Just a little Bit of Hope

Puppy vs Puppy

2012-02-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

Hope is almost 9 months. Sofe is 10 weeks. And I have got to say, raising 2 pups has been great! Especially when I get to see the differences in their behavior. Those different things that make them, well, them! An individual. A personality all its own. And I just can't resist the want to look at each of them, side by side, and look at how different they actually are!

Crate Training-

Hope- Hope took to a crate like a fish takes to water! Her first night she just snuggled right in and never had a single issue! She was actually VERY happy to run down the hall and into her crate and sit there waiting for you to come shut the door and give her a bit of a treat for being such a good girl.

Sofe- Sofe does not like her crate so much. First night she slept just fine and we thought, ok, not bad, she will be just fine! Well, night 1 was so good because she was so exhausted from the day of coming home and getting use to her new home. But night two, different story all together! She hated her crate! She slept great for the 1st couple hours but when she woke at midnight, it was on! From midnight to 4am she whined and howled. So, it has taken some coaxing, and MUCH patience, and now she is perfectly fine with her crate and is happy to sleep in it all night!

Chewing-

Hope-Hope chewed. Hope liked to chew on things that were wood. Door frames, her baby gates and floor boards for instance. Oh, and table legs and chair legs. She has put her permanent mark on a door frame, some bass boards, and a chair leg that looks like it was wailed upon by a beaver! But that phase didn't last long at all and the furniture is now safe!

Sofe- Sofe doesn't really chew on things that are not toys. She has been great in this area. She chews the snot out of her toys but pretty much leaves it at that! Don't get me wrong, we have had to stop her and educate her on what NOT to chew on, but she is a puppy and she will act like a puppy. Sofe keeps her chewing pretty much in check, except for the occasional pant leg or shoe string! But who can blame her there!

Barking-

Hope- Hope NEVER barked! And I literally mean never. She didn't even let us know she had a voice until we took her to her first agility trial and she started to make little noises because the other dogs were barking. So to even get her to make any barking noises at all, we had to teach her to 'speak'. To bark on command. Even to this day, she is not much of a talker. She has started some small barks here and there but nothing compared to some!

Sofe- Sofe has voice. A LOUD voice! A high pitched voice. And she is not afraid to use it! She barks at Hope, mom and dad, the cats, a bone, a toy, or even her tail! She loves to speak! It is nothing that is out of control at all, it is just funny to hear that tiny little bark come out! She loves to bark at Hope the most when they are play fighting. And it gets quite funny! But I have a feeling that we may have to get it under control, as in teaching when it is appropriate to bark and when it is not, so that she doesn't bark at any new activity or at any change in her environment.

Eating-

Hope- Hope ate like it was her last meal every time!!! She ate it like someone was ready to steal it away from her at any moment. We actually would have to take the food away from her to get her to slow down, swallow a bit, and not make herself throw up! That has changed as she realized that we were safe to eat around.

Sofe- Sofe is the slowest eater that I have ever seen when it comes to dogs! She just kinda slowly walks over to her food bowl, grabs a mouth full, or at least a couple of pieces, and walks a few steps away and lays down and eats those few pieces! Then she walks back to the bowl and does the same thing! What is the funniest, is that she drops food in the rug as she walks, so after she is finished with the food in her bowl, she will walk around looking for the pieces she dropped in the rug!

Car Rides-

Hope- Hope got use to the car rides very fast! She never whined at all, but the poor girl gets car sickness and she throws up in the car. We have to give her medicine so that she doesn't throw up and we can't feed her before a big drive. She gets a little anxious and nervous sometimes and gets a few bubbles coming from her mouth but nothing bad at all!

Sofe- Sofe WHINED and howled the whole time during her first 2 car rides. We got worried because we are a family that loves to go on outings and our dogs have to be ok with the vehicle. But, ride number 3, it was like something switched and she was fine! She doesn't whine, she doesn't get car sick, she doesn't get foamy at the mouth, and she sleeps! She also tries to look out the window which Hope didn't try until she could stand up and stick her head out the window.

Vacuum-

They both hate it, nuff said.

Potty Training-

Hope- Hope had little difficulty being potty trained. She was quite excellent at it actually. She was giving us signals between 9-10 weeks old. Her signal was subtle and we missed it sometimes causing her to have accidents, but not many of them. Hope's signal to go potty was to merely look at the door. And if we didn't notice that she was looking at the door, she would have a small accident. Which will happen because puppies can not control their bladder. They can tell you when they need to potty, but if you don't take them out right then, they will have an accident because they do not have the ability to hold it. So, Hope was easily potty trained and did wonderful at it.

Sofe- Sofe caught on to potty training just as quickly as Hope had done. By 9 weeks old, Sofe has been giving us the signal that she has to potty. It was like one day it just clicked and she knew to go to the door. There is one HUGE difference though between Hope's potty signal and Sofe's potty signal. Hope just starred at the door so it was easier to miss. But Sofe, oh dear Sofe. She doesn't give you the chance to miss it!!! Her signal started one day over a week ago and has had us laughing out loud at it ever since. Sofe had to potty, so she had decided to try to tell us that she needed to go out. Most dogs go to the door to tell you. Not Sofe! She, takes a running head start and hurls herself in the air, and smacks straight into the door! Caution goes out the window and she tries to make the biggest BANG that she can! You can't miss it because you can hear the hit from all over the house! You watch her leap and smack into the door and you can't stop laughing! You laugh while you are putting her leash on and even still while she is going to the bathroom and the laugh continues after you come back inside! It is one of the most hilarious things one of our dogs have done! So because her signal is hard to miss, Sofe has had no accidents since she started to warn us.

They are both very different but neithers way of doing something or acting a certain way is better then the others. They are just choosing to be themselves and their ways of doings things are just perfect to me! I love their differences! They are truly, amazingly original and I love that about them! Hope and Sofe are so different from each other. They are growing up as different as night and day, They get the same training, but those personalities are what make them their own personal people. For instance, sometimes you can't really bond with a puppy up to a certain age. Don't get me wrong, you bond greatly with them, but puppies are more concerned with play and fun than with affection and love. Little puppies like to chew on your fingers rather than let you pet them. They would rather chew on your clothes than have you hold them. But Hope, my dear sweet Hope. She is truly a diamond in the rough. Once that puppy phase started to disappear, her true colors started to shine through. And what beautiful colors they are! She is so gentle, so kind, so loving and has a jewel of a heart. She truly loves me. I know she does. She just wants to be near me and have me touching her in some way. She loves to snuggle and just be with me. I know Sofe will get to this point in due time. She will begin to grow out of the puppy stage of 'everything is play' and get into the stage of 'let me be close to you because I love you'. And I can't wait to see it because Hope has blessed me so much that I sometimes think it is impossible to have the same kind of blessing in another dog. But it will happen! Sofe is already an amazing dog! She loves life! She loves being with us and she loves daddy so much! As I sit here writing this, my girls are cuddled up to each other sleeping. And all I can think about is how blessed I am to have two dogs who love me and who I am and love the lives we have provided them! And that is the reward. Seeing them happy and loving life!.

I love my dogs. So much do I love my dogs. Love your dogs today and take a moment to give them the attention they so desperately deserve!

Double Trouble

2012-02-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well, from this picture, you can see that this was a nap time between play times. Around here, outside play time doesn't happen just once a day, once every other day, or a couple times a week. We got outside for walks, flisbee, and just hanging out in the yard 5 to 6 times a day!!! And we would do it a couple more times if it didn't get so dark so early! And a big THANK YOU to the weather for making it possible for us to go outside so often in the winter! But in all seriousness, these girls get to go outside so much because it is just not fair to keep a dog inside all the time, especially a Border Collie!

I have 2 dogs. Both are pups. Hope is almost 9 mons old and Sofe is 9 weeks old. To keep my sanity, and to help my baby girls to develop into well rounded and happy dogs, we go outside and play alot! My days usually go as followed:

5:30am-WAKE UP MOM CAUSE I GOTTA PEE! My 'Sofe' alarm clock starts going off and so the day begins!

7am- This is our first outing of the day because it is just starting to get light outside. We grab Sofe's leash, Hope's flisbee, and a coat, scarf, or gloves for me, and head outside to play!

8am- Is the start of breakfast. I don't like to feed them before a big play, so we always eat afterwards!

After this begins their 1st morning nap! They sleep anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, depends on how much they got to run outside.

11am- Is usually a nice interactive play time inside to start. We play fetch and Hope and Sofe usually get their 1st good play fight going around this time. Sofe usually starts it by going over to Hope while she is still sleeping and biting at the tips of Hope's toes! SO very sweet of you Sofe!

Noon-Another outside play time followed by some lunch!

1pm-1st afternoon nap! Much needed because they have both worn me out by then!

Between 1pm-5pm- We play outside MANY times, some are just walks around the property and others are flisbee and sitting on a rock near the tree in the backyard and just sniffing around, eating a leaf or two, chewing on sticks, and occassionally chewing on each other. Well, they do all those things and I sit on the rock and read, or just watch the 2 of them enjoying the beautiful day.

5pm- Daddy comes home and plays with them on the floor for a while while I get supper ready. They love it when daddy comes home! They sit by the door as they watch him walk up to the house and just wiggle and whine and bark and Hope tries to open the door by the handle while Sofe just tried to scratch it open with her paws! Then in the evening, it is a bit of a more quiet time. They really love to take short little naps in the evening, then get up to play with each other, and then play with mom and dad as well. I do love our days!

7pm-8pm- KEEP THEM AWAKE!!!!!!!! Ok, so Hope this isn't that big of a deal with, but with little Sofe Girl, it is a MUST!! I learned my lesson by letting her nap and then tried to put her in her crate for the night.....it didn't work out so well. So we always stay awake from 7pm-8pm. I will even go wake her up at 7 and start playing with her to keep her from napping! It is a survival issue! If I want to sleep, she must not nap close to bedtime!

So this is our day. Alot of play time and alot of running and chasing and love. I don't do this day for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it very much, but I do this for them! To make sure they are happy and love their life! See, when you take in a dog, you need to realize that you cannot be selfish with the dog. You can't get a dog JUST for what it can add to your life, but also what you can add to theirs! Dogs are gifts and are to be treasured by their people. We can get lazy and very selfish when it comes to the needs of our dogs. They can easily go to the bottom of our list of priorities. And thats not the way this relationship works. They become our priority when we adopt them into our homes. My dogs get to enjoy their life because I believe this! I understand that I do not work, therefore it is easier for me to spend all this time with them, but even if you work, have 3 children, you can still spend 10 mins a day giving your pooch attention. And 10 minutes in the eyes of a dog are better than their days being filled with self entertainment and boredom. My dogs also spend so much time outside and in play because a tired dog is a happy dog, PLUS, a tired dog is less likely to get into anything it shouldn't! When we give them things to do, they no longer feel it nesseccary to eat your shoes, the toilet paper, your couch, or get into trouble at all.

Also, because of all this time we spend together, Hope and Sofe have become the best of friends! They no longer see each other just as playmates, but as someone to lay down and cuddle with. Someone to look after, in Hope's case, and someone to just enjoy life with! These girls bring so much happiness to my life and I couldn't imagine not trying to do the same for them! Love your dog today. Spend some time with them!

Here are some pictures and a video of Hope and Sofe in action together!

When I see them together, I hear "We're the best of friends" from Fox and the Hound playing in my head!!!

Hope's Vacation Fun!!!

2012-01-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Since we have gotten our baby girl Hope, we have been so excited about taking her on vacations with us. Now that we have Sofe, we look forward to taking vacations with the both of them. But, Sofe is too young right now so I am going to talk about the things we have done with Hope.

From day one with Hope, we have wanted her to be well socialized and well rounded so that we don't have any issues with her as she gets older with being in new situations and meeting new people. We have also known that we would love for our dogs to run agility! So, what better way to get her use to these things but take her to agility trials! Before we got to take her to any trials though, we made sure we introduced her to every possible new situation we could find. Thats why she has been to MANY State Parks, MANY road trips and introduced to MANY new people. We would take her to the pet store just to walk her around and have her introduced to many new people and dogs. And now, as she is 8 months old, she is the most well rounded puppy I have ever met! She is never afraid of anything new and enjoys conquering new challenges.

So in September of 2011, when Hope was 4 months old, we finally went on our first vacation and first agility trial. Hope does get car sick so we have to give her some tummy medication but once she calms down, she is good to go on any length of car trip. We went to Louisville, Kentucky to go on our weekend getaway. We stayed at a pet friendly hotel and planned 2 days of the agility trial and 2 days of fun at new parks and hiking and swimming holes.

There is a place called 'The Falls of the Ohio" which is a fossil bed just on the side of the Ohio River. This place is awesome! And to this day, it is Hope's favorite place to go! She LOVES it!! They have sticks and water and dirt and climbing and all the fun a dog could have! Here are a few pictures of her first visit there! Happiness on a stick!!!!

And this is what she sees when we first walk down the steps. An endless amount of sticks! She had no clue what to do!

And this is where she has all her fun! All those swimming holes, All those dirt piles, and All those people!!

And this is what she usually looks like when she is finished! A dirty girl is a happy girl!!!

And then she got to see her first agility trial! She loved all the people and all the dogs and sounds and sights! It couldn't have been better! Hope is such a good girl!!!

I can't get this picture to be the right way but here she is watching all the other dogs run!

When it was all said and done, Hope had been doing all the things that make dogs dogs, and makes a dog a happy dog! And as you can see, when we were packing to leave, she didn't want to go!

She loves hotels! Thinks it is her second home!

Then in October, we went to the USDAA Agility Internationals that were held again in Louisville. This was a 10 day vacation with our favorite pup! We got to the hotel and walked in the run and she jumped on the bed as if to say 'Ok, we are here. What are we doing next?' She loves it! Vacations are her thing! Here are some pictures from this vacation. We went to so many parks and back to the Falls of the Ohio. Enjoy the photos and the videos! This is part of what makes Hope, well, Hope! She is awesome and I wouldn't change a single thing about her!!!!

(Mammoth National Cave)

Mammoth National Cave)

(Agility Trials)

(Mammoth National Cave)

(Saunders Springs)

(Mammoth National Cave)

(Falls of the Ohio)

(Saunders Springs)

(Falls of the Ohio)

(Another Park In Kentucky)

(The Falls of the Ohio)

7 different parks. 4 days of agility trial fun. Hiking. Swimming. Digging. Playing with new dogs. Hope had a blast! But I must admit, we had a blast as well! Love your dogs!

Introducing..............The Tenacious Sofe!!!!!!

2012-01-24T11:43:00.000-08:00

Now that my computer is letting me upload pictures and video, you guys get to see why she is referred to as the Tenacious Sofe!!!! Enjoy, because I enjoyed taking the photos!

This is our Tenacious Sofe at her finest! Just being so stinkin beautiful!!!!!

We were outside today and just had to take a few moments for a photo op! She did great, except the little beep on the camera scared her at first. But she got used to it, the little trooper. Good thing to because I won't stop taking pictures! :):)

Now I just need to brag a bit on her beautiful color! She is an amazingly beautiful BC and she will be strikingly beautiful as a full grown dog!

Sofe's markings amaze me! She is awesome I must admit!!

She is my little sweetheart!

And now that we have seen some Oh So Sweet pictures of Sofe girl, we must see the other side of her! The Tenacious part! The spunky part! The scrappy part! Watch and see her amazing spirit!

As you can see, this is Sofe finding her 'Sweet Spot' under Hope's legs! Hope can't get to her and Sofe just loves it!!!

And this is Sofe at her finest! I believe that Hope gets to be in some major pain when they play! Hope does her very best not to bite down or hurt Sofe, BUT, Hope has to deal with Sofe's baby teeth! And if anyone has had a dog, they know that puppy teeth are the worst! I lost many a pair of pants when Hope was a puppy and I believe Sofe will do the same! It was a big sigh of relief when Hope's fell out, now, Hope is catching it from Sofe. Sometimes, when they play, you will see Sofe have Hope's top lip in her mouth and she is pulling on it and Sofe pulls it away from Hope's face! And yet Hope does not get angry. I think she likes being the big sister. Sometimes, when we are trying to get Sofe to do a new thing or to follow us, we just tell Hope to 'go help your sister' and Hope will go to Sofe and wait there until Sofe follows. Hope does the same when Sofe gets out of her crate. Hope goes in and kindly waits and helps Sofe out! It is adorable and it is only day 5 of them being together. I can't wait to see what is to come! Best part for me is.........THEY HAVE NEVER SLEPT MORE SOUNDLY!!!! They both sleep at the same time and even Hope is out of it! The past 2 nights of Sofe's last playtime before bed, Sofe was so pooped that we couldn't even get her to walk down the hallway to her crate. She just flops down like she ran a marathon! And Hope is asleep in no time. I do love my girls!!!

These are my girls! These are my babies! They are so special to me that words cannot express how I feel. I know my life would be incomplete if they were not here with me. My husband and I are feeling very fortunate and blessed that we can call them our own! Sappy? YES. True? YES. Most people won't understand? YES. Do we care? NO!!!! Because we share of love for our pets as most people share with their children. Love your dogs! They deserve it!!!

Miss Hope

Sofe Girl

Squirt (left) Mr. Binks (right)

This is our family! Hope you enjoyed the photos and videos! There will be much more to come!

Working on a full house

2012-01-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

We have a very full household! My husband and I, plus 2 cats and now 2 Border Collies!! The pets now out number the people!!! But we don't mind. We prefer it that way. This house has been full of fun and energy and surprise since Friday morning! We got to bring home the 6th member of the Tingley family, Miss Sofe!!!! It is pronounced Sophie, but we like to be a bit different! Sofe girl was 7 weeks old on Thursday, born December 1st, 2011. We were so excited to bring our little bundle home with us! It is an hour drive to our breeders, so we couldn't stay long. Miss Sofe had had no breakfast for fear of car sickness and she was hungry, so we got into our vehicle and went on our way. As we were driving, Sofe was getting very upset and anxious. We felt terrible for her. She wouldn't sit still, was whining alot and just didn't seem to be in a very good mood. But, sitting in the back seat was Sofe's calm and comfort, our 8 month old BC, Hope!!! Hope became a little mother that morning. She was not liking that Sofe was upset and continued to try to get into the front seat with us. I was not sure what to do because Sofe seemed to want to get into the back seat with Hope. So, even though it was against my better judgement, I put Sofe girl in the back seat with Miss Hope. Sofe became quiet, calmed down, and layed down in the back seat where Hope curled and laid down right beside her! I couldn't stop taking picture of how cute it was!!! I was shocked that this was the answer! So Sofe and Hope rode the rest of the way home next to each other, quiet, sleeping, and happy! And so began our adventure which is Sofe!

I have never had 2 dogs at the same time before, let alone 2 Border Collies! I was getting a bit nervous, I admit, the week before we brought her home. I started to think of all the things that puppies do and how much attention they require and got a bit nervous. But Hope helped me calm those fears. She would just be her sweet, amazing self, and I would begin to remember that the puppy stage was not bad when the payoff was so amazing! A BC that loves and adores you!!!!

So begins the story of the very Tenacious Sofe! Tenacious indeed! She has a spunk and scrappiness I have yet to see in a puppy! Over the last couple of days, Sofe has been learning Hope's tactics and Hope has been trying to figure out how to get ahead!! It is funny that a 43 lb. BC is getting her bum handed to her by a 10.5 lb puppy!!!! We know what they weigh because we went to the Vet's office today :) But Sofe has found that standing directly under Hope's stomach is kinda like Hope's blind spot. Hope can't get to her!!!! It is so funny to watch! Hope backs up, Sofe backs up. Hope tries to walk forward, Sofe walks forward! And Hope can't fight Sofe biting her elbows. I think it is hilarious to watch. Hope tries to get her and just can't seem to get the upper hand, unless she just tries laying down on Sofe. Thats the only way Hope can get a break! This 'sweet spot', as I call it, has evolved over the past couple of days. She now has started to walk directly under Hope when we are all outside and Hope can't go to the bathroom! It is funny to watch. I have video but it will not let me upload them now so I will post them when I can get them uploaded.

Another of the funny events that have happened is that Hope is not at all protective of her toys, bones, or anything else, EXCEPT, her cat! Squirt, the 4 member to join this family, is our 6 year old cat. He has been Hope's pal since Hope got here. They play and chase each other and Squirt is Hope's best pal, until Friday! Hope has been all about Sofe and not at all about the cat! Which I believe has been somewhat a relief to the cat. But today, Hope began getting protective over the cat! Sofe was saying her first official hello to Squirt and Hope got inbetween! It was so funny! Of course, we put a stop to any guarding or protective behavior, but it was funny just the same! I have so many stories and we have only had her for 4 days!

One thing that warms my heart, and makes me smile even thinking about it, is when Sofe, a sweet, innocent, clean slate of a dog, if you understand at all what I mean, is getting more and more comfortable in her surroundings and with all her new friends and family. She had it rough the first couple of nights and was not happy that she had no more litter mates to snuggle with, but she has been jumping leaps and bounds ever since we brought her home! She gets so full of herself, as puppies do, and just thinks she is tough stuff, barks at the bone, the tennis balls, the cat, and even when rough housing with dad, but when you look at her, smile, and call out her name, she just melts! Wags that tail and just rolls over to get that tummy rubbed. Sofe wags that tail for everything! Even while she is eating, she continues to wag her tail! It is adorable to watch. I know this post is all over the map, but there is just so much to take in at this point in our family.

When I talked about a puppy being a clean slate, I was being completely honest. If anyone has ever had a dog, they know that each puppy comes with a clean slate, a fresh beginning, a clean canvas. It is us, as the owners and parents, to imprint our puppies with the behaviors and attitude towards new experiences that we wish to see. If our dogs are sweet, kind, loving, well behaved, and enjoy new experiences, then it is because we have given them the proper helps to get them there. But if our dogs have issues, barking, anxious, not friendly, shy, scared, and even a little nippy, then it is our short comings as owners that have made them that way. So Sofe is a clean slate. And we have the precious ablilty to imprint and shape her as a dog. We need to take the time to make sure she lives a happy and fulfilled life as a dog, companion, and sometimes, best friend. Be kind to your dogs and take special considerations with your puppies because we make them the dogs they will become. Love them, don't coddle, but love them and help them get through every experience their little lives offer them. We have done it with Hope and are continuing it with Sofe. This blog could get very busy with stories now that we are blessed with 2 amazing Border Collies, but also blessed with 2 amazing children. I love my dogs and pets as if they were our children, and in this case, they are. My 2 cats, my 2 pups, are my 4 children. The oldest being a 10 year old cat and youngest being our 7 week old Sofe. All are loved, all are cared for, and all are being shaped into great members of this family. Loving to all they see, friendly and excited about new experiences, and loved, loved, loved! Love your furry children!
For the love of a Border Collie, there is none like it! Welcome to the family Sofe girl! You are a welcomed sight!

Sleeping on the couch! Which we found to be cute, but not beneficial to her idea of her crate! Lesson learned!

Sleeping happily in her own little den, her home away from home, her crate!

And laying at Daddy's feet, one of her favorite people! :):):)

Video to be added soon! Thanks for the patience!

Fun with Frisbee

2012-01-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hope LOVES her frisbee! Actually, we call it her 'flisbee'! Don't ask me why, but we always ask her if she wants to play 'flisbee', or we ask her to bring us her 'flisbee'! She loves it! Just now, Hope and I went outside to play flisbee. It is cold, and it is windy, but Hope is my girl and my responsibility and I will make sure she has a happy life while she is with me.

I keep the flisbees on top of the refrigerator so she can't chew on them, and up until 2 days ago, I had put them up there when she wasn't looking so she didn't know where they were. But I left one hang a bit over the edge and she found them! So, she would go into the kitchen from time to time and look up at the top of the fridge and just stare. Hope knows what she wants. And what she wants is simple. A little bit of play time! Now we play with the tennis balls in the house. We bounce them, she catches them. We throw then down the hall and she goes and gets them and brings them back. but her favorite thing to do, is fetch that flisbee! I think the only thing that would make it more fun for her is if she were fetching it out of the water!!! We would go out and play with her, but since it has gotten a bit more cold and more windy outside, the flisbee play is few and far between. The sad part is that it is not Hope's fault that she hadn't gotten to play outside. It is my fault! I am the one that didn't want to get cold, get snowed on and just wanted to stay in the nice comfort of my warm, cozy home! But this behavior is not fair to my sweet Hope! She deserves a bit of play time. And because of a sad story about a sweet Border Collie that didn't receive his small bit of play time and therefore was not happy, I decided to brave the cold and give my girl some time to run!

It has been about 4 days since Hope has played with the flisbee outside. We have let her run, but flisbee is so much better! So I read this story about the other Border Collie and felt the sudden urgent need to make sure my own sweet Border Collie was happy and content. So I got up, shut my computer, and started my routine of bundling up for the cold. I 1st started with my boots. To Hope, that is the sign that she is going out to play, so of course, she is already waiting at the door! I get my coat, scarf, gloves and put them on. Then I go to the top of the fridge to get the flisbee and Hope's face lights up! I know you may have a hard time believing that a dog's face can light up and simply look happy, but it is true! Her eyes change and seem to smile and her head turns a bit to the side and she seems to stop breathing for that moment! And when the flisbee was down to her level, she came right at me looking as if she were smiling! She ran to the door with her tail wagging behind her!

When we got outside, I checked the time on my phone and it said 2:04pm. We went to the gate to the back yard, I opened it, and Hope's eyes went straight for the sky as she ran away from me in the yard! She knew she was looking for that flisbee and I couldn't get it in the air fast enough! She was already waiting at the other end of the yard! We played and played and she ran and ran and even though I was cold and it was windy, I lit up and got warm fuzzies inside to see my baby girl so happy! She ran her little heart out! She will always let us know when she is finished playing. She starts to run ALOT slower and becomes unwilling to let go of the flisbee as if to say 'please don't throw it again! I am too tired'! So at this point, I know she is done for the moment and has gotten her play time and energy ran out! We walked back to the gate where she happily walked back in because she was tired and needed something to drink! We come inside and she goes straight for her water dish, drinks about the entire thing and goes and flops down on the floor, exhausted!!!

To me, it seemed like we were out there for awhile because Hope was so exhausted! But I look at my phone to check the time. 2:10pm. 6 minutes! We were outside playing flisbee for 6 minutes! That was it!!! I couldn't believe it! I started to feel bad for the lack of time we spent outside until I remembered that Hope was the one that told me it was time to stop. 6 minutes!!!She is now passed out on the floor, happy, exhausted, content, and loved and all it took was 6 minutes of throwing her flisbee. I can spare 6 minutes numerous times a day! Just for her to be happy! 6 minutes is all it took and she is thrilled with it!

I guess my point is, if 6 minutes is all it took for my baby girl Hope to feel free, happy, and run off all that steam, why then is it such a big deal??? 6 minutes is the amount of time it takes for a TV dinner to cook in the microwave! Can't we all spare that much time for our dogs? No one can say that they don't have 6 minutes a day to devote to their dog for some serious play! And if you say you don't have 6 minutes a day, then I must ask, why do you have a dog in the first place? 6 minutes is nothing in the length of a day.

Love your dogs. Love them enough to make sure they are getting what they need and want out of you just as you expect to get what you need and want out of them. I love my Hope and will never fail to give her 6 minutes in my day ever again! She deserves to be happy just as much as we deserve to be happy. The problem with the situation is, that we have a choice to do the things that make us happy whenever we choose, but our dogs have to wait on us to give them the things that make them happy. Love them enough to make sure they are happy. Thats the responsibility of bringing a dog into your family and into your home. Love your dog today and do something for their benefit and not for your own. I did, and all it took was 6 minutes!
For the love of a Border Collie, there is none quite like it!

Just because it's cute (with some added insight!)

2012-01-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it isn't my regular day to post but I just had to share this. Last night was just not a good night of sleep for me. I fell asleep during the BCS Championship game, but, if you watched it yourself, me falling asleep during it was not difficult. But, I woke up this morning at 3am! Wide awake and ready to get my day started. Problem was that my day didn't start until I left for an appointment at 7:30am. So, I just took a very long, nice warm bath. Relaxed as I got ready, taking my good old time, and then finally got ready to leave and my husband and Hope got out of bed! This was about 7am this morning.

But, before I go any further, maybe I should give a little background information on my sleep habits and routine, if you can call it a routine. I am an insomniac. I have had problems sleeping since I can remember. And for this simple reason, I sleep later than other people normally would because I am unable to fall asleep until 1 or 2am in the morning and have poor quality of sleep as well. Because of this, Hope has been one to sleep in a little late as well! When she was a tiny puppy, I would make myself get up early to take her out to potty and then stay up and just be tired all day. But God has given me a blessing with Hope and it is called bladder control! Since she has been sleeping all night in the bed, since she was 4 mons. old, she will sleep and stay in bed until I wake up. I always thought it sweet that she would never leave the bed, never get up and roam, and even if she was awake, she wouldn't wake me up and just wait til I got up. She has been a blessing in many ways for this because my sleeping problems truly are an issue.

So, for the last 4 mons, she has been getting up with me. My husband will let her out at 5:30am when he gets up for work and then she runs right back and gets into bed with me. Our latest problem with this has been that even if my husband is up and out in the living room for her to be out there and play, she stays in bed with me. She will go tell him she has to potty and then she comes right back into the bed with me! We thought maybe it was just out of habit that she always came back to bed. Or that she didn't like to be separated from me and there for stayed in bed. And to tell you the truth, so many times I have felt guilty because this 'high energy', 'run them or they will drive you crazy' breed of dog was stuck in the bed with me in the mornings. But......the proof was given this morning as I left for my appointment. I was gone, my husband was up, and when I called him about 2 hours after I left he told me, 'she is her mothers daughter! She went and laid back down in the bed and won't come out!' That 'high octane' 'anxiety ridden dog if they don't get enough exercise, like all day long exercise', that dog who has gotten a bad rap for all these reasons, she didn't want to get out of bed early!!! Her choice!!! Exercise and play? Or, more sleep? This baby girl choose sleep. So my feelings of guilt are over and my predisposed ideas of this breed have been dashed because she choose to sleep. And the floor just wouldn't do, she had to have the bed!

Don't get me wrong, a BC needs plenty of exercise and training and discipline. But don't be so afraid of this breed with what you hear with some owners or unfortunately former owners about their energy level and drive. Because Border Collies can be just as happy just being a major member of your family and involved in your life as they can out in the fields, working. They love to work. It is in them to do so. To run and play and have fun and be an extra big smarty pants, but they love being with their people more than any of these other things. We can go out with Hope and play frisbee and she will love every minute of it, but she also loves every minute of love and affection she receives as well.
I am not sure what I set out to tell with this post because the story I intended to tell was told, but with some added extras. Love your Border Collies. Love their energy and nourish it. Love their intelligence and feed it. Love their drive and harness it. But most of all, love them as the individuals that they are and make them a part of your family. I know that's why Hope is so happy and feels good enough to sleep in, it's because we include her in our lives everyday! Everyday she wakes up to be just as much a part of our family as my husband and I are. She knows she is loved. So love your dog today as part of your family. Because for the love of a Border Collie, there is none like it!!!!

(she is about 4 mons old here)

To pee? Or not to pee? THAT is the question!!!

2012-01-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, from the title you can probably already tell that this post is going to have something to do with the bathroom! Now, the part you probably didn't guess, is that it has to do with when I go to the bathroom!!! Yes, the complete invasion of privacy. In the most intimates of intimates. The 'thinking room' of the house, where some of the best ideas are born. Also, the 'reading room' of the house, to catch up on the latest of news. The place where 1 ply is not an option and quilted 2 ply is mandatory. Where a dog can wrap its paws around your neck and give you a hug.......wait......that last one sounded wrong........let me re-read that......dog.....wrap.....neck.....hug....BATHROOM!!! NO! I must have gotten this one wrong! It can't be right. But wait. Crude. It wasn't a typo or a misthought. Come to think of it, this just happened to me about an hour ago! Yes, I am talking about the 'puppy is not aware of what is an appropriate time' is. The family dog. In our case, our first child. The bathroom dilemma is not so new to me. Hope is about 8 mons. old and the moment we brought her home, no more alone time in the bathroom. No more thinking up those great ideas for problem solving. No more reading the latest news. No. More. Privacy.

Now, I know that even those of you who do not have a dog, but have children, know what I am talking about as well! I experienced it myself with my niece over Christmas. Now, instead of those quiet moments, with the door shut, with privacy being my own reward, I sit......being watched!!!! I know I am not alone out there in the dog world! If you don't admit that your dog follows you into the bathroom and watches you, then you must have a cat! Hope has been in the bathroom with me since July 7th when we brought her home! Yes, it is true. I now spend my time, in the 'not a thinking or reading room' wondering what she is going to do next! Will she follow me in? YES. Will she sit right at my feet? YES. Will she put her paws up on my shoulders and lick my face? YES. Will I ever go to the bathroom alone again? NO!!! And, on the longer visits, after the invasion of personal space I receive upon sitting down, I then get to leave the once closed door open, so that I can watch where she goes after she hugs me! Because, on those more lengthy visits, she wonders, which usually takes her right into the cats room where she goes straight for their food!!!! Never mind the fact that she has a bowl full of her own food, the thrill of stealing the cats must be so much more satisfying. Plus, she gets to stick it to the cats by eating their last bit of food. So now, after she has loved on me, I get to watch out into the hallway so I can yell "Hope...Hope...HOPE" without being able to just get up, and get her!!! So, I cannot relax but must be on alert for her where abouts!

But, she always add so entertainment to what can be some pretty uneventful time spent. Like the 1st time she noticed her reflection in the mirror! One of my favorite bathroom stories, it even beats out my own personal bathroom stories! The cat had been on the sink, drinking out of the sink as he always does, but this time Hope was curious about what he was doing up there. So she put her paws on the sink, sniffed, and then looked up. And there it was. Her reflection. She stood motionless for a moment, drinking in seeing her beautiful reflection for the 1st time, or so I thought.....Her tail started a slight wag. I thought, man, this is too cute. Then she cocked her head to the side, and took off running around the corner into the room next door. The room right on the other side of the mirror!!!!!!! She stayed gone for a bit, which I thought maybe she was spooked by her reflection. Wrong again! She comes back, puts her paws back up on the sink, sees the reflection, cocks her head, and runs into the other room again! She stayed gone for a bit again. Then came right back and did the same routine over again. At this moment I realized that she thought she spotted another dog and was running into the room behind the mirror to find that said dog!!!!! I was laughing soooo hard!!!! One of those laughs that I would have fallen on the floor I was laughing so hard but again, I was on the toilet!!!! I think she finally figured out that there wasn't really a dog there. But sometimes, just sometimes, when she puts her paws in my lap, my complete lack of personal space, she looks back over her shoulder, and into the mirror where she 1st saw her reflection, with a sense of longing in her eyes, hoping to see that 'dog' she played with some many months ago, but realizing with a tear in her eye, or so I like to picture it, that tis' only her reflection, and no real dog is on the other side of the 'looking glass'. Or so she thinks!!!!!

Now......if you think any part of this story is crude or untrue, take a good hard look into the 'looking glass' and realize, that your dog is right behind you, trying to take a sneaky sniff at your tushy!!!

For the love of a Border Collie, there is none like it

All I want for Christmas is.......ev.er.y.th.ing!!!!

2011-12-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

This specific post, well, Hope wanted to try and tell her side of the story instead of me this time because she said she had soooo much fun!!! So, we will try this out just this once and see if it works out. If it sounds a little like a 3 year old is writing it, remember, she is only 7 months old and is way too excited to talk slowly or in complete thoughts. So please be patient, and enjoy Hope's interpretation of what Christmas is like for a dog! Here she is, she just can't wait to tell you all about it!!!

HI! My name is Hope! I hope you all know about this day called Christmas because I can't wait long enough to tell you about it because I have to tell you about my toys!!! See, mom and dad told me I was a good girl this year, whatever that means, and I got new toys! They were these things wrapped all up in the paper that i could eat! Sure! You can eat it! I got to eat some before mom and dad told me not to!

And the one I want to tell you about 1st is this flying thing! It is so strange! We go outside, ya know, where I get to go to go potty and eat dirt? Well, we go there and mom and dad hold this flying thing in their big paws and they must let go of it because it gets away and flies far in the air! And me, being the good girl that I am told I am, i go try to get it back for them! I have to chase and chase it til it gets tired and lands on the ground. Then i pick it up and bring it right back to mom and dads paws! They tell me to 'let go', and get a little mad at me if I don't listen right away, but what they don't know is that I have to wait to let go to make sure they really have a good hold on it with their paws so it doesn't get away again! If they knew thats what I was trying to do, they wouldn't get so anxious if I don't let go right away! I got 3 of these flying things that I have to watch over for mom and dad! Just look!!!

And then, I got this toy that is like, well, you know the fuzzy yellow lookin round things? What? Balls? Tennis Balls you say? Ok then, you know tennis balls? Well, i got these balls that are are not fuzzy, they are a little bit smaller and guess what? They are pink!! They bounce alot higher than tennis balls and you will never guess what? Guess what? Come on! Guess? Ok, they. have. my. name. on. them!!! See look!!!

SEE!!! H..........O..........P..........E!!! Thats me!!! Hope!! Aren't my mom and dad the GREATEST?!?! You can't argue that they're not, they're not YOUR mom and dad! So that makes them the greatest because they are mine! ALL MINE!!
And then......yes, yes, there is MORE!!! They got me this BIG ball!! Bigger than any other ball I had ever had! It is so much fun to play with! mom and dad kick it and I try to pick it up and carry it, but it is a little to big! But I still try!!! See.......See all my teeth marks?

And then, one of the best gifts I have ever gotten.........................................................A BONE!!!! And a BIG one at that!!! Now it is going to take me a LONG time to chew this one down. But I don't mind, it is FUN!!!!

And they best gift of all was that they took me on a very long ride in this big thing they get into and it takes me to cool places like the park, and the beach, and to my friend Annie's house, and to creeks and all sorts of fun places! Well, we got in it to go to some more cool places and we went to visit my grandma and grandpa!!! Both of them!! I got all kinds of attention! And that was the best gift they got me. Mom and Dad didn't leave me alone for this trip. They brought me with them and that makes me feel loved! Thanks mom and dad! You are the bestest parents ever!!!

P.S. My grandma and grandpa had these trees in their HOUSE!!! Like the trees from outside IN THEIR HOUSE!!! I don't know what they were trying to do there, but they made me want to try to pee in the house cause it smelled like I was already outside!!! Don't confuse me guys, I am just a puppy! I hope you all had a great Christmas! I know I did!!!! But they said my best Christmas gift was going to be a little late, I have seen her picture, and I can't wait to meet her!!! This is my baby sister Sofe!!!! And for you guys who aren't Border Collies, that is pronounced Sophie :):)

Well, that was our little Hope!! Sorry about that Border Collie comment she just said. She just found out that she is smart and has been kinda bragging about it. This was our Christmas with our little Miss Hope. The thing is, the raquetballs that we bought her, we didn't even realize they said 'Hope' on them til after we picked them up and was going to buy them, but shhhh, don't tell her!! :):) She gives us the greatest gift of all, she loves us with everything she has in her! Hope your Christmas was filled with love and joy!!!!!
For the love of a Border Collie, is like no other!!

The Anatomy of a Left Hook

2011-12-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

This picture has an entertaining story behind it!

9 years ago, the cat in this picture, Mr. Binks, was adopted by me from the humane society. He was young but still a big cat. Which later developed into this 22 lb. beast in the above picture.

Mr. Binks was an only child for almost 5 years when we adopted our next cat, Squirt. Squirt got his name because he was just that! A squirt sitting beside this massive cat. Well, needless to say, Mr. Binks was NOT happy! He would have little fits, and hiss and snort and run away from this tiny little kitten. Then, they FINALLY became friends and everything was going smoothly. Then, 2 things that turned this cats world upside down, happened in the course of 2 days! Our baby girl border collie, Hope, was getting ready to come and live with us and we were still in an apartment! We hurried as fast as we could and found a house to rent that had a nice sized yard and a small fenced in yard as well! We moved in July 6th........we brought Hope home July 7th!!!!! 2 events that made this fat cat very angry. He would not come out of the spare bedroom. He would have little hissy fits, literally, and act like everything he saw that moved was out to kill him.

So, as Hope began to get bigger, and bigger than him, Mr. Binks became more scared than confrontational. Well, things would slowly get better day after day. He finally started to come out into the livingroom with the whole family and hang out with us. Under 1 condition.......I make sure that the puppy doesn't chase him. So, that was my mission. Keep the puppy away from the fat, lazy, slow moving cat. Which I could do most of the time, but Hope is a puppy and a fast one at that! So things would happen from time to time where Mr. Binks was chased down the hallway. So as Hope got older and more disciplined, she learned that she could play and chase Squirt, but this cat got special treatment. I mean at 9 years old, and 22 lbs, this heart has to be lined with a thick layer of fat and arteries clogged to no end, so I didn't want to be responsible for sending the fat one to an early death by making his heart stop from just running from the livingroom, down the hall!

But....in the past couple of weeks, Mr. Binks has really been couragous and coming out and even daring to relax and fall asleep with Hope in the same room! To me, this was a miracle! And at the time of this peticular picture, I was on the floor, sitting next to Hope, when the fat boy approached from the side. I had my hand on Hope's back and continued to tell her to stay and be a good girl, which she happily did! She was sooooo curious, the little tip of her tail barely wagging and waiting for some personal contact! FINALLY! After almost 5 mons, he finally decides to give this sweet pup a chance. Hope sits still and the cat comes closer. So close that they sniff each others noses. then Mr. Binks did what I never thought would happen, he put his head against her face and rubbed in a cat loving manner!!!!! I was in awe! Hope was LOVING it and was trying so hard to contain herself! I realized the camera was right in my reach and decided I needed to domument this to continue to remind myself that it really did happen! So I reach and get the camera, turn it on, get it focused and hit the button, and BAM, Hope gets a left hook right to the nose and Mr. Binks runs off! It happened in a matter of a second or so! Hope didn't even know what to think, she sat there, I believe, trying to figure it out in her head what had happened as well!!! We sat motionless for what seemed an eternity, but really wasn't because I looked up and saw Mr. Binks 'wide load' butt, hauling down the hallway.

I later came to the conclusion that Mr. Binks in fact knew what I was getting ready to do. He KNEW I was going to document his act of kindness toward Hope. He KNEW that he could no longer play the old, grumpy, have no patience for 'children', and he didn't want to have to be held to a higher standard. So, he sat there, plotting the precise moment when he should slap Hope, and when his shot came.....he took it, and now I have picture evidence that he is in fact a mean, fat, lazy old cat. Now, here sits my baby girl Hope, betrayed by her big brother. Slapped in the face by someone she soooo wanted approval from. And you know what her thought was????.....'Hey mom! Lets do that again!!!!' Because all she did was wag that tail, look me in the eye, and kissed my cheek. All she saw was that the cat had finally said hello, and see didn't see the bad that happened after. Hope was focused on the good in the situation.

So here she is, showing us all what we should do in the case of getting a left hook to the face.....

turn. the. other. cheek.

And her she is, in the very same day, showing this cat the other cheek.

The heart of a Border Collie is like no other! If you have the privilege of seeing it first hand, then you know what I mean.

(no border collies were harmed in the making of this story)

The beginning.....

2011-12-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is our baby girl Hope!

The next question would be, How do you write the beginning of a Blog?!?

The middle seems to be the easiest to write and the ending and beginning being the hardest. So I will try to get the beginning going as painlessly as possible. Hope is our much loved and much anticipated Border Collie. She was born on May 17th, 2011. I remember going to visit her the day after she was born! She was 1 of 9 pups! Her mother has always had large litters. But out of 9 pups, when I walked into that room where they were, I went straight to our baby girl and said with much enthusiasm as I could hold together, "Is that a split face?!?!" FGollowed immediately with, "Is it a girl?!?!" The answer was yes to both!! I couldn't hold myself together I was so excited! But.......we were 2nd in line for a pick and we had to wait until the 1st pick took the one they wanted which was going to be an agonizing 4 weeks!!! So, I hide my extreme happiness for that day and waited. Plus, a border collie was going to be my husbands dog because he wanted the border collie, ever since he was a teenager. So this pick was to be uninfluenced by my personal desires. BUT....I am not one who can keep one's mouth shut when one wants something! Sooo, with saying "Please don't let my personal wants get in the way of the dog you want", I then proceeded to give my husband the most pain in the neck, next 4 weeks. By NOT putting in my opinion, I started to show him as many pictures as I could possibly find of any and every split-faced Border Collie on the internet! That was my oh, so very quiet way of telling him which one I wanted! So, the next 4 weeks went by with us doing our weekly visit to the breeders to see the pups. My husband had narrowed it down to 2 pups, and neither one was my little split-face. So, trying to hide my heart break, but not doing a very good job, I CONTINUED to show him pictures of beautiful split-faced dogs! Well, I was convienced that I would not get this pup, and tried to come to grips with it but couldn't. We went to pick our pup when the 4 weeks had arrived. Our breeder got the picture of what my husband said was his first pick, and said that the other family had decided to take this little girl. So starting to feel bad for my husband, I apologized and said, "Ok, so we go with the 2nd one you picked out." He suprised me more than words can say and said"Why? I wanted the split-face but didn't want to get your hope's up by telling you and the other family get her!" I SCREAMED with joy!!!!!! She was ours! Our new baby girl! She was ours!!!!!! And on the way home, as I was beaming from ear to ear, my husband said "I think she should be named Hope!" I immediately agreed! I 'Hope'd for her! She brought me 'Hope'! And you can never hear the word 'Hope' too many times in one day! She there she was, ours!!!! I couldn't believe it! And this picture here at the top is our girl at about 5 weeks old! A gorgeous, full of spunk, little girl! I am so blessed to have her in my life! This blog will journey her life with ours! I should have started it months ago because she has churned out some amazing stories! But we will get to that. I know the stories of dogs may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this dog's story is special. Because she is MY dog, and is very special to me! Hope's life changes as she changes our live's! Thanks and I am so excited to share her with the rest of the world, no matter if it is just one person!