Buzz's Bio - before he was mine

Here’s what I know about Buzz’s first twelve weeks. He was born on a farm where his parents (a border collie and a blue heeler) work cattle. He was whelped in a barn and had at least five littermates. He was surrendered, along with two brothers and three sisters to a shelter on August 12, 2006, when he was almost 12 weeks old.

I don’t know if Buzz was part of an intentional litter, but it doesn’t seem too likely because if the farmers were trying to breed herding dogs, I don’t think they’d be able to determine herding instinct in the dogs that early—so how would they know which puppies to keep?

Buzz seems to have been well cared for as a puppy despite being raised in a barn, not a house. He responded with love and affection to all people right from the get-go. His paperwork also noted that he had a name given to him by the farmers: “Rags.”

My vet and other people in the know about dog breeds have suggested that Buzz looks like a purebred border collie. I suppose that is a possibility, as his litter was so diverse looking. However, I don’t even know if the border collie parent was the mother, so who knows what the real scoop is.

The shelter where I found Buzz from was in rural Wisconsin. They clearly had limited facilities and funds, but the staff I met was very nice and really seemed to care about the dogs. I find it amazing and wonderful that they had these puppies listed on petfinder within days of their being surrendered to the shelter. The Humane Society here in Ann Arbor often has only a handful of dogs listed on petfinder, even though the kennels are almost always full.