Big George-RIP

George is a purebred, papered Border Collie. He was adopted by a local rescue (un-neutered) last year, but his owners have serious allergies, and regretfully have to give him up.

George is good with cats, but he is obsessed with water! He bolts when he hears the shower running, and will jump in the tub with you, if you’re not careful.

George is not only a blue-eyed Border Collie, but one of his eyes are brown and blue (marble eye). He is unbelievably handsome, well-manner, and fully trained.

George has been well cared for, and has many more years of loving to give. I have so many photos of George, and I can’t post them all here, so please see his photo album on Facebook to see him in action!

 

George is a very typical Border Collie who has OCD when it comes to controlling moving objects, this includes people. George will not hesitate to grab an article of your clothing and pull you, or place his mouth around your shoe to control your movement. He is also extremely intelligent, my daughter calls him Mega Mind! The combination of a strong drive to herd, and a high intelligence can be a disaster if not properly managed.

Obviously, George never got the memo that clearly states Humans are Not Sheep!

Paul Pipitone, animal trainer and behaviorist, evaluated George today. George is fully trained on a dime to come, sit, stay, and drop. However, he did display some nervousness when other dogs ran, and when people walk by him. This behavior is not consistent, however, which makes me even more confused.

At our annual reunion, many people, including Cyndy Doty and Cynthia Harper witnessed George being calm as people walked by to pet him, and other dogs shared his baby pool.

After evaluating George, Paul believes that George has never had a leader, therefore, when a situation arises that makes him uncomfortable, he takes charge. Paul also believes that George needs routine, and needs to know what the rules, boundaries and limitations are in his environment.

I thought to myself, what George needs is a place where he can get some rehab, but then I realized, no amount of rehab will be enough if George does not find the right home. What’s the right home? A home where his owners are true pack leaders, and are determined to correct and reward. Clearly, a dog as smart as George the Mega Mind will learn quickly. But who would take on the responsibility to adopt a ten year old dog that needs such correction?

After Paul left, I apologized over the phone to Kerri Brooks, who was interested in George. I explained that I didn’t feel that George was the right dog for her. After going into detail about George’s meeting with Paul, Kerri quickly informed me of her years experience at raising Huskies, and assured me that she and her husband were up to the task.

So for now, until I can arrange a meeting with the Brooks, Paul Pipitone and Big George, the Mega Mind Border Collie, I cross my fingers, and think that Kerri Brooks is my hero!

George reminds me of another very famous Border Collie, named Wrigley, and maybe this is the type of job that George really needs. He needs his body and his brain to be exercised, and to prevent boredom. Meet Wrigley!

Enamoured, that’s the word. I am enamoured by George’s focus and intelligence, he is the poster child of Border Collies, and he WAS adopted today by Kerri Brooks amd her husband. It was very beautiful to see him obey every command, and go up to them as if to say, “are you my human?” At the end of the adoption, he looked at me as if to say, “I’m their Huckleberry!” I’ll miss you big boy, here’s your big chance, to finally be with the right people. Can’t wait for updates!

 

10/22/13 Update: Hi Gisele,

I’m so sad to tell you George passed away this year. He had spondalosis beyond his 13th vertebra and severe arthritis is his hips. He had no synovial fluid in his joints. We were taking him to the vet 3 times a week to get Adequin shots to try and replenish the fluid but the shots didn’t end up helping. The poor boy couldn’t walk, he would scoot across the floor and he would fall down when he went to the bathroom (we had to hold him up). We had to finally put him to sleep, as he was maxed out on pain killers, and still in pain. He was such a trooper though.

I’m really sorry I didn’t email you sooner about this. Every time I thought about it, I would put it off because I just didn’t want to think about losing him. In fact, I’m crying as I write this. He was the best dog we’ve ever had. He really turned out to be such a sweetheart and obedient dog. He loved our cats and was fascinated by them. He would follow me around everywhere. He truly became my best friend. I think we both taught each other so much.

I knew that when we adopted a 10 1/2 yr old dog we wouldn’t have him as long as we would a younger one, and I feel blessed for the time we had with him, even though it was short. We miss him so much, but I’m glad we were able to give him a wonderful life for his last few years.

I also want to thank you for rescuing Georgie and giving us the opportunity to adopt him. What you do is amazing – keep up the great work – Kerri 🙂