Success Stories

Sparky

How is Sparky doing? Well, he's been with us for a little over a year now. We can't imagine life without our boy! He was a little bananas when he first came to us, and while he had a sweet personality, he was more twitchy and neurotic than most border collies. Since then, however, he has become a great dog! He really needed some tender loving care, of which he gets tons and tons in our family! In order to help Sparky behave a bit better and to give us another venue to bond, I took Sparky to training classes. He struggled the first couple of weeks because he doesn't like it when other dogs run or bark. He has to be in charge, you know. After about the 4th week, he started playing with the other dogs rather than trying to herd them. The socialization was great for him, and he really responded well to the "work" of training. We took three different classes, advancing a level each time. I am quite proud to announce that Sparky has just earned his Canine Good Citizenship Award. We are giving serious thought to becoming a therapy dog family. Sparky is so sweet and gentle with my kids, too. He has a very gentle mouth and never snaps when he takes treats, either. He is always great with the other kids who are in and out of our house all day, too. He still hates thunderstorms, the vaccuum, and my blow dryer, though! He plays great with the dogs of our friends, too. This fall, after lots of patience and trying, Sparky started playing with toys and balls! He likes balls the best, but the first time he picked up a ball and started playing with it, we were all so excited! I was crying and my daughter said, "I think he's fainlly starting to act like a really happy dog! He doesn't remember the bad people he used to live with!" Shortly after that, he started wrestling with us as part of playtime! Watching him do that made my heart sing. When he wants my husband to get on the floor and wrestle, he works as hard as he can to pull my husband's socks off! It's quite hysterical. Even when he's trying to pull off socks, though, he still has a really gentle mouth, so sometimes it takes a while to actaully get a sock off! His tail wags wildly the whole time! One of Sparky's favorite games is chasing a ball in the backyard. He would chase the ball all day if we let him. He's funny because after the 5th throw and multiples thereof, when he drops teh ball at our feet, he immediately rolls over for a belly rub! Don't tell me BCs can't count to five. He does it every time! He also loves long walks and is such a good boy on a leash! We're going to join the local dog park, too, since he's so much better with socializing with other dogs now. I know he'll love that! Sparky still chases shadows obsessively, and we're tried so many ways to get him off the shadows. We has sort of decided that we would never break that habit. About a month ago, however, we adopted another border collie named Scrapper. Scrapper's parents had gotten divorced and neither one could keep him. He's a big boy (80 lbs!) but so utterly laid back, it's hard to believe he's a BC. He's 5 years old and rather heavy, so we are walking more each day to help him trim down a bit. Anyway, since we took Scrapper in, Sparky has cut back on shadow chasing considerably! There are even some days when he doesn't chase shadows at all! I guess he just wanted a brother! Sparky and Scrapper don't wrestly with each other much yet, but they love to nap right next to each other right on the air conditioning vent in the floor! Scrapper is learning how to walk nicely on the leash with Sparky, too. Sparky is also helping Scrapper remember that he has to sit and stay before they go outside. That's new for Scrapper. I have attached pictues of both boys. Thank you again for finding Sparky for us. He came into our lives at a good time. Shortly after Sparky came to us, out 16 year old border collie Angus died. There was a real hole in my heart when he died but Sparky helped to fill it. I think we needed him as much as he needed us. As I write, he is lying next to me on the floor. He must know that I'm writing about him because he looks up and wags his tail from time to time. The work that you do is so wonderful. I don't have the words to express our gratitude for what you do and for Sparky. Thank you so much!