This is a video of a young Buzz playing with a ball in my parents' kitchen.
http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g161/rossiebug77/?action=view¤t=BuzzTennis.flv
A Week in Wisconsin
Buzz and I spent our first week together at my parents’ house. The first couple of days were tough because my mom was out of town and so I was looking after her dogs and a new puppy. I was exhausted by the time she came home!
In the first week we learned the following about Buzz:
1) That his name was Buzz. It took me a few days to discover this.
2) That he likes to be within 10 feet of me at all times.
3) That he has a good appetite.
4) That he is respectful of other dogs.
5) That he could be trusted off leash in safe areas (not by the road).
6) That he didn’t know where to pee and poo.
7) That he wasn’t too interested in the cats (a good thing!)
In the first week, I worked on the following with Buzz:
1. Getting comfortable with his crate
2. Knowing what to chew & what not to chew
3. Beginning housetraining
4. Beginning leash training
5. Having lots of fun and cuddles
6. Taking lots and lots of pictures!
In the first week we learned the following about Buzz:
1) That his name was Buzz. It took me a few days to discover this.
2) That he likes to be within 10 feet of me at all times.
3) That he has a good appetite.
4) That he is respectful of other dogs.
5) That he could be trusted off leash in safe areas (not by the road).
6) That he didn’t know where to pee and poo.
7) That he wasn’t too interested in the cats (a good thing!)
In the first week, I worked on the following with Buzz:
1. Getting comfortable with his crate
2. Knowing what to chew & what not to chew
3. Beginning housetraining
4. Beginning leash training
5. Having lots of fun and cuddles
6. Taking lots and lots of pictures!
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.
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.
Meeting the puppies
I went to meet the puppies on August, 16, 2006. Of the six that had been surrendered to the shelter, only three remained: all boys. I like boy dogs, but it did present a problem, because I really only had a favorite name for a girl: Thisbe.
When I arrived, two puppies were getting a bath, so they didn’t bring them out to me. They brought out the one dry puppy for me to play with in the office. He immediately piddled all over everything...ah, puppies.
This puppy was very fuzzy and freckly and a little bit roly-poly. He was very interested in everyone in the office and seemed very sweet, but also very shy. I asked them to bring out the wet puppies, too, and they came in the office like a whirlwind. They even got the roly puppy excited as they swarmed around squeaking and piddling and jumping and squeaking and squeaking. The two wet puppies were a very shorthaired muscular guy and a tri-color fuzzy guy. The wet puppies weren’t nearly as shy as the dry one and had a good time jumping up on everyone. We were all laughing and playing with them. Eventually it became clear that the very muscular puppy NEVER stopped for a breather, if you put him in your lap, he squirmed right out again. The tricolor would stop for a cuddle, but then jump down to play. I knew the shorthaired puppy was too much puppy for me, so I had them put him back in the kennel so I could focus on the other two. I did a few things that I had read about for testing puppy temperaments: I grabbed each puppy and held it on its back; the books say that the dog should struggle for a little while then calm down: the dry puppy never struggled, the wet puppy never settled down. We brought out some tennis balls: the dry puppy didn’t seem to know what to do with them; the wet puppy played a little game with himself. I took each dog outside to see how he would react to the great outdoors. Both seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but the wet puppy relaxed after 30 seconds, the dry puppy acted very stressed the entire time. I loved them both, but knew I could only have one, so I asked to adopt the wet, tri-color puppy. The shelter said yes! He came home with me that day.
Filling out the paperwork didn’t take long, but did resolve one question: the puppies had been listed as Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mixes. However, they looked more like Border Collie/Australian Cattle Dog mixes. Indeed, the puppies were BC/ACD mixes; the women at the shelter didn’t understand that heeler = cattle dog. The paperwork for the puppies all said Border Collie / Blue Heeler.
Here’s the first picture I took of the puppy:
When I arrived, two puppies were getting a bath, so they didn’t bring them out to me. They brought out the one dry puppy for me to play with in the office. He immediately piddled all over everything...ah, puppies.
This puppy was very fuzzy and freckly and a little bit roly-poly. He was very interested in everyone in the office and seemed very sweet, but also very shy. I asked them to bring out the wet puppies, too, and they came in the office like a whirlwind. They even got the roly puppy excited as they swarmed around squeaking and piddling and jumping and squeaking and squeaking. The two wet puppies were a very shorthaired muscular guy and a tri-color fuzzy guy. The wet puppies weren’t nearly as shy as the dry one and had a good time jumping up on everyone. We were all laughing and playing with them. Eventually it became clear that the very muscular puppy NEVER stopped for a breather, if you put him in your lap, he squirmed right out again. The tricolor would stop for a cuddle, but then jump down to play. I knew the shorthaired puppy was too much puppy for me, so I had them put him back in the kennel so I could focus on the other two. I did a few things that I had read about for testing puppy temperaments: I grabbed each puppy and held it on its back; the books say that the dog should struggle for a little while then calm down: the dry puppy never struggled, the wet puppy never settled down. We brought out some tennis balls: the dry puppy didn’t seem to know what to do with them; the wet puppy played a little game with himself. I took each dog outside to see how he would react to the great outdoors. Both seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but the wet puppy relaxed after 30 seconds, the dry puppy acted very stressed the entire time. I loved them both, but knew I could only have one, so I asked to adopt the wet, tri-color puppy. The shelter said yes! He came home with me that day.
Filling out the paperwork didn’t take long, but did resolve one question: the puppies had been listed as Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mixes. However, they looked more like Border Collie/Australian Cattle Dog mixes. Indeed, the puppies were BC/ACD mixes; the women at the shelter didn’t understand that heeler = cattle dog. The paperwork for the puppies all said Border Collie / Blue Heeler.
Here’s the first picture I took of the puppy:
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