KitKat, A Classic Border Collie Puppy-Adopted

KitKat is a spectacular 5-month-old Border Collie puppy. She was in a kill shelter in Alabama, scheduled to be euthanized, when we found out about her. Stop the presses!!! Thanks to the efforts of numerous people, she was added to a transport that the wonderful Leonard was driving.

KitKat spent a long day, riding in the van, Alabama to central Florida. Surely she would be wiped out when she arrived, right? Wrong! She pranced out of her crate, tail just a-waggin’. What a joy.

KitKat is not only beautiful, with a lovely wavy coat, she has a delightful personality. She is playful and loving with people, zips around the yard as expect of a Border Collie puppy, but not super hyper. She seems to have the beloved “off button” that is desired in BC puppies. When we are done playing and she goes into her crate, she lays down and relaxes, happy to be safe and sound. Oh, this pumpkin is a keeper!!!

You can see a ridiculously large number of photos of KitKat on her facebook photo album.

December 5 Update:

KitKat is doing great! When she first arrived she was a bit intense with the whole herding thing. I mean, I really don’t need all the puppies to stay in a line. It just took a while for me to convince her! Now she plays with a much more light-hearted air about her. She even plays with Tucker the Bichipoo, who looks suspiciously like a sheep!

KitKat was beautiful when she arrived, but she has become even more so as she benefits from a healthy diet. Her coat is shiny and becoming a bit thicker and longer, with lovely waves. I sprinkle flaxseed meal on the food for extra omegas. I think KitKat may have starved at some point as I have seen her hiding food. I like to break up milk bones and dice carrots, then toss them high into the air. The puppies spend quite a bit of time having fun hunting for them. I watched KitKat dig a hole, put a carrot in it, and then cover it up by pushing the dirt with her nose. I laughed when Kipper came along about 20 minutes later and dug up the carrot!

December 6 Update:

Border Collie Eye Anomoly! She’s got it! KitKat has clearly been demonstrating this since Tucker arrived. Tucker is one of Maggie’s puppies, a Bichi-Malti-Poo that was adopted from me in August. Now 6 months old, he looks like a sheep. KitKat does the head down, eyes locked, paw up, slow crawl,…… DASH! It is wonderful! Honest, I’m going to catch this on camera so you can see it. Too bad Tucker doesn’t respond like a sheep ~ instead he wrestles and tussles with her. That is cute too!

Here is an interesting thing. I just found out that Johnny Ray is almost certainly her father! Could that be where she got her amazing instincts? We don’t know. Poor Johnny Ray has been suppressed, perhaps due to a heavy hand. It is our hope and belief that with the proper love and encouragement he too will bloom into full border-collie-hood!

December 9 Update:

Today my friend Janie dropped by. She was quickly enraptured by KitKat. Before she left I asked her to send me a note about KitKat to share with y’all. Here it is:

“Earlier this year I adopted Shaye (Button of the Teddy Bear puppies) from Holly and we stopped by to visit her today. Got a chance to meet all the adorable pups. I was especially drawn to Kit Kat. What a beautiful pup she is! She is so unique looking with all black hind legs and tail – very striking. When Holly told me she had the “border collie eye”, I thought, yuck, not my kind of dog, too high energy and maintenance. I expected the energizer bunny of dogs. She really wasn’t that at all. She ran around and played with Shaye and the other pups, but also easily entertained herself with a stick. She did not seem to be hyper in the least. What a delightful girl!”

See, and you thought I was exaggerating about how great KitKat is. I have a witness!!! 🙂

After I told Gisele about Janie’s comments, she started telling me about how the Border Collie breed has changed in the last few years. I asked her to write it down so I could share with you. Here is what she sent me:

“ I find it amazing how quickly the breed has changed. The typical Border Collie works hard for 10-12 hours a day, comes home, eats with his master and his master’s family, and is calm for the night. When it’s time to work, the dog works; harder than most any other breed. However, in less than twenty short years, the breed has changed.

Once Agility, Flyball and Disc became popular, we extremely competitive American’s started to breed these high drive, off the wall Border Collies, in an attempt to create, in my opinion, an OCD BC; a Border Collie that can’t sit still, is obsessive, and almost impossible to live with. We have had a few of these over the top neurotic Border Collies in our rescue.

From what I can tell, KitKat is an excellent example of what a Border Collie should be, or better yet what a Border Collie used to be.

That is why, as rescue, we must be very careful when matching up the right dog with the right home. Border Collies come in many shapes, sizes, colors, coat types, and temperaments, but today, they also come in assorted drive!”

I hope you find all of this as interesting as I do. I knew KitKat was different. It is nice to know that others see it as well, and that there is a reason for it! ~ Holly

December 21 Update:

What a happy day! KitKat, now Sarasota, has gone home with Monica and Art. Knowing that their 13-year-old Sheltie Derby will not be around much longer, they wanted to adopt a dog to help 10-year-old Sheltie Belmont deal with the loss. KitKat is the perfect choice. She is respectful of Bell and loving to Monica and Art. She is going to have such a wonderful life on the beach of Florida and the horse trails of North Carolina. I am smiling!!!

Yeah, so how is Kit Kat doing? Check this out! Her new name is Sarasota and she is awesome! Who ever said only bad dogs are in pounds needs to get with the program!