all learned a great deal, whether from challenges or just from having lots of fun. Sam is able to enjoy guests, take walks without undue anxiety, ride in the car, participate in classes and has even stopped “protecting us” from the mail that comes through our front door mail slot. This beautiful, sweet, shy, very active boy will always take a cautious approach to new situations, but his world has grown and no longer poses daily threats. Instead, he walks and runs, plays ball, loves his squeakies, gets to demonstrate many behaviors at class and even puts up with being herded by his brother Jackie. He’s still sometimes unsure about our two cats, but we don’t worry anymore when they’re all together. He has several favorite activities. One is pictured here: racing and playing in the snow at a nearby large park. Another is playing combination catcher and fielder with the grandchildren. Thank you, Come Bye, for our beautiful boy!

Sam

Sam