Benny has found a forever home!!

Benny has been adopted by a wonderful family in Vancouver AND he will be hanging out with Guinness. A perfect ending for this little lost boy. Thank you to the Pearsons for adopting an older dog and for being willing to work with him with his anxiety issues.

Guinness is adopted!!

Guinness went to his new forever home in Delta, BC on Friday. His new Dad flew in to meet him and spend some time with us and then flew home with him that afternoon. Guinness will be spending lots of time going for walks, camping and hiking and when he is old enough, he'll be joining his dad running.

I was very sad to see Guinness go but know he'll be spoilt rotten and loved to bits in his new home. Although Benny, Bracken and Apollo seem to have taken him leaving in their stride, Ceili is missing having a play partner. She keeps walking up to the others, play bowing and shaking her toy but they don't engage her in play like Guinness used to :(

Guinness's day at the vets

Poor unsuspecting Guinness didn't have a clue what was in store for him yesterday - here he is in the early morning, all happy from playing in the yard.

And here he is, late afternoon after his neuter. Feeling a little under the weather but with a fabulous bandage with a fire hydrant on! He was quite whiney for a while but bounced back fast after a little dinner. Soon became hard work keeping him nice and quiet but fortunately he settled down after a while.

Updates on Guinness and Benny

Guinness is doing great! He had a vet visit yesterday for his second set of shots and has all his adult teeth and is 33lbs. He is booked in for his neuter on 14 April (shh, don't let him know!).

Putting his sparkling adult teeth to work!

Guinness has had 3 flyball classes and is concentrating on dead ball retrieves and restrained recalls. Due to his age we can't do box work etc but he is learning to work well in a highly stimulating environment. Guinness will be starting obedience classes tonight and if he is still with me in two weeks, we will likely do some groundwork agility classes.
Guinness took his first big road trip- 5 hours to Prince Albert at Easter. He did awesome in the car and only whined once- when he was desperate to go to the bathroom. He spent 3 days at an agility trial and was very well behaved - he loves to meet people! We definitely need to get the jumping up under control!! Guinness was well behaved in the hotel room too and even let me kow when he needed to go out by pawing at the patio door. His toilet training is coming along well.

He is such a little whirlwind of energy but when he does settle, he likes to sleep with his head tucked up in the crook of your neck - so blissful!

Benny is doing great too. He loves his toys, chewies, treats and is is really starting to be affectionate and hand out the licks and kisses more frequently. He seems more settled and is fine being left in a hard plastic crate whilst I am gone but wants to be with me whenever I am around - settles closeby and relaxes. I think that he would truly flourish in a home where someone is home more than I am so that he isn't left alone all day.

Both Guinness and Benny are hoping that they get adopted soon so that they don't end up having to do dress up and learn tricks like Bracken - how embarressing!! Both are wonderful dogs and deserve their own forever homes so please contact us if you think that you might be the family for either of them!

Guinness!!!

Guinness is the newest addition to the household. Guinness is an approximately 5 month old border collie (possible BC-lab cross). He is a sweet, cute little boy with lots of enthusiasm and love. His photos don't do him justice -he has the softest look in his eyes that says he will love only you.









Guinness is a blank slate - waiting and willing to learn. He had little training when he arrived at his BCFR foster home but he is learning the ropes very quickly. He is a little timid in new situations but soon warms up and starts interacting. Guinness loves his toys and likes to tug. He has a shoe fetish and likes to pick up anything and everything to play with or chew. This is normal puppy behaviour that has not been redirected ­ we are working on this.

We are working on his crate training - he will sleep quietly in the crate in the bedroom til early morning and then after a quick pee, likes to come and snuggle in the bed until it is time to get up - he is quite the snorer!!! He does not like to be left alone in a crate and will howl but we are working on making the crate a rewarding place. He seems to travel well in a crate in the car.

He has demonstrated some herding behaviours with other dogs and is quite stimulated by moving cars. He is trying very hard to be good with the cat! Guinness is not house-trained - but we are working on it! He is currently living with 3 other dogs and is doing quite well - he still has some learning to do in terms of appropriate interactions with other dogs.

He has a short, wash and wear coat and is not neutered.

Looking for a tall, dark, handsome lad?

Then Benny is the one for you! Benny is an approx. 5 years old, smooth coated border collie. He is a neutered male. He was found as a stray but was obviously once well loved and came to BCFR knowing sit, down and shake. He loves to play with toys and will spot one of the floor and run over and pounce on it. He has an adorable little bouncing motion that he does when he is excited to see you. He has mild seperation anxiety and likes to be close by you (in the same room). He does well in a crate all day in my living room when my two are loose in the house however, he does not like being left alone in his crate without them around.

Presenting... the handsome Benny!

Benny's favourite Xmas pressie was his froggy (thanks Auntie Anneli!!)

Benny is doing really well at my house. He gets along well with my two and is pretty good with Apollo the cat - he is definitely interested in him but if he starts to get too interested, he is easily redirected. He has gone to daycare a few times and to the offleash park (but he is onleash). He is fine with other dogs unless they rush up to him from behind and get too close to his rear end -he does not tolerate that behaviour. Benny is enjoying the snow and loves to roll in it. He settles really well in the house and does like to be close by.

As stated above, he is demonstrating some mild seperation anxiety - I did have his crate downstairs but brought it upstairs so that my two were around him during the day. I crated him for the first few nights and he did a fair amount of yipping and whining. I moved him into a soft crate in my bedroom and he didn't make a sound. He is now allowed to sleep out of the crate at night and he sleeps curled up in a chair in my bedroom.

During the day he is crated in the lounge and my two are loose in the house and he is fine with that set up. However if I take my two out and leave him alone in the crate, he has demonstrated some mild destructive behaviours (the bedding took the brunt of it!). I am working on building up the length of time that he can be left alone and am also making the crate a wonderful place with frozen, stuffed kongs. He has never shown any destructive behaviours around the house so I will work up to leaving him alone loose in the house for short periods to see if he is better with that. However, when we are hanging out in the house, he is loose and he will go and lay down in the crate with the door open and sleep.

He is a good boy who wants to please. We are working at speeding up his response to cues and he is quickly learning to sit and wait for his meals and before going though doors and gates. He is food motivated and once in training mode, he is really focussed and offers his behaviours to try to get the treats!


1 February - I am working with Benny and his issue with being in his crate. Currently I have solved it by not putting him in a crate!!! He is fine if he is left loose in the house - he has not demonstrated any destructive behaviours and now has free reign of the house whilst I am away. I will continue to try to make the crate a fun place to be and gradually increase the time he is comfortable being alone in the crate.

Sadie has a forever home!

Sadie went to her new forever home in Calgary on December 14th. Her new home is perfect - such a wonderful fit and I couldn't be happier. It was really quite hard to part with her and I did shed quite a few tears as she drove off with her new family. However, I am getting lots of photos and updates and knowing that she has a wonderful new life makes me very happy!!