New year, new menu?

So at New Year's, everyone gets to make resolutions. I have a few that I'd like to share.

1. Stop barking when mom and dad get home ... This one is really hard. I've been working on it for a while. I just get so excited that I feel like I'm going to explode. If I don't let it out in a bark, I don't know what will happen!
2. Stop giving people the heeler "escort" out the door. Instead of following people so closely on their heels that I trip them, I will lie down on the carpet.

It is so hard to break bad habits! My last resolution is this ...

3. I will start a new diet. I wish to begin a raw food diet.

That last resolution may not work out so well as I don't have much control over what I eat. I would really like to eat raw ... My favourite thing is when the meat birds go to slaughter and I get to eat their necks! We had someone over this weekend who is buying meat rabbits from mom to feed their dog. Lucky dog.

So far I haven't been able to convince mom or dad that I should eat raw. They have this crazy idea that I may want to start eating the farm animals!!! Ok ... So the thought has crossed my mind once or twice. But I won't! I promise ....

Here's hoping I get to have a new menu this year :)

Festive Stuff

Here's a festive picture of me and my house-mates. I'll give you a hint which one is me ... The only blue one!! The others are Shadow and Zeus.

I know, I'm the cutest one there but don't tell the others!! They both think THEY are the cutest.

PLEASE remember to keep your house safe for your doggies this year. We don't always understand why we can't eat the ornaments or pee on the tree. It takes time for us to learn that we can't open the presents BEFORE a certain day. (More on this later...)

We LOVE to eat table scraps ... hint hint. Just remember not to give too much of that fatty stuff because it can cause something called pancreatitis ... mom is always careful to give us very little fatty snackers but I don't mind because I LOVE veggies!!

Poinsettia plants are POISONOUS so don't leave them where your dogs and cats can reach them ... they have lovely red leaves and are so yummy looking ... mmmm ... sometimes even I forget that they're not edible!

And seriously ... do you REALLY think I remember uncle George from last year?? Is he the one with the overbearing cologne or is he the one that chased me around the house to give me a hug?? I don't do hugs ... most certainly NOT from stranger danger. Either way, please don't expect me to understand that these strangers aren't dangers. They may be your family but they aren't necessarily mine. I'll try to remember not to bite him but I make no promises ...

BCRO and my adoption

My foster family was lots of fun. They taught me all sorts of stuff like how to be in a crate and that strangers aren't so bad.

I stayed at Border Collie Rescue for a while. I loved herding their lawntractor and one of my favourite pastimes was playing in their doggie pool.

They were very nice people and I liked it there but it was too busy and there wasn't space for me to stay. It was just a temporary stop. They took me to the vet and found out I have a heart murmur. I had an ECG ... I'm not sure how much that cost but my foster family (Cindy and Chris) just wanted me to be healthy so they paid it anyway. They are good people.

I wanted to stay with Cindy and Chris because I loved them so much but we all knew I had to find my own home where my people could dote on me. I had mixed feelings when I found out that a young couple wanted to meet me. I was scared and excited all at the same time.

What if they didn't like me? What if they did? What if they took me home and I loved them and they didn't love me? What if they didn't have the patience for a 10 month old ACD puppy? What if I made them mad?

You know what? I shouldn't have worried because Cindy and Chris interviewed that couple extensively. I didn't even know! They spent a lot of time making sure I went to a good home. But I did worry.

One of the conditions to the adoption was that I had enough herding drive to work sheep. The lady wanted to do herding and I was to be her first dog! Oh boy ... No pressure!!

So, we set up a meeting with another lady named "Sue" (who, by the way, is the most fun person and she lets me chase her sheep! I mean ... Work her sheep). I got to get my first taste of chasing sheep that day. It was so much fun and I thought "maybe this won't be so bad".

My new mom came out to see me work sheep. I worried I would make her disappointed that I didn't know how to walk nicely or say hi and that I didn't know how to move the sheep but you know? She didn't care that I didn't know ... She said we would learn together.

I hugged Chris goodbye and got into the crate in the back of new mom's car. As we drove away I was more scared than I ever had been in my whole life. What was waiting for me? Will I be the only animal? Will there be others people? Will I like the people?

What will happen to me?

I'm Not a Blue Step Stool!

Maybe I should write a blog called "why dogs bite kids" and maybe people would understand how frustrating it is sometimes to be a dog. I have learned to love the kid ... Don't get me wrong. It has taken some time (which I will detail in another post) but I can honestly say he's not that bad. But......

I have to announce to everyone that I am most definitely NOT a blue step stool! Last night I was minding my own business trying to catch up on a couple of zzzzs (which are hard to find around our house nowadays). I tried to be as little as possible curled up by the couch. Being the smallest dog, this is pretty easy. Just as I closed my eyes, along comes The Kid.

I thought maybe he was on his way to his toy box so I didn't think anything of it. Next thing I know, he's standing on me! He was trying to climb onto the couch by using me as a stool!

I was so flabbergasted that this was happening that I didn't even get up. I just lay there looking at The Kid standing on me. I can't believe it. Me. The chosen one. Degraded to a step stool.

The worst thing? Mom and dad thought it was funny and they told me I was a good dog for not biting The Kid! They didn't even yell at him! Not fair. When I step on one of the other dogs I get in trouble, how come The Kid gets special treatment?

I gotta say ... This is why dogs bite kids. The world isn't fair for dogs.

Booties and Vomit ... Furkid with no fur??

The worst feeling in the world is knowing that someone you love is in trouble and needs you by her side but you can't be there for her. That's how I felt when dad came home and told us furkids that mom was in the hospital and couldn't come home. He said there was something wrong and that she had to stay for a long time.

I tried several times to get to the hospital but dad kept saying they don't allow furkids in there ... What kind of horrible place is it to not allow furkids?! I tried to explain to him that mom needed me by her side but he wouldn't let me go to her. He even caught me when I tried to sneak into the car.

You see, mom has this thing people call "diabetes" ... It makes her smell like medicine all the time. Some of the other dogs who come play with us don't like the medicine smell but I think she just smells like my mom. Anyway, this "diabetes" thing caused some issues with her pregnancy and so she had to go live at the hospital for a few weeks.

Us furkids really missed her. We waited by the door but she didn't come. We waited by her car but she didn't come. We waited and waited for what seemed like forever!

After what seemed like the longest time in the world, dad didn't come home one day. He had gramma feed us and take us out for pottie breaks. He stayed and stayed at the hospital. He didn't come home for two days!! Then, when he did finally come home, he told us something that would change our lives forever ...

We had a new brother ... But he had no fur! What kind of kid has no fur? But he was having problems. His lungs wouldn't stay open and his kidney was swollen. He had to stay at the hospital for a while. Mom still didn't come home. Dad was gone for longer and longer. So far, this new brother didn't seem so much fun.

I didn't want things to change. I liked things the way they were. Life was good. We played, we hiked, we chased sheep. Why do all good things have to come to an end?

Booties and Vomit and Diapers ... Oh my!!!

Ok, so I figure I should tell you a little about how I am writing this blog before I go any further. You see, I know you can't fully appreciate why I see things how I do unless you know a bit of my background so, I will write some posts to tell you about things the way they were PRE-booties.

people just don't get it. They see the changes in their own lives when they have a kid but they just don't seem to understand how kids change the life of a dog. My hope is that by hijacking my moms keyboard, I - Kosha the wonder-dog - can help you to understand the "plight of the paw-people" when their life is thrown into turmoil by new puppies ... Or, as humans call them ... "Babies".

The Way it Was... Part 1

Hi. My name is Kosha. My mom tells me it is sanscript and that it means "sheath" or one of the five coverings of the the atman or self. They are supposed to be visualized around a person like the layers of an onion ... I don't really know what that means but my dad says I smell worse than an onion!

I am a speckled dog that is often called "blue". I don't think that describes me either because I am the happiest, craziest, most bouncy dog ever and there isn't anything blue about me other than my coat.

I used to live with a nice older couple who let me do anything I wanted. I really loved them. When he died, his wife kept me in a little room I think is called a "vestibule" whatever that is. She couldn't walk me or take me out because I was too strong for her 80 year old hands. Her adult son would come once a week to take me outside. They decided that a new home was just what I needed.

I'm not sure how but I ended up surrendered to a border collie rescue! I'm not a border collie but they took me in anyways and told me I was an "Australian Cattle Dog" but then they also called me a "blue heeler" so I'm not really sure what I am. The only thing I know for sure is that it's breakfast time and I've got to go eat before the other dogs eat everything!

I'll be sure to come back later and tell you more of my story.